Safer Helmet

Donn2390 · Sep 1, 2014

If this is posted in the wrong place, mods please move it...
Was watching the NHRA drag races this morning and they were talking about Bill Simpson of Simpson Safety Equipment, a long time leader in racing safetyt equipment, having designed a football helmet that is 60% safer than the one currently used my most teams. Could be a break through in helping prevent concussions...
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/08/2 ... ssi-helmet

Sarlacc83 · Sep 1, 2014

Just eliminating the weight of the helmet would have already helped the NFL. If they really cared, which they don't.

bmorepunk · Sep 1, 2014

Donn2390":3f0r7qon said:
If this is posted in the wrong place, mods please move it...
Was watching the NHRA drag races this morning and they were talking about Bill Simpson of Simpson Safety Equipment, a long time leader in racing safetyt equipment, having designed a football helmet that is 60% safer than the one currently used my most teams. Could be a break through in helping prevent concussions...
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/08/2 ... ssi-helmet

NFL players are free to choose their own helmets, which should have been evident from reading just this article.

Jville · Sep 1, 2014

Helmets? What Helmets?[youtube]4jSoLJErJmY[/youtube]

ZorntoLargent · Sep 1, 2014

No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

Donn2390 · Sep 1, 2014

ZorntoLargent":3u9tyxll said:
No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

I'm sorry I brought it up..! I didn't realize we have so many fans who know more about safety than Bill Simpson. I have to guess you're so smart, you must all be millionaires like Bill ...

bmorepunk · Sep 1, 2014

Donn2390":2d7auo7j said:
ZorntoLargent":2d7auo7j said:

No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry I brought it up..! I didn't realize we have so many fans who know more about safety than Bill Simpson. I have to guess you're so smart, you must all be millionaires like Bill ...

Jville · Sep 1, 2014

Donn2390":f90gh4qw said:
ZorntoLargent":f90gh4qw said:

No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry I brought it up..! I didn't realize we have so many fans who know more about safety than Bill Simpson. I have to guess you're so smart, you must all be millionaires like Bill ...

Don't be, armor is a most interesting collision subject. I always armor up before taking to the road on 2-wheels. Just don't trust cagers and deer and such. Been thinking about adding a neck brace lately.

ivotuk · Sep 1, 2014

Jville":13gwl3k3 said:
Donn2390":13gwl3k3 said:

ZorntoLargent":13gwl3k3 said:

No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry I brought it up..! I didn't realize we have so many fans who know more about safety than Bill Simpson. I have to guess you're so smart, you must all be millionaires like Bill ...

Click to expand...

Don't be, armor is a most interesting collision subject. I always armor up before taking to the road on 2-wheels. Just don't trust cagers and deer and such. Been thinking about adding a neck brace lately.

Same here JVille. Distracted driving is out of control so I drive like they are out to get me. I even have an "armored" vest. Neck brace is an interesting idea, would probably be fairly warm.

The idea about a lighter helmet is a great one because the weight of the helmet only adds to the velocity of the rebound. And of course it's the rebound the causes the injury, that sudden change of direction. Lighter helmets and better, form-fitting padding would probably help too.

A lot of it comes down to the biology of each player too. Some players brain bucket is better for taking a blow than others. All the time I see players take a hit that does not phase them while someone else takes the same hit and gets a concussion. People like Wes Welker are possibly more susceptible to concussions.

Jazzhawk · Sep 1, 2014

The article is two years old (not a commentary on you posting it, just noting the date). Seems that the players themselves aren't buying into it.

pocketprotector · Sep 1, 2014

Sarlacc83":2gowfr9j said:
Just eliminating the weight of the helmet would have already helped the NFL. If they really cared, which they don't.

I hear this sentiment thrown around a lot with very little factual support. People used to die playing this game without a helmet.

scutterhawk · Sep 1, 2014

ZorntoLargent":bq2uxu9l said:
No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

So, they shouldn't even try to reduce the number of concussions by doing everything they can to improve?
Sure seems to me like the NFL would be doing everything they can to minimize head injuries, because there are players that have irreparable damage, that are coming back on them with Lawsuits.
I'm not convinced that any helmet is better than no helmet, else why did they ever ditch the old leather lids for the plastic ones?
Safety equipment is being improved on, and on a continuous basis, and yes, the NFL does care, because they are being forced to.

