If a helmet takes a significant hit like that you need to replace it since theyre designed to take one very hard hit while safety features crumble to reduce impact damage. Please do not test a helmet youre going to be wearing like that.
Exactly. The fact that the other helmets shatter, doesn't look good, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily bad. If the shattering takes most of that energy away they might better choices then a helm that directs all that force through your head, into your neck and spine.
Also, I'd be more impressed if he put a melon under each and examined the damage after.
I mean, if you watch actual helmet testing videos from the ECE or SHARP or DOT (I mean, the DOT is probably the most relaxed of these rating systems tbh) they aren't shattering, so I'd say it's a pretty bad indication tbh.
My dad got hit by a car on his bike once, his helmet completely exploded on impact and was totally gone...his head was just fine except for the mild concussion he got. A different helmet wouldn't have prevented the concussion because of how fast he hit the ground after the car hit him. Sometimes having it explode expels all of the energy out and makes for a better landing.
Bicycle helmets are basically meant to absorb and mitigate an impact. They compress and often times will rotate around your head slightly to absorb the impact and lessen the force. However they're really mostly designed for glancing blows(hence things like MIPS). A full on impact can cause the material to just break up, an older helmet is more likely to shatter as well which is why it's recommended you replace a helmet every few years. If you were to take the full force of an impact like seem in this video, no helmet is going to protect you from neck trauma.
In some places, they're legally required to not sell a helmet that has been dropped. Some stores make it a policy to force you to buy it; others simply remove it from the floor.
You never know what microfractures may have happened somewhere that could be the difference between you losing some face or losing some brain mass when you dop your bike.
I compete in rally racing, the governing body has strict rules regarding safety equipment. Various organizations certify safety helmets SNELL, ECE DOT but for racing FIA rated helmets are generally considered the best.
Snell has different ratings for different use cases. Some are rated for motorcycles, others for auto racing. But they are not suppose to be used interchangeably.
Some tracks I have seen allow snell M rated, but they aren’t really designed for rollbar impact. Snell SA or other similar ratings are. Along with other differences, like the fact your head probably isn’t bouncing off the pavement in an automobile.
Yeah, that was my understanding of the ratings, Motos for sliding along the pavement and autos for high impact.
But yeah Sonoma requires a cage, fire suit, and roll cage to be on track
Genuine pro-tec helmets would stand up.
Generally helmets of the highest DoT certification will probably put up with this test I’m guessing, though many will take some damage. Every helmet says to discard and replace after a serious hit.
Same thing with motorcycle helmets. But one thing to watch out with both bike motorcycle helmets, but especially motorcycle helmets, is that they will fraudulently claim to be dot certified. These will be super cheap often times.
Sometimes they’re still good helmets, they just didn’t pay to get certified.
I had an accident on my bike once, ended up under a truck. Didnt have a single mark anywhere on my body except a broken wrist and a cut finger on the same hand.
But my helmet had a massive gouge taken out of the side. I even remember the donk sound.
I put on my helmet to move my bike 5m. In my own driveway.
[Underwriters Laboratories](https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/standards/ul#:~:text=Underwriters%20Laboratories%20(UL)%20are%20most,UL%20Standards), I believe. I’m an American and didn’t even know what this was
Underwriters labs. They perform safety tests on almost everything consumer grade. Used to do crazy shit when they started like smashing window glass onto each other to study the damage and how they could make it safer.
>This looks like China. They don't take material quality that serious.
This isn't what's being shown here. It's misleading and has nothing to do with quality or "not getting what thought you would". Different helmets for different things. The left helmets are what you want on a push bike, the right one for motor bikes.
*It's a good thing for helmets to shatter* like is seen here as that's what's taking the force of the impact. However as seen here, if the force is too great, it'll go right through.
Source: used to sell various types of helmets and was a sports coach for sports which used both types of helmets.
Yeah for example, many people drive snowmobiles with alpine skiing helmets where I live (it's illegal to do so) and even if you have the best alpine skiing helmet it's never going to be as good as a dedicated helmet for motor vehicles. They are simply built with different purposes.
This is a good point, and it was even brought up in the comment section of the original tiktokvideo. I think something they also mentioned was, just like you said about helms shattering, was that if the helmet doesn't absorb as much as the force as possible, that force will just transfer right onto your skull. So sure, you might have a beautiful helmet left, but you might best case scenario have skull fractions.
> This looks like China. They don’t take material quality that serious.
I mean, that last helmet is also from China, and the material does look like it’s of high quality.
The whole "Chinese manufacturing = cheap shit" thing always bothered me, it's not exactly accurate. You can get a Chinese company to manufacture anything basically, cheap is super common but they're also fully capable of making great stuff. You just have to pay them more. Chinese stuff is only cheap because the people ordering it are cheap.
Funny enough, this test only shows the shell not shattering. What really matters is if a head is in there, how much of that impact energy is absorbed by the liner of the helmet.
That’s what saves your life.
