Independent Lab Test Finds Airbag Helmet is Safest

Jun 10, 2020
by James Smurthwaite  
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Folksam, a Swedish insurance company, has conducted an independent study into helmet safety and concluded that an airbag design is safer than a selection of traditional bicycle helmet designs.

The study was carried out with funding support from the Road Safety Trust in the UK and consisted of five physical tests. The testers used two shock absorption tests with straight perpendicular impacts and three oblique impact tests for the X, Y and Z axes. Computer simulations were then carried out to evaluate the risk for concussion.

The data was then combined and the helmets that performed better than the median in both the shock absorption test and the oblique impact test were given a 'Recommended' label. In total 8 out of the 27 helmets on test were given the label and all of them apart from the airbag helmet had some form of rotational impact protection - 6 MIPS and 1 Wavecel. The helmets that received the label are: Hövding 3, Biltema Cykelhjälm MIPS, Tec Quadriga MIPS, Scott Vivo Plus MIPS, Bell Super Air R MIPS, Bontrager Specter WaveCel, Occano MIPS and Specialized S-Works Prevail II/ ANGI MIPS.

The standout helmet was the Hövding 3 helmet that was released in September last year. It's worn as a collar around the neck and when it senses an impact it inflates an airbag around the wearer's head to protect them. A video of the helmet in action is below:


Yes, it definitely looks a bit goofy to us but going by the numbers of Folksam's study, it's significantly more protective than the other helmets in the test. The testers noted that "The Hövding 3 performed at least three times better than all the other conventional helmets" in the shock absorption test and it was also the best performing helmet in the other tests too. It's worth noting the airbag was pre-inflated to 0.56 bar and a larger anvil had to be used compared to the rest of the helmets due to fear of hitting the sharp edges of the anvil and affecting the results.

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It's not the first time we've seen airbag technology with cyclists in mind as Helite also makes a protective vest that follows the same concept, as we tested at Eurobike last year. It's worth saying that these products aren't designed for mountain bikers (in fact, Hövding warn against it) and we've no idea how they would cope with things like drops or jumps at this stage but Matt Wragg and Paul Aston have both previously spoken to Dainese (who pioneered MotoGP airbags) about the concept and they said that the technology would not work for mountain bikers given the sudden and unpredictable movements of the sport. However, Helite also make these vests for horse riders and skiers, so maybe they could crack the code.

Other things to note from the test was how much difference rotational impact protection can make on a helmet. There were two helmets test with MIPS and non-MIPS versions and both times the scores increased significantly with the addition of the technology - the Biltema Cykelhjälm went from -10% up to 37% and the Giro Caden from -37% to -13%.

The full test can be found here.

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Industry News Helmets


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122 Comments
  • 118 2
 an independent study into helmet safety concluded that an airbag design is safer than a selection of traditional bicycle helmet designs once the test was adjusted a little bit to suit airbags.
  • 4 1
 Not exactly a conclusive study is it?...
  • 63 3
 Brilliant marketing video that, show a device that works perfectly in a slow, controlled crash where the rider's head doesn't hit a single thing. I've seen this device before, look at how it fits, looks at how long it took to go off, if that was a car giving you a SMIDSY your face and brains would be all over the windscreen before it remembers to go pop. If it was a head on crash your head will just fall out of the massive unsecured hole in the front even if it does work in time. The test even admits this, they had to pre-inflate and secure it to carry out the testing. It's the classic ideal conditions vs reality disconnect.
.
Rant over, the idea is really good, but it needs to be integrated into a normal EPS helmet somehow. Just like airbag leathers for motorbikes still have rigid plates in them, You still need the solid protective gear to be truly effective. The ability to mount one of these like a collar on a full face helmet (or onto a neck brace) would be fantastic. I'd bet you could cut the number of concussions in DH significantly applying it like that.
  • 7 7
 Have you tried it? I have,in a controlled crash,worked perfect. I've talked to people who was very glad to wear them when hit by car. It's not suitable for mtb because of the sensors. Personally I don't use it,I find it pretty uncomfortable to wear.
  • 9 0
 @lenniDK: I like the idea, but I'm not sold yet. How much does it cost to refill after it goes off? What's the false alarm rate? This seems like a solution for the road rider only. Which is good for them.
I set up my crash alert on my GPS regularly. I've had a lot of close calls without crashes, but with sudden stops. would each of those require a rebuild?
Can you imagine, 20 minutes into your ride, you get a false alarm, it deploys and you need to end your ride because you have no helmet left.
  • 4 3
 @Fix-the-Spade well said. Agreed on all counts.

