Football Helmet Absorbs Shock in a New Way

[BabyBeastie]

“the greatest advance in helmet design in at least 30 years.”
To earn certification, a helmet is impact-tested at dozens of forces and angles, with the energy it still allows to reach the skull measured by what is called severity index. The helmet must always score at 1,200 or below on the severity index because that is the zone that causes fractured skulls, the injury whose prevention historically has been emphasized — quite successfully — in football. Concussions become likely at a severity index of about 300; the certification agency has feared demanding that level of protection because of potential sacrifices it might mean at higher levels.

During its certification test this month, the Xenith helmet scored in the 200’s in several key locations and averaged about 340, scores generally lower than those attained by today’s helmet designs.

New York Times dot com (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/27/sports/football/27helmets.html?ex=1194148800&en=3509de4a7a55fcec&ei=5123&partner=BREITBART)

[Wyatt_Junker]

300 lb. men that can run like gazelles are freaks of nature. Getting squarely hit by one can destroy biological architecture instantly; tearing tendons, shearing ligaments and rattling the skull. Even hits at the high school level, I remember some of them very well.

That helmet looks like it has some jaw cushion that lines right up on the joint to protect against fractures, however, the real key is whether or not the helmet can protect the pia mater from hemmorage, and that not from direct impacts as much as the result of head whip, a QB getting crushed from the side, his head gets whipped twice, once at impact and again when he hits the ground, the head always the last thing to move, thus the 'crack' of momentum as the neck yanks it through another physics lesson.

Water and air have more fluid properties than degradative foam. But inventions are wrought with marketing challenges. The real key is whether or not this guy can beat out Riddell's marketing grip on the NFL. The grass roots(high schools) get their brand lead on that.

Invetions are meaningless unless you can market them. I saw a great infant car seat that sat in a gyroscope on American Inventor. You hit the seat and the baby swung around in the opposite direction. I would imagine in a car accident that it could result in some serious g's. I think the inventor's child died in a car accident if I'm not mistaken. But, then there's the science, the tests, the federal approval - all of which require more investments. I wonder how many inventions tank because they ran out of capital, but could have had an impact?

One of my neighbors invented a revolutionary door stop. It worked fantastic. Instead of the usual door stop shaped like a wedge that you slide under the door, this one was shaped like a rocker with a kickstand. When the door came back, it 'rocked' back a quarter of an inch and was simply incapable of sliding(the headaches of most door stops) due to the pressure coming down more from a vertical direction rather than lateral. That was 5 years ago. I've never seen the door stop on a single store shelf.

[BuckeyeMike]

Every time they come up with a "new" thingamajig that's supposed to make participation in a sport safer, the players get another dose of "invincibility and go out there and run or skate faster, and hit harder, and take more chances, and eventually the "new" thing ain't so hot anymore. Happened in hockey when they came up with the helmet rule.....concussions became more prevalent than before they were made to wear the damned things. Had another one with the Boson Bruins...today I think!

[BabyBeastie]

I think if that guy (Bergeron) didn't have his helmet on today, it's a pretty good guess that he would have been in really bad shape, maybe a fractured skull or even dead. He got his face slammed into the glass with a forearm to the back of the head.

In football, the perception of invincibility really grew with the advent of the face mask. I've heard Mike Ditka talk about that before. But you're right, players do put more effort into their hits if they think they're not going to get hurt.

Damned if you wear a helmet, damned if you don't.