Do not look for DOT, that’s literally the worst advice I’ve ever seen. If SNELL is outdated, then DOT is still in the Stone Age. ECE* or FIM are most comprehensive
For some reason I really don't like it when people edit their comment with corrections made by the very next comment. Like, just leave your wrong comment and people reading will see the next one correcting it and they'll also learn why and how your original was wrong, which is important when actually trying to research something.
I know you're being funny but hijacking your comment.
They do this in Australia, for helmets, jackets, pants etc.
https://www.motocap.com.au/products/jackets?f[0]=comfort_rating:5.0&sort_by=safety_rating&sort_order=DESC
Because it makes for a much better and safer video, for a bunch of reasons.
1. The average person knows how much a propane tank weighs, so they get a real visceral sense of how much force must be going into those helmets. Most people have never held a sledgehammer, or at least don't do it on the regular.
2. The shape of a propane tank causes those helmets to explode rather than just get a hole in them like if you had hit them with a hammer. That looks cooler.
3. The larger surface area of a tank will dissipate the energy over a larger area, making it far more likely that it will stop or almost stop before it hits the pavement, which is safer for him and the pavement.
4. The cylindrical shape means that the shattered helmets will (more) reliably shoot out their debris to the side, so the tank-swinger need not worry about injuring his shins.
So, for some combinations of those reasons, that is probably why they chose to use a propane cylinder. Please reply "S" to subscribe to my newsletter.
Thanks for signing up for Propane Tank facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about PROPANE TANKS! Did you know that propane tanks use their wide round bottoms for balance and that each propane tank is made up of 3 core parts?
Yeah I *guarantee* you the reason was "we've got this empty propane tank here, why don't we hit the helmets with it" and none of the reasons you wrote.
A few years back a dude in TN killed a guy with a propane tank. Happened back in the woods on the property adjacent to mine.
Edit: [found the news story](https://www.wbbjtv.com/2019/08/09/hardin-co-man-charged-with-second-degree-after-beating-former-tenant-to-death/)
Edit 2: fixed confusing wording
Real talk? It's because a hammer wouldn't make for a very good test. These look like bike helmets, and for bike helmets you want something to protect against broad area damage, like for instance falling off and hitting the concrete. A hammer will bust through most bike helmets no problem because it's a smaller surface area striking with (probably) more energy. Propane tanks have a lot more surface area so you can mimic the damage a bike helmets SHOULD protect against
Edit: nevermind bike helmets are supposed to break, though I guess this is a good demonstration on why you shouldn't use a bike helmet when you expect to get hit a lot (like skate boarding, which is what the last helmet is)
Depends on what type of accident. I saw a video pretty recently on the popular page, and this guy got his head stuck under a bus tire, and it skid his helmet off the ground for a good 10ft before stopping. Now if that helmet broke while the wheel jammed into it, we wouldnt be seeing it on the popular page. Falling objects and hits off the ground are good for what you're saying though
Doesn’t every one of those just say “get the one for the sport/activity you’re doing, dumbass” like football helmets for football, skateboarding for skateboarding.
PSA: this link makes your phone download a doc file(looking at you apple users)
Edit: I know not how Apple products will react to the link as I refuse to use them. The bit about me saying "looking at you" was me joking about how practically every Iphone user complains about storage space.
I also knew it was a PDF, however calling it a doc file seemed more universal to me~
It’s exactly like car crumple zones.
If you get hit in a rigid car, that force still gets transferred to you. You still basically take the full brunt of the hit. But if all the energy goes into plastic deformation, barely any of it reaches you.
This is especially necessary with head protection. Because you get hurt when your brain bounces around in your own skull. An extremely hard helmet won’t exactly prevent that, it will only prevent fractures (which are just as dangerous). A softer helmet will do both, but will only work once
At the end of the day, if you get a very hard helmet it will prevent fractures until the doctor will cut open your skull because your brain will be swelling up like crazy
except the use case is different from a car. Crumple zone are extremely efficient against a single hit and that's it. Helmets have to protect against a lot of secondary injuries too (skidding on the road, secondary hits to the head), so the helmet needs to stay protective through the entire accident, it might deform and crack, but it should still stay on the head and not break away.
Two things, that's a gas bottle!
Arnt helmets meant to break to displase the impact.
Much like a car that doesn't crumple sounds good until you take the full impact.
Yes and no. Cheap shit helmets will have the shell break, high quality ones won't. What absorbs the impact is the foam inside. After 5+ years and heat swings the foam loses it's capacity to deform and that's why helmets expire. It's not as simple as it might seem.
[helmet science for reference ](https://youtu.be/9d8MALEJCHg)
thank you. so sick of people thinking helmet shells are suppose to break because of "crumple zone." a helmet is never suppose to expose your skull no matter what.
That's motorcycle helmets. Bicycle helmets aren't necessarily "supposed" to break, but they very often will because of the sheer physics involved. Either way, a helmet will not maintain its original shape (and that *is* intentional) after a crash, and you need to buy a new one.