Probably the most common type of cycling crash while commuting (which I'm assuming is this product's market segment) is being doored. If this company really was up to snuff - they'd show a video of their product and a rider getting doored. Otherwise, stop making cycling products. Cherry picking an impact to best suit your protective product seems irresponsible. The video they made in that particular scenario is worthless.
  • 3 0
 @lenniDK: I first encountered it at Eurobike 2013, they had a video in the booth of it being crash tested against a car. Like that video now the test was unrealistic, the bike was fixed to the floor and did a full loop over backwards before the rider (crash test dummy) hit the car, it gave the hood a second-ish to inflate. I commented on it then. I still think it needs to be conntected to a helmet somehow to truly get the best out of the concept.
  • 4 0
 @oldmanjoe: Don't forget now you have to ride 20 minutes back to your car or home with no protection. Keep a regular helmet with you at all times just in case?
  • 4 0
 @lenniDK: How is it going to inflate around my mullet? Won't it hang up in the back?
  • 2 0
 @ccolagio: "If this company really was up to snuff - they'd show a video of their product and a rider getting doored." - I think they were short on volunteers that day!
  • 5 0
 @lenniDK:

Literally
"It's worth noting the airbag was pre-inflated to 0.56 bar and a larger anvil had to be used compared to the rest of the helmets due to fear of hitting the sharp edges of the anvil and affecting the results."

