Helmet expiration?

[classtimesailer]

I was getting a crash replacement a while back and got to talk with helmet company guy with his guard down and he told me that 10 year old helmets have passed the "test".

[redir]

I just slather Bull Frog SPF 50 all over mine. Problem solved.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by blood

In my personal experience and since I ride 10-16 hours a week I change every season or year. This is due to sweat, my helmet banging around in my race day bag, UV damage, dropping my helmet in front of coffee shops like an idiot and other misc. abuse. I've woken up in a hospital before and I don't take chances when it comes to my brain. I usually get hooked up with a helmet at the start of each season, but even if I didn't and I had to shoulder my bike expenses this is one expense I would not cheap out on.

But even with a new helmet every year, how do you know that you are getting the best possible head protection? While all helmets must pass a minimum impact test (and this test is very minimal), surely not all helmets will have identical protection - some must be better than others.

Why is information on which helmets give better protection not available? If one wanted to know which automobiles have the best impact protection, one can look at the NHTSA or IIHS crash test results. Shouldn't relative level of safety be a selling point, that manufacturers can use to convince consumers to buy their helmets, and not a competitors?

The only place I've seen any publicly published data on helmet impact tests is in Consumer Reports, which conducts their own independent testing. And these show that not all helmets are the same - some are better than others (I'd provide a link to the test results, but they are behind a pay wall). These tests show that impact protection and cost are not directly related - more expensive helmets may give better styling, better ventilation, and/or more fit adjustments, but they don't necessarily give better impact protection (and in fact, usually don't).