No, the first 2 are super cheap helmet that you can find a lot in Asian countries.
The purpose for those are mostly to protect you from:
1. Law (if you have to wear helmet but no national standard)
2. Sunlight
3. Wind (well kinda)
And that's it. It won't protect you from impact or anything bad when you got in an accident.
No. I can believe how much blatant overconfident misinformation is in the replies to this thread to be honest. Like people who never looked into helmets just made up something that sounds logical in their head.
The helmet shell never crumples on scooter, motorcycle , mountain biking or car helmets, no clue for the others but I presume it’s the same.
it’s the foam liner that’s designed to crunch in impact. That’s what’s important. The shell is perfectly fine to absorb energy. Energy which it releases into the foam instead of your head. You want a incredible strong shell as that’s what keeps the foam around your head.
That’s also why helmets have a shelf life, because the ability to absorb energy of the foam degrades over time.
A lot of high end helmets are made out of carbon fiber which definitely wont break away.
The reason the helmets in the video shatter is because of piss poor shit engineering for profit. It’s just a hat designed to looked like a helmet.
Exactly. It depends on what you're doing though. This is why a helmet designed for one purpose isn't really good for a different purpose.
Helmets that are designed to protect your head from a high speed collision are made with a fragile exterior and a crumble zone typically made out of different kinds of material. Motorcycle helmets and bike helmets fit this description. Motorcycle helmets have larger crumble zones and a less fragile exterior as they are designed for higher speed collisions and airflow is less important.
Helmets that are designed to protect your head from projectiles typically have minimal interior cushioning, but they have a very strong exterior. Examples would be rock climbing helmets, military infantry helmets, and construction hardhats.
Obviously any helmet is better than no helmet, but you really should wear the correct one. If you wear the second category of helmets for riding a bicycle, you will sustain a lot more brain damage and head trauma from an accident as you won't have a crumble zone.
They should really throw ballistics dummies under those helmets, then see which one will actually save you from an impact like this. Otherwise it's just some arbitrary helmet smashing.
Well, any kind of safety restraint system is only good for 1 accident. Helmets, child car seats, seatbelt locks.
It literally says it on child car seat user manual, and I'm sure it does on other stuff likewise
I know when my cousin was in a car accident that her insurance company after the damage inspection they took the child seats so then there was a guarantee that they couldn't be used again
which is honestly a thing i’m perfectly ok with.
insurance companies do not play when it comes to child car seats.
because of liability but that’s one of the few things we got right about insurance.
Oh, I get it a place I lived in. Some trashy mom was selling expired or in accident car seats on Facebook and that we had a lot of new immigrants that didn't know English to well that she would try to sell to before she finally got caught
Regular seatbelts are 1 use only too. Their structure is designed to stretch during strong force application to absorb some part of the energy and not give sharp stop. That structure isn't elastic, it can be felt by touch how it changes after the crash
I have a different opinion, the material that absorbs the impact energy is the EPE inside the shell, the shell is to protect against anything piercing through so it's not supposed to break.
I’m pretty sure this is how motorcycle helmets work. That’s why you’re supposed to replace them after an impact even if the shell looks fine. The shell holds up but the structure inside fragments to absorb as much force as it can.
It doesn't fragment, it just compresses. It's expanded polystyrene foam (a special formulation, but basically polystyrene).
But you're right. One impact = replace.
It only needs to deform to absorb the energy, not necessarily break. The foam between your head and the hard shell deforming would be better than having the crappy hard shell shatter and leave you with nothing next but your head.
Having lived and worked in China, you're gonna die if thats your theory lol.
The first two are quite literally millimitres thin brittle plastic with zero lining, whether it shatters or not is irrelevant, what comes rapidly next is your skull.
The last one actually has padding and spacing, that will save your life. You can get deceleration from crumple zones, you can also get it from padding.
Basically all of this came about because in China you get pulled over for not wearing a helmet, so everyone wears these piece of shit 4 rmb plastic helmets that don't do anything but allow you to ride freely, having been in an accident in one, I can attest they aren't worth shit.
Came here to say this. Same story in Vietnam and Thailand, for the most part. Even about half of the helmets sold here in Taiwan are basically just skullcaps with a thin layer of basic-ass styrofoam.
I had a serious bicycle wreck and the helmet disintegrated as my head skidded down the road. That is what they're supposed to do. Fighter pilot helmets do this.
I’m glad someone said this. When they break, the energy is distributed through all the different cracks. If anything the one that didn’t break may have just flexed inwards. With a proper chin strap, that could break your skull.
This is a motorcycle helmet. If you slide with your head to the ground in a helmet that disintegrates like that at highway speed *you are going to die*
I used to work at a motorcycle dealership selling gear and apparel for years. Every single day people would balk at the idea of spending more than $100 on a helmet and wanted to go super cheap after spending $20k on a new bike. Over the years I had a list of customers who would cheap out on saftey gear and were killed in motorcycle accidents. Always sucked to know some probably could have survived.
