Well, I do understand that the Snell Memorial Foundation has come a long way from its founding, and not all of it in a positive direction for helmet wearers. That's been hashed out ad nauseam in the magazines and the interwebs.

But they've had that five year limit for a very long time, and I guess I'd want to see something from another third party before I'd wager my central nervous system on an anecdote from a single manufacturer.

And I'd feel a lot more comfortable if someone could explain to me why coffee cups that have been outside for a while crumble, rather than just saying "they don't," when they obviously do. Maybe there's something in the environment on the ground or water, that helmets aren't exposed to much, that causes the cups to crumble. Maybe the EPS in cups is significantly different from the kind in helmets. But until I stop picking up coffee cups and having them crumble in my hands, I'm going to keep replacing my helmets every three to five years.



As far as low-level impacts - just like the holes - that's something that's really dependent on the specifics. There's no way to generalize, because no two helmets are going to land in exactly the same spot on exactly the same surface from exactly the same height. Almost certainly it's fine after one drop off the handlebars. Probably after two. Maybe after three. Inspection by the manufacturer would be able to tell you. Otherwise, it's just a gamble. (It's always a gamble, I know, it's just that the odds become a little worse each time a helmet gets dropped...)