So the test was altered.
  • 3 0
 While this is first gen, it looks promising to me. Car airbags are able to inflate adequately during very high speed accelerations without false-positive deployments, so obviously these are problems that can be solved, just trickier with space and weight constraints. Perhaps something like this could be paired with a traditional helmet for mtb use, not only for the head, but for the chest and back as well.
  • 2 0
 How about an air bag that is mounted to handle bars & inflates when you go over the bars?
May not work, but sure Danny Mac could do tricks on it!
  • 1 0
 @dthomp325: Cars accelerating and cars crashing have WAY different G-forces. We're talking maybe 2G max accelerating, while the crash detectors might be seeing 30-40G+. On a bike, screwing up the landing for a big huck or similar event generates similar forces to crashing, so it is comparatively harder to differentiate.
  • 45 2
 April fools joke in June?
  • 3 0
 My thoughts exactly...
  • 2 0
 The world has been delayed for a while so this makes perfect sense!
  • 20 1
 For us Swedes it's not so surprising that our glorious premium mtb brand Biltema delivers excellent results. Probably due to extensive R&D in the Biltemagarage by the proud developers and employees of Biltema. Rumour has it that the secret behind the success is the Biltemakorvar going for 5 kronor. A diet consisting of mainly Biltemakorv is known to maximize their cognitive and creative abilities.
  • 6 0
 Only dentist shop at Biltema. Sooo boutique shop.
Why don't we get pølse at Biltema?
  • 1 0
 Raggare will approve. Just another reason to spend the day around the local Biltema.
  • 18 0
 The look on that ladies face riding into the post was priceless. "Hey Jill, ride this bike into the post while we film you, will ya."
  • 10 0
 As they mention, it's probably not good for mountain biking. We have a lot of trails cut through the chaparral and scrub oaks and stuff, and most of my helmet-into-hard-object events are when I tap my head on an overhanging branch. This would provide zero protection for that case. Anyhow, I think they know that. It's intended as a commuter device.
  • 16 0
 It would surely provide the opposite of protection. You'd hit your head on the branch, just start to think 'owww...' and then POP, the airbag goes off, squashes against the branch and breaks your neck and launches you away like those clowns that sit on steering wheel airbags on YouTube.
  • 4 1
 In Europe (well, at least the parts I'm familiar with), helmet use for everyday people using bikes for transportation around towns and cities is seriously rare. For that, the airbag helmet makes sense if it provides protection for people who'd otherwise not wear a helmet, and who are now protected against that rare but potentially fatal event (hit by a car, running into a bridge piling, what have you).
  • 5 0
 @g-42: I live half of the year in France and the other half in Germany. In both countries helmet use for commuting is standard practice - at least 80% of the cyclists wear one. I have to admit though that this significantly has gained traction over the last decade or so.
  • 1 0
 @paulcgn: Hmm - so maybe my experience is outdated by now. I grew up in rural Northern Germany, and of course we went everywhere on bikes and there were no helmets. I've not been back home in a couple years - but a couple years ago, both in the small towns of Northern Germany and Holland, as well as in Bremen, Hamburg, and Amsterdam (all cities with significant bike commuting), helmets on commuters were pretty darn rare. Is the ground shifting on that?
  • 1 0
 The only other time I've heard the term "chaparral" used is in the Western novels I frequently read. 10/10 word usage.
  • 3 0
 @paulcgn: in Bavaria I noticed helmets are often worn by the stem or backpack and not the rider. Never understood why, even on cold days.
  • 3 0
 @g-42: You're assuming that the reason why people in Europe don't wear helmets for city use is that they don't want to physically wear a helmet and that somehow this would be preferable. In reality, the reason why they don't wear helmets is that the vast majority of urban cycling is just not that dangerous from a head injury perspective. You're far more likely to get a head injury in a motor vehicle accident (the leading cause of head injuries in North America, incidentally) and yet we don't wear helmets while driving a car.

None of this is to say that I oppose helmet use during spirited road rides, but if I'm rolling to a grocery store at 8mph on a city bike, it seems rather unnecessary.
  • 2 0
 @Dan686: I actually don't assume that - the risk of urban cycling in Europe is way smaller than it is in North America, where we're much more car centric. In my little Northern German home town, 1st graders rode their bike to school on their own, along arterials - but on physically separate bike paths. Wearing a helmet would have been considered a pretty significant inconvenience to guard against what was perceived as a pretty insignificant risk. So fast forward to today, and people generally are more safety conscious - but that risk/reward ratio is still (from what I could tell on my last trip) generally perceived as not favorable to helmet use. But lower the barrier to helmet use by having them just be some little neck gater, and you might get people to consider it worth it. But the use case would be pretty much that in the video - used in town, commuting.
  • 4 0
 @veero: "like those clowns that sit on steering wheel airbags on YouTube"

man, I learn something new every day. People do this, and indeed, they are clowns.
  • 1 0
 @g-42: I think that in large cities that have a lot of commuters and cars people using helmets are in a majority (like London). In our capital (around 300.000 people) maybe 40% of cyclist commuters use helmets but still a much bigger percent than those using electric scooters.
  • 1 0
 @g-42: It depends. In inner cities, for short trips to bars, shops, around campus, etc. helmets are still rare. But those commuting to work every day and the aging E-bikers mostly wear helmets.
  • 1 0
 @g-42:

Left the Netherlands 3+ years ago. Helmets are/were not the normal in the Netherlands. I still forget to wear a helmet when I rude to the shops here in Australia, but never when I am on the trails. Helmets combined with commuting/running errands is not in my system.
  • 8 0
 One can clearly see her head pass the post before the airbag deploys, ergo if she was actually lined up with the post headfirst, she'd be KO'd in a hot second, although maybe it would protect her head once her limp body hit the ground. A decent idea with underwhelming and dangerous execution.
  • 9 1
 Tha whole market for this are urban bikers that doesn't want to mess up their hair with a helmet. I've seen hövding "helmets" a lot, and every time it's women in age 30-50. For them I guess the choice is not between hövding or a helmet but hövding or nothing.
  • 1 1
 In Kopenhagen and Amsterdam every cyclist is a middle-aged woman?
  • 9 0
 Also if you wanted to dress up as a weird white dinosaur for halloween one of those helmets would be a great start
  • 7 1
 I could see this being nice in addition to a helmet but I’d never want to use this as a replacement to a helmet. As someone who has had a severe concussion bordering on mild TBI I’d pay quite a lot for additional protection.
  • 8 1
 A concussion is a TBI, mate.
  • 8 0
 @fullendurbro: word, I barely remember what the doctor said. I thought Obama was still President
  • 2 0
 I am all for pushing the boundaries of engineering and design and love seeing new ideas and I value the novel application of airbag technology in the bike helmet industry.

However, I do have some reservations regarding the use of this airbag within the MTB world. First of all, the test required that the Hövding airbag use a larger anvil than the other tested models. That alone kills any validity of results in my mind. The testers were concerned about the sharp edges of the anvil. Do they assume that this airbag would never encounter sharp edges in it's regular usage?

From a psychological side, I would be very cautious about using one of these on a mountain bike, at least you know with a traditional EPS foam helmet that it will always be there when you crash. I'd be paranoid that the airbag may not deploy when needed. Further, having it wrapped around your neck while on an MTB would likely limit the flexibility and movement required for riding. In addition, what happens if you are riding aggressively and the airbag senses that absorbing a big hit or such passes it's threshold for activation and inflates while you are still in control. I would shit a brick and likely crash due to the unexpected distraction of the airbag deploying.

I hate seeing the PB community seemingly bash on any idea that might be a a bit outside the box. I genuinely do like the idea and think it has merit. But I do certainly have reservations about its use within mountain biking
  • 1 0
 I'd imagine some kind of neck protection would be wanted by DH people, much like the HANS in F1. Activating the system via a cord attached to the bike might work.
  • 4 0
 How cool would it be if you could instantly transform into a dinosaur or Spider-Man or some other awesome creature upon crashing!
  • 2 0
 Big problem: you can only use it once. It will go off if you crash, whether or not you hit your head. If you crash once near the top of a massive downhill trail you're either walking back or riding without protection. That's ok for urban and commuting where a crash is very rare. Not for mountain biking. Or even competetive road biking for that matter.
  • 2 0
 The statement about using a larger anvil to avoid sharp edges pretty much says everything you need about MTB use. Pure speculation but I suspect that even if it didnt pop, a sharp edged object would still have a chance to deform the bag enough to stike your head.
  • 1 0
 yup, no good for edge hits
  • 2 0
 A Swedish test shows that MIPS (a Swedish invention) and Hövding (also a Swedish invention) is as surprising when German magazines picks Canyon for the best bike second year in a row and when a UK magazine lauds Nukeproof and Whyte latest bike.
  • 1 0
 Pretty much
  • 4 0
 Helmet stacking is the way to go. Two helmets for Enduro . Three if I'm doing DH. Compliments my Buble wrap suit.
  • 1 0
 I'd like to see a reputable lab runs tests that include a HedKayse helmet. I think it would do well across a spectrum of different impact loads to prevent concussive levels of transmitted force, as well as preventing broken skulls (as the original regulations tried to prevent). I think the "memory foam" (my description) design that they use is a game-changer.
  • 1 0
 I think anything for mountain biking would need some kind of hard shell on it though, just due to the fact that you could land directly on a blunt or sharp object like a rock, that would put a more focused impact on the head.
  • 2 0
 Unfortunately I spend almost every day as a subcontractor specializing in air bag replacement. I would gladly trade all the airbags in my Camry for a roll bar and 4pt harness. Just sayin. I like the Moto Gp ones though.
  • 3 0
 I thought the MotoGP ones were just to make you look like a muppet and enhance the shame aspect of the walk of shame out of the gravel when you've lowsided. Again. (not naming names)
  • 1 0
 The decrease in acceleration to the head with the airbag is massive. Makes you think how much potential is in conventional helmets. It probably works much better in the lab than in reality, but still.
Would you survive a car crash with a block of EPS foam instead of am airbag? Probably not. Would you feel safe? Neither.