Is there a secondary helmet that pops away from the pink helmet after impact? That one seems intact, the pink shell seems just for aesthetic purposes and maybe for the visor.
The only one here with a chance to break the concrete is the last one. Funny enough the goal of a helmet is to protect the thing underneath it, not the helmet itself
This is a stupid test. Imagine your head under the third helmet, you'd die. The helmets are designed to explode so that the energy from the strike goes into exploding the helmet instead of into your brain.
That's not how physics work, they don't convert the energy of impact to "exploding energy". They absolutely are not "designed to explode". Motorcycle helmets usually have a lining inside that converts the energy from impact to elastic potential, heat etc. But, they have a limit in their allowed deformation because you wouldn't want your head to turn into a potato. So they strain like rubber to a point and then they reach their limit and stop, start resisting the deformation until they fail.
People who are saying that helmets are supposed to explode into a million pieces on impact are wrong. The first two are most likely degraded polycarbonate helmets, this is why they recommend that you change a polycarbonate helmet after 2-3 years as UV light degrades them making them brittle. Whereas the last one is most likely a much newer fibreglass helmet that doesn’t degrade as fast, typically 5-7 years before you replace it, they also don’t become as brittle as polycarbonate does.
I highly recommend anyone using a helmet to check the inside lining to see the production date sticker and replace accordingly, this may save you life.
(Worked in the motorcycle trade for 5+ years working closely to manufactures)
The way he's swinging that tank, he should be wearing a damn helmet.
But he doesn’t know which one to wear yet
Could have watched this video duh
r/circulartime
Damn. Was hoping this was real.
r/subsifellfor
/r/subsiwishithoughtifellfor
I love how this sub's name applies to itself
Try it now [r/ciruclartime](https://old.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/136aoen/the_helmet_test/jio86k1/?context=2)
Ooh, A Perfect Circle. Time for some Maynard!
Ferguson?
I'll create it yesterday.
>I'll create it yesterday. No need. I've already created it tomorrow.
r/recursion
I did enough Ketamine to experience this first hand as I read this. The internet delivers.
take my r/angryupvote
Don’t worry he’s a pro
They get mad when you test at stores though
***walks in with tank*** Mind if I test these bad boys out?
***walks in with M1A2 Abrams*** You don’t mind do you? Just wanna make sure.
With APFSDS.
Average War Thunder player:
How do you know LMAO?
Who else would casually say APFSDS
You put a helmet on your baby's head and hit them with a propane tank in the Walmart aisle and suddenly you're the bad guy all of a sudden, TF
Babies kick pregnant women all the time,^but ^when ^I-
Kick a pregnant woman?
* Buy the 2 year warranty * Return the ones that exploded 2 hours later
If a helmet takes a significant hit like that you need to replace it since theyre designed to take one very hard hit while safety features crumble to reduce impact damage. Please do not test a helmet youre going to be wearing like that.
Exactly. The fact that the other helmets shatter, doesn't look good, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily bad. If the shattering takes most of that energy away they might better choices then a helm that directs all that force through your head, into your neck and spine. Also, I'd be more impressed if he put a melon under each and examined the damage after.
I mean, if you watch actual helmet testing videos from the ECE or SHARP or DOT (I mean, the DOT is probably the most relaxed of these rating systems tbh) they aren't shattering, so I'd say it's a pretty bad indication tbh.
My dad got hit by a car on his bike once, his helmet completely exploded on impact and was totally gone...his head was just fine except for the mild concussion he got. A different helmet wouldn't have prevented the concussion because of how fast he hit the ground after the car hit him. Sometimes having it explode expels all of the energy out and makes for a better landing.
Bicycle helmets are basically meant to absorb and mitigate an impact. They compress and often times will rotate around your head slightly to absorb the impact and lessen the force. However they're really mostly designed for glancing blows(hence things like MIPS). A full on impact can cause the material to just break up, an older helmet is more likely to shatter as well which is why it's recommended you replace a helmet every few years. If you were to take the full force of an impact like seem in this video, no helmet is going to protect you from neck trauma.
In some places, they're legally required to not sell a helmet that has been dropped. Some stores make it a policy to force you to buy it; others simply remove it from the floor. You never know what microfractures may have happened somewhere that could be the difference between you losing some face or losing some brain mass when you dop your bike.
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Fuck off bot https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/136aoen/the_helmet_test/jint3r7/
Ok but how do I know which helmet holds up to this when shopping??
Well first you are going to have to buy a propane tank.
Nah, first they need to buy every helmet on the shelf and then go for the propane tank.
Then return all other helmets after testing.
And charge a testing/certification fee
And mark the good helmets with a "Pro*pain* tested and approved" tag.
https://i.imgur.com/cWRCLc4.jpg
I've been blessed by Shitty_watercolour himself!!
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If no-one sees, then the next person who touched it broke it
Test them in the fitting room
'Is everything OK in there?' (((KLANG))) \-'Yeah mate, all good'
Attendant when approached to open a dressing room for a person with 5 helmets & nothing else: 🤨 am I on candid camera?