EDIT: You may not be able to stop the brain from moving inside your skull, but you CAN lessen that movement with shock absorbing cushioning.
That's why the automotive industry has implemented shock absorbing bumpers, as well as air bags.

chris98251 · Sep 1, 2014

Donn2390 Check your PM's

chris98251 · Sep 1, 2014

Actually we had a very in depth thread not long ago about Helmet design and the new ones, many of the members were involved in the discussion and there was some in depth medical information as to the effects on the head in sudden impact situations where the head will stop moving but the brain being somewhat in a floating situation will crash against the skull wall creating bruising and concussions.

Largent80 · Sep 1, 2014

I saw that on todays broadcast as well. Simpson safety equipment makes the best drag racing equipment. Bill has friends in NFL capacities and was wondering why there were so many injuries and he set out to make a safer helmet.

He accomplished this. They showed the test on tv, and the helmet can outperform the next best helmet by over 60%. I would like to see it made mandatory with all the concussions these days.

Seafan · Sep 1, 2014

No helmet in the world can stop the brain from moving inside the skull and concussing. Kam's big hit on Davis which drew a flag they later apologized for throwing, caused a concussion but didn't involve a hit to the head. The whiplash of the brain can occur in any sport and many non sport activites. Simpson is out to cash in but his helmet won't limit concussions.

Sarlacc83 · Sep 1, 2014

pocketprotector":ks2est2q said:
Sarlacc83":ks2est2q said:

Just eliminating the weight of the helmet would have already helped the NFL. If they really cared, which they don't.

Click to expand...

I hear this sentiment thrown around a lot with very little factual support. People used to die playing this game without a helmet.

The NFL mandates all aspects of the uniform except the helmet. They let the players wear whatever they want which means they'll use a helmet which you can't even drop on your knee without causing pain. Players then use the helmet as a weapon.

This is not rocket science. Then again you seem to think there's no middle ground between heavy and nothing.

ZorntoLargent · Sep 2, 2014

http://abcnews.go.com/US/riddell-unveil ... d=25141779

Again, most of it it the wiplash, and the brain moving, not the padding or weight of the shell.

ZorntoLargent · Sep 5, 2014

scutterhawk":2x7asrds said:
ZorntoLargent":2x7asrds said:

No helmet can prevent your brain from moving inside your skull.
How many hits does an NHR racer take? Zero.
They take one? And either live or die. The don't take hundreds of hits.

Click to expand...

So, they shouldn't even try to reduce the number of concussions by doing everything they can to improve?
Sure seems to me like the NFL would be doing everything they can to minimize head injuries, because there are players that have irreparable damage, that are coming back on them with Lawsuits.
I'm not convinced that any helmet is better than no helmet, else why did they ever ditch the old leather lids for the plastic ones?
Safety equipment is being improved on, and on a continuous basis, and yes, the NFL does care, because they are being forced to.

EDIT: You may not be able to stop the brain from moving inside your skull, but you CAN lessen that movement with shock absorbing cushioning.
That's why the automotive industry has implemented shock absorbing bumpers, as well as air bags.

I noticed E Lacey was wearing the new helmet Riddell came up with........... and had a concussion.
http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2014/ ... ssion-risk

ivotuk · Sep 9, 2014

Ridell has a new helmet and it looks like the Packers were wearing it last Thursday. Did anyone else notice that "flapper" piece near the forehead?

"Just to be clear, the SpeedFlex doesn't actually crumple under pressure. It does, however, have a built-in hinged rubber-padded panel located on the front near the top. In head-on collisions with other players (or the ground), this panel gives by up to a quarter of an inch (6 mm), helping to absorb the impact.

Additionally, the stainless steel face mask takes up some of the force via its flexible design, plus it attaches to the helmet at a total of four points on either side of the face, instead of at a single point above it. This arrangement allows the impact force to be more evenly distributed throughout the helmet, instead of being concentrated near the player's forehead."

http://www.gizmag.com/riddell-speedflex ... met/33693/

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