Now somebody needs to convert this hövding contraption into a useable product for bikers...
  • 1 0
 Exactly, This will always be the limitation with any helmet, in that you can only make it so big before it’s not practical. I think it’s what you meant to say, but the it’s actually the deceleration of the head that is the issue for concussions. The head rapidly decelerates (by hitting something) and the brain inside keeps moving and slams into the inside of the skull. To prevent this a helmet needs to slow the deceleration and the only way to do that is to increase the distance over which it has to decelerate, or in other words make the helmet Bigger/thicker. In theory making a helmet to prevent concussions is simple. Wrap the head in something super thick, soft, and shock absorbing (like an airbag) and you’ll never see a concussion again. Only problem is that obviously something like that is not practical to wear.
  • 1 0
 The problem is that the airbag is very soft. This gives good numbers in the test, but it also limits it's protection against hard impacts. There is a good reason why bike helmets are so stiff - if they were any softer, they would fail to protect in hard crashes. There is a trade-off between a comfortable slow impact, and a safe hard impact. Also, the airbag design completely fails against anything but a smooth surface. Any pointy objects will go straight through the air cushion, and then you suddenly don't have any protection at all. A foam with plastic liner outside can distribute point loads much better.
  • 1 0
 @Kainerm: Exactly. In mountain biking, how often does your head slam into a perfectly flat surface? The thing mountain bike helmets have to protect from is sharp rocks, small diameter branches etc, that would just push through the airbag like a rock trashing a rim through an under inflated tyre. There are also a variety of impacts - slower speed could do with soft foam (which you could probably argue beginner and kids helmets should be made of), whereas head on into a tree needs a hard shell to spread the load and a firm foam to avoid collapse. I believe moto helmets typically have a harder foam than MTB, due to the typically higher impact speed.
  • 1 0
 Not surprised at all that an airbag was superior than basically a disposable beer cooler on your head. Perhaps the next step forward is a hybrid eps foam helmet with an airbag liner that inflated above a certain impact threshold---and of course it wouldn't look ridiculous.
  • 1 0
 Not going to lie... I'd seriously consider this! I am pretty good at bikes... But I ride my beater bike around town all the time and I hate wearing a helmet when I am riding 10 blocks to the bar. A year ago a buddy of mine who is a pretty good at bikes as well was riding his bike home from the bar with no helmet and got hit by a car that ran a stop sign.. Huge brain bleed and sweeling, they had to take half his skull off to allow for swelling.. Seriously lucky to have lived.. Dude had 9 toes in the grave for a few days. Something like this would be so awesome for me when I want to ride my bike around town, because after buddy almost died, it was a huge gut check to all of us that it could have been any of us that helmets save lives..
  • 1 0
 Curious about a combo here - a traditional lid that would fire an airbag after first impact. I've crashed a fair bit of times, and don't think any of these accidents could have triggered the bag before disaster.

Classic example - coming in hot through a "chicane", hooking a tree with my handlebar, instant superman at top velocity head top first into tree across the trail followed by ragdolling into the bush. Made a huge dent in my Poc Trabec, and knocked me out for a couple of minutes. Looking at the helmet, I guess it had lost quite a lot of it's functionality after the first smash. I was lucky to not have any major secondary hits to the head.