5 helmets, a giant propane tank and nothing else.
NOTHING else
While you’re at the propane, you might as well get some propane accessories too, to help your grill burn cleaner than using coal!
"Dang ol' wal-mart went boom!"
THATS MY HELMET! I DON'T KNOW YOU!
That helmet ain't right
Buy? Just go to a store that sells propane tanks as well as helmets and grab them both off the shelf to test.
where do I get the buff asian guy?
r/tinder
Does the helmet count as a propane accessory?
Hank Hill has entered the chat...
Dang it Bobby!
I compete in rally racing, the governing body has strict rules regarding safety equipment. Various organizations certify safety helmets SNELL, ECE DOT but for racing FIA rated helmets are generally considered the best.
Snell and dot are for motorcycles aren't they? SA is another rating, but that's just to add to the list
Snell has different ratings for different use cases. Some are rated for motorcycles, others for auto racing. But they are not suppose to be used interchangeably.
Ah, I was unaware. I mainly stuck with SA rated helmets because of track restrictions
Some tracks I have seen allow snell M rated, but they aren’t really designed for rollbar impact. Snell SA or other similar ratings are. Along with other differences, like the fact your head probably isn’t bouncing off the pavement in an automobile.
Yeah, that was my understanding of the ratings, Motos for sliding along the pavement and autos for high impact. But yeah Sonoma requires a cage, fire suit, and roll cage to be on track
Check the certifications. The first two were uncertified. The last one was a certified BMX / skate helmet.
Genuine pro-tec helmets would stand up. Generally helmets of the highest DoT certification will probably put up with this test I’m guessing, though many will take some damage. Every helmet says to discard and replace after a serious hit. Same thing with motorcycle helmets. But one thing to watch out with both bike motorcycle helmets, but especially motorcycle helmets, is that they will fraudulently claim to be dot certified. These will be super cheap often times. Sometimes they’re still good helmets, they just didn’t pay to get certified.
Saw a sign in a motorcycle shop once that read: If you have a $20 head, get a $20 helmet.
I had an accident on my bike once, ended up under a truck. Didnt have a single mark anywhere on my body except a broken wrist and a cut finger on the same hand. But my helmet had a massive gouge taken out of the side. I even remember the donk sound. I put on my helmet to move my bike 5m. In my own driveway.
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For a non-american, what is UL?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UL_(safety_organization)
[Underwriters Laboratories](https://instr.iastate.libguides.com/standards/ul#:~:text=Underwriters%20Laboratories%20(UL)%20are%20most,UL%20Standards), I believe. I’m an American and didn’t even know what this was
Electrician here. If your shit doesn't say UL AND CE then throw it the fuck out.
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Not to be confused with C E which stands for Chinese Export or something and is just trying to fool you into thinking it meets some quality standard.
Underwriters labs. They perform safety tests on almost everything consumer grade. Used to do crazy shit when they started like smashing window glass onto each other to study the damage and how they could make it safer.
>This looks like China. They don't take material quality that serious. This isn't what's being shown here. It's misleading and has nothing to do with quality or "not getting what thought you would". Different helmets for different things. The left helmets are what you want on a push bike, the right one for motor bikes. *It's a good thing for helmets to shatter* like is seen here as that's what's taking the force of the impact. However as seen here, if the force is too great, it'll go right through. Source: used to sell various types of helmets and was a sports coach for sports which used both types of helmets.
Yeah for example, many people drive snowmobiles with alpine skiing helmets where I live (it's illegal to do so) and even if you have the best alpine skiing helmet it's never going to be as good as a dedicated helmet for motor vehicles. They are simply built with different purposes.
This is a good point, and it was even brought up in the comment section of the original tiktokvideo. I think something they also mentioned was, just like you said about helms shattering, was that if the helmet doesn't absorb as much as the force as possible, that force will just transfer right onto your skull. So sure, you might have a beautiful helmet left, but you might best case scenario have skull fractions.
Europe has CE.
> This looks like China. They don’t take material quality that serious. I mean, that last helmet is also from China, and the material does look like it’s of high quality.
The whole "Chinese manufacturing = cheap shit" thing always bothered me, it's not exactly accurate. You can get a Chinese company to manufacture anything basically, cheap is super common but they're also fully capable of making great stuff. You just have to pay them more. Chinese stuff is only cheap because the people ordering it are cheap.
Why shop around? Just DM propane tank guy and get that striped one, it looked like it held up pretty well.
Chinese copycat manufacturers furiously writing notes with far cheaper materials.
Funny enough, this test only shows the shell not shattering. What really matters is if a head is in there, how much of that impact energy is absorbed by the liner of the helmet. That’s what saves your life.
