Top 5 helmets on the market today

[eric42434224 1]

HECC runs the universal tests for helmet safety and certification. The tests are not designed for comfort, obviously. The tests are designed to meet standards for impact, strength, and more. The HECC tests are the gold standard for helmet safety. They are independently conducted. Check the back of your helmet. Those two stickers have to be earned by the vendors before they go on the helmets. At NBH in St. Jerome, those stickers are kept in a bank-style safe.

Kind of like the UL sticker on products (United Laboratories)

Completely independent, and unbiased. They just test for safety.

[JR Boucicaut 3805]

Yet manufacturer representatives who had product in the helmet field have served on the HECC board. Never understood that one.

[eric42434224 1]

Yet manufacturer representatives who had product in the helmet field have served on the HECC board. Never understood that one.

That might have something to do with product knowledge. Who else besides manufacturers can give the best insight into the mechanics of the helmets. I am sure it is in the bylaws of the board to limit the number of members who may be associated with manufacturers. It is the same way with boards in the financial and corporate sector. It is an unfortunate nature of the beast.

[epstud74 24]

I think the 452 and 652 are closer then the 852 to the HT2, for the record I use EPP and find the RBK's fit me best.

I have a 452 in black at home and I agree with your assessment..

Kariya uses oversized VN, Lafontaine did as well

It looks as if Kovalev does the same..I was watching on NHL network and noticed his CCM helmet had more padding thickness than normally seen.

[ktang 34]

Why isn't VN foam used as the primary foam for protection in elite level bicycling helmets?

I think we've had this discussion. VN versus EPP It would be great if someone would test all the helmets under realistic conditions, but just designing the tests would be a challenge.

We have had this discussion many, many times. However, I assure you all the vendors conduct tests in RD & D with any helmet they design long before it goes to HECC testing for certification. I have seen the tests that NBH conducts in St. Jerome on their helmets. With insurance liability risks, there is nothing left to chance in the design and test elements. Did you know that every production run of helmets also are tested? If one helmet fails after production, the entire production run is destroyed.

I've never said that any helmets were unsafe, except the 235, just that I don't think EPP does as good of a job at preventing concussions.

Chadd, Darkstar's comment is directed at me. I know the helmets are tested and I know the manufacturers spend a lot of time and money coming up with very good test cases. And I've no doubt quality is a very major concern for the vendors.

But each vendor has their own tests. And each vendor's helmet is going to perform best with their testing techniques. It almost has to, they are going to be designing the helmet to beat their tests because that is what they have to ensure quality and performance.

There is no universal test run by an unbiased, highly respected group of scientists that specialize in hockey impacts that all vendors can agree on that would allow us to choose the best helmet. that is what I was trying to get across in my earlier post.

We can argue all we like about which are the best helmets, but we are all using anecdotal evidence to choose our best helmets.

The end users (e.g. players and trainers in hockey) can also perceive what seems to work and what doesn't.

In my business, the technical people often forget a few things, such as:

(i) something that works certain ways in lab, testing, trial, controlled, transition-to-operations, or limited use conditions may behave very differently in real-world wide-use conditions;

(ii) the end users will use the products / systems a lot more than the technical people have;

(iii) the end users will use the products / systems in a wider variety of conditions;

(iv) the end users will use the products / systems in more realistic conditions; and

(v) the end users, collectively, will accumulate a wealth of results that should be used.

I agree that it would be extremely difficult to design a series of tests that encompass all the impact situations that would occur in hockey. It would be even more difficult for this to be funded and unbiased (see Neal's comment above, and JR's).

However, the results of impacts in the all the games, scrimmages, and practices can also be used as a database of information that would be much more complete than any series of controlled tests..

Informally, perhaps the players and trainers have compared their observations of similar impacts between EPP and VN helmets and have arrived at their own conclusion about which material provides more protection against concussions, right or not-so-right or wrong (Neal's anecdotal evidence above).