Helmets How often do you replace your helmet? What to do with the 'old' one?

[Shuey]

So . . . when replacing a helmet because it's "too old" . . . what do you do with the "old unsafe" one?

Looking online I find that motorcycle helmet manufacturers recommend, crashes aside, replacing your helmet every three to five years.

DOT says their certified helmets should be removed from store shelfs after 7 years.

So . . . how often do YOU replace your helmet and WHAT do you do with the old one?

Shuey

 

[Firstpeke]

On average I replace at five years, or less if it is getting uncomfortable for some reason.

At disposal to the waste disposal site, I cut the straps off and remove the visor.... I considered putting a hammer to one or two but decided against it.
I would also generally bag the helmet so it isn't obvious what it is....

 

[ToddC]

Not sure but probably every 10 years or so.
First one was stolen,
Second one was falling apart, black foam dust. Garbage can.
Third one is still in inventory, just in case.
Wearing my fourth one...... I think fourth.......

 

[dduelin]

I favor Shoei helmets. The current 7 year from date of manufacture/5 year from retail sale recommendation that Shoei gives reportedly comes from the Snell Foundation but I did not personally research that. If that is true it is noteworthy that Snell prominently distances itself from industry pressures and seeks to create crash survival standards based on intelligent design and rigorous testing. I do not believe that Snell would collude with manufacturers to come up with a recommendation aimed at selling more helmets.

The limiting factor of the current life cycle may be the universal use of expanded polystyrene foam liners in mass produced helmets for the energy absorbing part of the helmet. A properly fitted helmet is tight and and just using it over time deforms the closed cell EPS liner a little and compresses the open cell foam pads used in interior padded liners a lot. A helmet in use 5 years doesn't fit like new ones do. Fit is important to absorb energy and keep it on your melon in a crash thus helmet on and off cycles matter. Hanging it on rear view mirrors or handlebar ends can make little dents in the liner which affect it.

Better EPS grades that may retain manufacture date quality longer don't absorb energy as well and can't pass various standards used to pass/fail helmets. The industry has sorted out a balance between grade and thickness of EPS that meets absorption requirements, life cycle, cost, and test results. EPS predictably degrades over time and loses ability to absorb the same level of energy during its life cycle. I theorize we could get helmets that last much longer but they wouldn't be mass produced in numbers ( read that as affordable ) and probably wouldn't be cosmetically unacceptable.

Helmets I have purchased have all had a date of manufacture either on a sticker affixed to the EPS liner or embossed on the riveted portion of the retaining strap. Not hard to find.

Finally, any life cycle recommendation is undoubtably based on worst case. How the helmet is used, how often and for how long, how it is maintained and stored between uses. Find your balance and happy place. I ride 20,000 miles a year so I wear a helmet a lot but I'm not a daily use commuter. I have more than one helmet so that reduces hours of use over 5 years. I live in a hot humid climate so that's that and I store it indoors in climate controlled conditions. A helmet I really like I'll replace the crown and cheek pads once or twice to extend quality of fit and keep it in service more than 5 years by 2 or 3 years. When I throw it away I cut the strap off and chuck it.

 

[Jethro]

l keep an old helmet(3 yrs. old or so).for moose hunt; slow going,to satisfy the MNR,LEO.

 

[SMSW]

My last hat, a Schuberth, was retired at 7 years. It's sitting on a shelf in our coat closet keeping the Shoei N'tk2 company. Last hat I used a hole saw to drill big holes in it when I threw it away.

I've read that some fire departments use old helmets to teach EMT's how to remove a helmet and/or familiarize them with the release buckles, or chin release (modular). Anyone know if this is true? Someone once posted a picture of a few helmets hanging up side down and holding plants.

 

[dwalby]

When I used to ride every day of the year, more or less, by the time a helmet was 5-6 years old the liner was shot anyway, so it was an easy call to toss it and get a new one. Now that I ride much less frequently my 5-6 y.o. helmets look less ragged, so I typically run them a couple years longer. I usually keep the last one on a shelf in the garage for some unknown reason, then toss it in the trash a few years later.

 

[rjs987]

I've varied how long before I replace a helmet. Usually around 5 years. Once as long as 7 years. And my first helmet came with the bike so that one was real old... and before I knew they deteriorated to becoming useless for any real protection soon after 7 years. I've seen them used as planters for flowers and other plants hanging by the straps on a fence. I have taken my old helmets to the EMT/Firehouse and they were glad to get them for training. So yes, that bit is true.

 

[okckeith]

Living in Tornado Alley, I keep them. Might just safe a head injury from a tornado.