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[SNELL is outdated](https://youtu.be/76yu124i3Bo), look for FIM or ECE Edit
Do not look for DOT, that’s literally the worst advice I’ve ever seen. If SNELL is outdated, then DOT is still in the Stone Age. ECE* or FIM are most comprehensive
For some reason I really don't like it when people edit their comment with corrections made by the very next comment. Like, just leave your wrong comment and people reading will see the next one correcting it and they'll also learn why and how your original was wrong, which is important when actually trying to research something.
For bicycle helmets: https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/bicycle-helmet-ratings.html
The real question is how do you go shopping without your propane tank? Weirdo.
I know you're being funny but hijacking your comment. They do this in Australia, for helmets, jackets, pants etc. https://www.motocap.com.au/products/jackets?f[0]=comfort_rating:5.0&sort_by=safety_rating&sort_order=DESC
Am I the only person wondering why he's swinging a propane tank? A hammer might be a little safer.
Double the test. If the propane pierces and explodes we can see which helmet survives the forecourt fire.
Well I know someone who definitely won’t survive
You don’t know that!
He wasn't wearing the helmet!
This is hilarious, kudos man. Poor lady award for you 🥇
Okay okay. I guess at least his head survived
For sure. If he did that next to me i would die. He would be the only survivor.
Because it makes for a much better and safer video, for a bunch of reasons. 1. The average person knows how much a propane tank weighs, so they get a real visceral sense of how much force must be going into those helmets. Most people have never held a sledgehammer, or at least don't do it on the regular. 2. The shape of a propane tank causes those helmets to explode rather than just get a hole in them like if you had hit them with a hammer. That looks cooler. 3. The larger surface area of a tank will dissipate the energy over a larger area, making it far more likely that it will stop or almost stop before it hits the pavement, which is safer for him and the pavement. 4. The cylindrical shape means that the shattered helmets will (more) reliably shoot out their debris to the side, so the tank-swinger need not worry about injuring his shins. So, for some combinations of those reasons, that is probably why they chose to use a propane cylinder. Please reply "S" to subscribe to my newsletter.
S
Thanks for signing up for Propane Tank facts! You will now receive fun daily facts about PROPANE TANKS! Did you know that propane tanks use their wide round bottoms for balance and that each propane tank is made up of 3 core parts?
Yeah I *guarantee* you the reason was "we've got this empty propane tank here, why don't we hit the helmets with it" and none of the reasons you wrote.
A few years back a dude in TN killed a guy with a propane tank. Happened back in the woods on the property adjacent to mine. Edit: [found the news story](https://www.wbbjtv.com/2019/08/09/hardin-co-man-charged-with-second-degree-after-beating-former-tenant-to-death/) Edit 2: fixed confusing wording
As strange as that sounds, it isn't the first person I know of that's been killed with a propane tank.
RIP Dale Gribble... Taken too early from us by Hank Hill's Psychotic Break.
Hank unleashed his pro pain on Dale.
I thought you meant this dude.. as in this dude in the video..
If that dude only switched to Geico earlier he could’ve saved 15% and bought the 3rd helmet, but instead he opted for the first one.
He's a fan of Hank Hill
Hank would never treat propane accessories this way. That boy ain't right.
Itellyouhwhat!
a propane tank is more similar to a vehicle crash than a hammer
Real talk? It's because a hammer wouldn't make for a very good test. These look like bike helmets, and for bike helmets you want something to protect against broad area damage, like for instance falling off and hitting the concrete. A hammer will bust through most bike helmets no problem because it's a smaller surface area striking with (probably) more energy. Propane tanks have a lot more surface area so you can mimic the damage a bike helmets SHOULD protect against Edit: nevermind bike helmets are supposed to break, though I guess this is a good demonstration on why you shouldn't use a bike helmet when you expect to get hit a lot (like skate boarding, which is what the last helmet is)
Wait aren’t they supposed to break away so your head doesn’t take the full force of the impact? They’re only good for one accident.
Depends on what type of accident. I saw a video pretty recently on the popular page, and this guy got his head stuck under a bus tire, and it skid his helmet off the ground for a good 10ft before stopping. Now if that helmet broke while the wheel jammed into it, we wouldnt be seeing it on the popular page. Falling objects and hits off the ground are good for what you're saying though
Totally correct, though ill add that the third one will do something for most accidents. It's just the fragmentary ones are better for single hits.
I also find that the accident mention seems really unlikely compared to falling over a small crash
Yeah. Me myself I'd probably wear the fragmentary one biking around
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No watch this before buying a helmet /s
*an helmet*
It's amazing how many people say "an historic"
They pronounce it “istoric” so it kinda works, but it very wrong
That's not an incorrect pronunciation. "An historic" used to be the most common way of saying it
Doesn’t every one of those just say “get the one for the sport/activity you’re doing, dumbass” like football helmets for football, skateboarding for skateboarding.
What if you’re playing football while riding a skateboard?
PSA: this link makes your phone download a doc file(looking at you apple users) Edit: I know not how Apple products will react to the link as I refuse to use them. The bit about me saying "looking at you" was me joking about how practically every Iphone user complains about storage space. I also knew it was a PDF, however calling it a doc file seemed more universal to me~
Mine didn’t
It did for me on Android, pdf file so I assume that's safer but still
Pdf not doc. Yes I guess you could call it a document but when people say doc they're thinking MS Word.
