Dropped Helmet, Need to Replace?

[Biciclista]

wow! that's serious damage, Jobob!


and about dropped helmets. I dropped mine too; er, it fell on my head out of the closet. Upon close inspection, i found a crack . and had to replace it.
no cracks allowed.

[MartianDestiny]

Helmets can be damaged even when no outward signs of damage can be seen. They are designed to compress once which increases the time of impact which decreases the impulse which is good. Once they compress they are done for and you may or may not be able to tell they've compressed.

So technically, 1 impact = new helmet. And 4ft or so to concrete does count as an impact.

All that said; I've dropped mine before too and continued to wear it. I replace my helmets every 2 years (as opposed to the 5 recommended) or at the first sign of wear to reduce the danger of significant loss of protection from all the minor knocks it gets (I commute and then haul the helmet around with me, take it on airplanes, etc).

It ends up being what you are comfortable with. If you call the helmet company though they'll tell you to replace it.

[ny biker]

wow! that's serious damage, Jobob!


and about dropped helmets. I dropped mine too; er, it fell on my head out of the closet. Upon close inspection, i found a crack . and had to replace it.
no cracks allowed.

It got a crack from landing on your head?!? Ouch!

[jobob]

Hee hee, Mimi must have a hard noggin'.

(sorry, could not resist )

[Biciclista]

It cracked either when it hit my head or then bounced to the floor. OUCH it hurt too.
I should have been wearing my helmet!

[jobob]

Good one!