I'll never wear a Bilkoma safety product. Just nope.
  • 4 0
 I’d go through 3 of these per ride
  • 3 0
 No connection between the CEO of the insurance company and the CEO of this new helmet company...?
  • 4 0
 It seems the safety claims are over inflated.
  • 1 0
 Not to even mention how aero the shape of the Hovding is. Wow! 'Course, in the video she didn't even touch her head to anything, so I'm not really sure what that enactment tells us, if anything at all....
  • 1 0
 Did we really need a scientific study to tell us this? Basic understanding of very simple physics would tell you that a big f*cking airbag will protect your head better than some kind of hard foam/plastic thing.
  • 3 0
 Stunt test # 3208. What happened the other 3207 times before this ? The video looks like a comedy skit.
  • 1 0
 Weird... the Italians make the best fitting helmets, and none is in the test.
Giro helmets performed poorly, while they were top of the crop in the american “independent” testing.
  • 1 0
 I'd far rather a helmet that was 90% effective 100% of the time than a helmet that was 100% ineffective 10% of the time. If this helmet doesn't go off when you need it, well...
  • 3 0
 she should probably have seen that lamp post.
  • 2 0
 But what if your head is the first point of impact? It wouldnt be deployed if i rode headfirst into a tree
  • 3 0
 I hear that there's popcorn inside.
  • 3 0
 Poles, taking the lives of humans since they were invented.
  • 1 0
 For some reason I thought you meant polish people... Glad I realized that you meant poles.
  • 1 0
 Why not a full body airbag system. That way, I don't have to buy a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, body armour, etc. Then, I'd be on Seinfeld as the next bubble boy!
  • 2 0
 So if I have a very heavy head does the airbag helmet come with volume tokens?
Asking for a friend.
  • 3 0
 Scandinavian helmet brands test best in Scandinavian test shocker!
  • 1 0
 Don't know about y'all but I'm just not tryna look like a fkin Tyranosaurus Rex at any point in my life. Hard enough to reach the bars already.
  • 2 0
 Wasn't April two months ago?
  • 3 4
 all fun and games until

1: you crash and it doesn't go off or
2: you're riding along and it suddenly deploys.

not sure what advantage is being portrayed here apart from being safer in a controlled and ideal environment.
  • 6 5
 Those are re-used comments from when airbags in vehicles were introduced. Now it is almost impossible to get a new vehicle without one.
  • 1 1
 @onemind123: the forces in vehicles are far more predictable than ones you experience whilst riding a bike. also, and airbags purpose in a car is to reduce the overall g's on your body when in a crash. this helmet is designed solely to protect your head and i don't see what advantages this helmet offers you over a decent normal helmet.
  • 4 0
 @onemind123: except people weren't driving around in body armor as an alternative to air bags
  • 3 0
 @buildstuf: What advantage? I mean, other than the finding that it protected your head better than a "normal" helmet? It's just one study, so we'll see, but that's significant. It's annoying, but performance in a controlled environment is all we ever have to judge helmet effectiveness.

Given that the whole concept depends on it reliably going off when you crash, I'm guessing they're working quite hard to make sure that never happens. Accidentally deployment would probably be more likely. Also, how cool would it be to in effect only "wear" a helmet when you're crashing? that would be amazing. One day this tech will be dialed and cover full body! Then we'll all hit Fest-sized jumps worry free. Don't know why we always have to be so cranky about people trying new things around here...
  • 2 0
 I think one of the main advantages of the airbag helmet is that it might better protect the many casual urban cyclists who don't wear helmets. It might be easier to convince someone who otherwise doesn't like the look/discomfort of a traditional helmet to wear an airbag device. I don't see this convincing traditional helmet users to make the switch, it's trying to convince non-helmet users to ride safer.
  • 2 0
 @onemind123: yes I agree now let's pass a law making helmets mandatory in automobiles.
  • 2 0
 @TacosMcGee: one of my best friend's was wearing one of these and had a crash at Christmas 3 years ago. He slid out of a slippery corner and hit his head on a kerb. The air bag never deployed as the forces involved were very low. He was in a coma for a month and spent the last 3 years rehabilitating. He didn't even know his own child for two years. Thankfully he is on the mend now but I'm sure he still has issues that he doesn't tell us about.