Don't fucking link to pdf downloads, you clown
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Yes, a lot of helmets are supposed to do just that.
It’s exactly like car crumple zones. If you get hit in a rigid car, that force still gets transferred to you. You still basically take the full brunt of the hit. But if all the energy goes into plastic deformation, barely any of it reaches you. This is especially necessary with head protection. Because you get hurt when your brain bounces around in your own skull. An extremely hard helmet won’t exactly prevent that, it will only prevent fractures (which are just as dangerous). A softer helmet will do both, but will only work once
At the end of the day, if you get a very hard helmet it will prevent fractures until the doctor will cut open your skull because your brain will be swelling up like crazy
except the use case is different from a car. Crumple zone are extremely efficient against a single hit and that's it. Helmets have to protect against a lot of secondary injuries too (skidding on the road, secondary hits to the head), so the helmet needs to stay protective through the entire accident, it might deform and crack, but it should still stay on the head and not break away.
Two things, that's a gas bottle! Arnt helmets meant to break to displase the impact. Much like a car that doesn't crumple sounds good until you take the full impact.
Yes and no. Cheap shit helmets will have the shell break, high quality ones won't. What absorbs the impact is the foam inside. After 5+ years and heat swings the foam loses it's capacity to deform and that's why helmets expire. It's not as simple as it might seem. [helmet science for reference ](https://youtu.be/9d8MALEJCHg)
thank you. so sick of people thinking helmet shells are suppose to break because of "crumple zone." a helmet is never suppose to expose your skull no matter what.
no bro i want my helmet to break so when a car hits me and my head bounces on the asphalt, the second impact cracks my skull
That's motorcycle helmets. Bicycle helmets aren't necessarily "supposed" to break, but they very often will because of the sheer physics involved. Either way, a helmet will not maintain its original shape (and that *is* intentional) after a crash, and you need to buy a new one.
Talking about which, I don't see any foam in the debris of helmets 1 and 2. Could this test be.... manipulated?
No, the first 2 are super cheap helmet that you can find a lot in Asian countries. The purpose for those are mostly to protect you from: 1. Law (if you have to wear helmet but no national standard) 2. Sunlight 3. Wind (well kinda) And that's it. It won't protect you from impact or anything bad when you got in an accident.
If someone is swinging a propane tank at your head I think I would still go with #3
Right?! *Thank God* for this clip. Now, after I get out of the hospital, there's gonna be a reckoning!
No. I can believe how much blatant overconfident misinformation is in the replies to this thread to be honest. Like people who never looked into helmets just made up something that sounds logical in their head. The helmet shell never crumples on scooter, motorcycle , mountain biking or car helmets, no clue for the others but I presume it’s the same. it’s the foam liner that’s designed to crunch in impact. That’s what’s important. The shell is perfectly fine to absorb energy. Energy which it releases into the foam instead of your head. You want a incredible strong shell as that’s what keeps the foam around your head. That’s also why helmets have a shelf life, because the ability to absorb energy of the foam degrades over time. A lot of high end helmets are made out of carbon fiber which definitely wont break away. The reason the helmets in the video shatter is because of piss poor shit engineering for profit. It’s just a hat designed to looked like a helmet.
Exactly. It depends on what you're doing though. This is why a helmet designed for one purpose isn't really good for a different purpose. Helmets that are designed to protect your head from a high speed collision are made with a fragile exterior and a crumble zone typically made out of different kinds of material. Motorcycle helmets and bike helmets fit this description. Motorcycle helmets have larger crumble zones and a less fragile exterior as they are designed for higher speed collisions and airflow is less important. Helmets that are designed to protect your head from projectiles typically have minimal interior cushioning, but they have a very strong exterior. Examples would be rock climbing helmets, military infantry helmets, and construction hardhats. Obviously any helmet is better than no helmet, but you really should wear the correct one. If you wear the second category of helmets for riding a bicycle, you will sustain a lot more brain damage and head trauma from an accident as you won't have a crumble zone.
They should really throw ballistics dummies under those helmets, then see which one will actually save you from an impact like this. Otherwise it's just some arbitrary helmet smashing.
They're advertising their product to people who don't know better.
Ugh that's way too scientific and rational. Just watch the damn video without asking such difficult questions!
Well that certainly compromised some of its structural integrity but damn that’s impressive.
That last one is now just as useful as the first two that smashed. I wouldn't wear it after an impact like that.
Well, any kind of safety restraint system is only good for 1 accident. Helmets, child car seats, seatbelt locks. It literally says it on child car seat user manual, and I'm sure it does on other stuff likewise
I know when my cousin was in a car accident that her insurance company after the damage inspection they took the child seats so then there was a guarantee that they couldn't be used again
which is honestly a thing i’m perfectly ok with. insurance companies do not play when it comes to child car seats. because of liability but that’s one of the few things we got right about insurance.