 

[sky.high]

We replace them when the interior starts to wear out, we hang the old ones on our garage memory wall like trophies

 

[Andrew Shadow]

I t-boned a car with my ST1100 and laid on the black-top until the paramedics arrived. Once they were satisfied that I had no severe neck or back injury, they attempted to remove my helmet to further evaluate me before letting me get up. I buy my helmets so that they fit tightly as they are supposed to. They did not know to pull the helmet open using the straps when removing it. The pain they caused almost ripping my ears off was worse than the pain of the impact. If I did have a neck injury, the stress of improperly forcing the helmet off of my head would have exacerbated that injury. I had to stop them and remove the helmet for them.

Because of this experience, I drilled a couple of 1" holes in that helmet in various locations using a hole saw to make it obvious that it was not serviceable. I took it to the fire department where the accident had ocurred and explained what happened to me. I explained why I was giving it to them, so that they could practice with it, and showed them how to properly remove a helmet. I did not cut the straps off because they would not be able to train with it. They admitted that they never thought of this, and that they didn't know how to properly remove a properly fitting helmet.

If they ever did anything with it or fired it straight in to the garbage, I have no idea.

 

[STumped]

Living in Tornado Alley, I keep them. Might just safe a head injury from a tornado.

@okckeith, I never thought of that but that is brilliant! Tornado warning comes....don the "old, worn out helmet" and head for the closet with a mattress on top for max protection. Genius! I mean, an old helmet might not be the best for road use but WAAAAYYYYY better than nothing if a tornado were to strike.

When I instructed the MSF courses, and the discussion inevitably turned to helmet pros and cons, I used to tell my students:

"Take a helmet, any helmet - even an old cheapo brand helmet - and place it on your head. Take a hammer and hit yourself in the head. Now, take the helmet off and hit yourself in the head again with the hammer. Any questions?"

 

[Oldbikefixr]

Living in Tornado Alley, I keep them. Might just safe a head injury from a tornado.

same here. I keep one for each of us. Only used this precaution once. Both kids helmeted in the bathtub (near the center of the house), wife and I in the small closet across the hall. Got pitch black outside, large hail before and as the twister passed overhead but it touched down only briefly about a block away in a very large green space. Most immediate damage was to large trees and branches. Bus stop a block away lost one of those benches made of thick cement slabs, seat and back were four inches thick, six feet long inset into three supports that were a full six inches thick....gone. Shingle damage throughout the neighborhood.
Still keep four old hats in the house.

 

[JimTid]

In the past I've always replaced them when they start feeling loose on my head. My dirt bike helmet is a Shoei Hornet DS. I ordered a new center liner yesterday from Revzilla for $50. This will be my first attempt to extend the life of a helmet.

 

[red one]

Currently have one that is 10 years old. When they no longer fit they get thrown in the garbage can.

 

[randalicious]

This is one of those YMMV topics.
I had a few old helmets that were just taking up garage space, and needed disposal. So I took them to my local EMT hive to see if they could use them.
They declined my gracious offer because they said that helmets made an ideal surface to tape the head/cranium/skull down to the gurney/board, thus keeping the head and neck immobile ( as much as possible).
They also said that the ER had bone saws and other devices that they would use to cut the helmet off the victim without requiring movement and effort to remove it.
Some like 'em, some don't, I guess.

 

[Al st1100]

I use my old one in my wife car when she's driving

 

[steve3b3]

I try to adhere to the 5 year recommendation.
For some reason, my track helmets never made it that far.
My old helmets were kept around, but eventually just thrown into the trash

 

[NVDucati]

 

[Andrew Shadow]

They declined my gracious offer because they said that helmets made an ideal surface to tape the head/cranium/skull down to the gurney/board, thus keeping the head and neck immobile ( as much as possible).
They also said that the ER had bone saws and other devices that they would use to cut the helmet off the victim without requiring movement and effort to remove it.

This is a good point as well. Unless there is absolute certainty about there being no head or neck injury, it is recommended that the helmet be left on and allow the ER doctors to remove it where they are equipped to deal with what happens upon removal. I have seen many people who put stickers on their helmets advising that their helmet is to be removed in the ER only.

My Sister is a nurse in Santa Monica CA. She once had a motorcycle accident victim come in who had multiple serious injuries. The paramedics had left his helmet on. It was a really cheap helmet, the kind that are intended to comply with the helmet requirement and nothing more. It was severely banged up, crushed and compromised in several locations. When the ER doctor cut the helmet off, she said half of his head fell out on to the gurney and he died instantly.

I replace mine probably at around 10 years on average. Because of where I live I can't ride year-round, so that probably works out to about 6 or 7 years on a helmet.