He wouldn't have even had a scratch on his head with a traditional helmet. These things are not proven enough to be considered a safe alternative to a proper helmet.
  • 1 1
 That air bag is a joke - watch the other promotional vids - no rider ACTUALLY smacks their head to the ground. The woman didn't need anything - her head never made contact.
  • 2 0
 I want one of these for when Whistler opens.
  • 2 0
 You should come riding honey, it will be fun.
  • 2 0
 Depressing results for Giro
  • 1 0
 But what if I want to huck a stairset on the way to work wearing one of those? Have they tested that?
  • 2 0
 Looked like she was attacked by a giant albino slug from space.
  • 1 0
 Can't wait to ride around with some bomb wrapped around my neck. Can't stop thinking about Takata airbags recall.
  • 1 0
 For many of us the airbag would go off 10x a year. That is a problem. An expensive one.
  • 1 0
 I’ll just avoid crashing, I got a feeling that air vag is more likely to cause a crash
  • 2 0
 Who rides into a lamppost in an empty street.
  • 1 0
 3,208 stunt tests implies there were a couple thousand pole slams that didn't end as well. The internet needs that footage.
  • 1 0
 I think this product is for people who do not want to wear a regular helmet because it will mess up your hair?
  • 1 0
 I dunno if it works. But I laughed.
  • 5 4
 You would look a right c*nt with that on you’re head
  • 2 0
 Troy Lee please.
  • 1 0
 That's absolutely hilarious!
  • 1 0
 I can tell you Helite airbag is coming soon to mtb.
  • 1 0
 Can you make one that deploys a full face lol
  • 1 0
 What about Fox Rampage???
  • 1 4
 Safest for people pedaling around cities maybe. What a bunch of crap. I'm tired of all these articles. Oh this lab says this because of this test.

Why not trust the test labs run by people making the helmets in the first place. That's why I ride Bell/Giro. They don't have to trust "independent labs" they have their own. Then they send out for external testing.

Kali works very closely with specific labs as well. 6D as well for Moto.
  • 7 1
 "We not only work with one independent lab, we work with as many as four different labs, why? Each lab has different results. We are not only looking for verification, we do research with these labs, we try different combinations of materials and geometries. I have a huge amount of respect for the people like Dr. Smith at Dynamic research, Dr. Plant at Rhoen labs. These people don’t just test, they consult, we collaborate, sometime argue all in the name of learning."

 "Even if you are as big as Bell and can have your own lab it is good to verify those results. Based on the different results we see at the different labs I think it is wise to test in multiple labs."

-Brad Waldron, Founder, Kali Protectives
  • 4 0
 "Why not trust the test labs run by people making the helmets in the first place?"

Conflicts of interest would be one reason.
  • 2 0
 @KaliProtectives: ...has there ever been an argument about the comparison between the transmission of rotational forces from helmets to rubber dummy heads versus actual human heads with skin and hair?
  • 1 0
 @breadandbits:
Yes, the debate is how accurate these surfaces are, not just with the labs I use, but in the testing circles in general.
  • 1 0
 Thought that was a potato
  • 1 0
 Wait! It's a weird year but didn't April 1 already pass?
  • 1 0
 Talk about blowing your top.
  • 1 0
 does it protect against branches?
  • 1 0
 My head...until Grim Donut Episode 2 gets released.
  • 1 0
 LOL. Cant stop laughing...
  • 1 0
 What to the numbers mean? What are the percentages representative of?
  • 1 0
 dude touches branch and gets tossed into the abyss
  • 1 0
 Koroyd doesn’t make it again....
  • 1 0
 Ha







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