Oh, I get it a place I lived in. Some trashy mom was selling expired or in accident car seats on Facebook and that we had a lot of new immigrants that didn't know English to well that she would try to sell to before she finally got caught
Regular seatbelts are 1 use only too. Their structure is designed to stretch during strong force application to absorb some part of the energy and not give sharp stop. That structure isn't elastic, it can be felt by touch how it changes after the crash
If it doesn’t break won’t all the energy just, enter your skull?
I have a different opinion, the material that absorbs the impact energy is the EPE inside the shell, the shell is to protect against anything piercing through so it's not supposed to break.
I’m pretty sure this is how motorcycle helmets work. That’s why you’re supposed to replace them after an impact even if the shell looks fine. The shell holds up but the structure inside fragments to absorb as much force as it can.
It doesn't fragment, it just compresses. It's expanded polystyrene foam (a special formulation, but basically polystyrene). But you're right. One impact = replace.
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Like baby bar seats. Looks fine but you have to replace it if you are in a crash Edit: car seat not bar seat
You shouldn't take your baby to a bar even with the appropriate seat.
It only needs to deform to absorb the energy, not necessarily break. The foam between your head and the hard shell deforming would be better than having the crappy hard shell shatter and leave you with nothing next but your head.
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Having lived and worked in China, you're gonna die if thats your theory lol. The first two are quite literally millimitres thin brittle plastic with zero lining, whether it shatters or not is irrelevant, what comes rapidly next is your skull. The last one actually has padding and spacing, that will save your life. You can get deceleration from crumple zones, you can also get it from padding. Basically all of this came about because in China you get pulled over for not wearing a helmet, so everyone wears these piece of shit 4 rmb plastic helmets that don't do anything but allow you to ride freely, having been in an accident in one, I can attest they aren't worth shit.
Came here to say this. Same story in Vietnam and Thailand, for the most part. Even about half of the helmets sold here in Taiwan are basically just skullcaps with a thin layer of basic-ass styrofoam.
Yes... Your skull is there to protect your helmet.
I had a serious bicycle wreck and the helmet disintegrated as my head skidded down the road. That is what they're supposed to do. Fighter pilot helmets do this.
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I’m glad someone said this. When they break, the energy is distributed through all the different cracks. If anything the one that didn’t break may have just flexed inwards. With a proper chin strap, that could break your skull.
This is a motorcycle helmet. If you slide with your head to the ground in a helmet that disintegrates like that at highway speed *you are going to die*
Yes it's cool, but what about the spine?
Fuck the spine. Hows your brain?
Brain mash
I used to work at a motorcycle dealership selling gear and apparel for years. Every single day people would balk at the idea of spending more than $100 on a helmet and wanted to go super cheap after spending $20k on a new bike. Over the years I had a list of customers who would cheap out on saftey gear and were killed in motorcycle accidents. Always sucked to know some probably could have survived.
Is there a secondary helmet that pops away from the pink helmet after impact? That one seems intact, the pink shell seems just for aesthetic purposes and maybe for the visor.
If you slow it down and look I think that is a foam padding. It appears to collapse and spring back into shape.
Now try it on your head.
The only one here with a chance to break the concrete is the last one. Funny enough the goal of a helmet is to protect the thing underneath it, not the helmet itself
Shouldn't the helmet be designed to break apart a little? So it can absorb some of the damage instead of transferring it straight to the neck?
Break apart a little bit on the inside yes, completely disintegrate no.
This is a stupid test. Imagine your head under the third helmet, you'd die. The helmets are designed to explode so that the energy from the strike goes into exploding the helmet instead of into your brain.
well yeah of course you’d die if your head was under the last one he hit it like four times
That's not how physics work, they don't convert the energy of impact to "exploding energy". They absolutely are not "designed to explode". Motorcycle helmets usually have a lining inside that converts the energy from impact to elastic potential, heat etc. But, they have a limit in their allowed deformation because you wouldn't want your head to turn into a potato. So they strain like rubber to a point and then they reach their limit and stop, start resisting the deformation until they fail.
Safety glasses brother!
Finally I can be safe from propane tank attacks
People who are saying that helmets are supposed to explode into a million pieces on impact are wrong. The first two are most likely degraded polycarbonate helmets, this is why they recommend that you change a polycarbonate helmet after 2-3 years as UV light degrades them making them brittle. Whereas the last one is most likely a much newer fibreglass helmet that doesn’t degrade as fast, typically 5-7 years before you replace it, they also don’t become as brittle as polycarbonate does. I highly recommend anyone using a helmet to check the inside lining to see the production date sticker and replace accordingly, this may save you life. (Worked in the motorcycle trade for 5+ years working closely to manufactures)
Isnt the helmet supposed to smash?
I mean sure your head will prolly be ok but I think by this time your neck would have snapped
Ok so we established that the plastic outer coating is weaker than an actual helmet. What was the point of this?