Helmet removal

[saphena]

I'm sure that many of us have practised victim helmet removal during first aid courses if not actually at the roadside, much easier than you imagine. Flip-fronts (aka modulars) mostly don't need to be removed and if they do they're dead simple. Fullface lids need a little care and patience but are nevertheless quite straightforward.

Today the release latch on my Scorpion Exo 900 came away in my hand without disengaging the chinbar. The lid's four years old so was coming due for replacement anyway BUT

getting it off my head with the chinbar locked was seriously hard work and I won't be putting it back on unless I can open the chinbar. I'm pretty sure that, even with the chinstrap undone, the helmet would remain firmly in place during a crash although I might not be able to benefit from CPR in a hurry should I need it.

Scorpion have improved on their latch mechanism and now offer a five year warranty

 

[BkerChuck]

Good information for those of us in the market for a new lid.

My last two helmets when they were to the point of being worn out, I donated to a local fire department/ambulance organization for training purposes. Just in case some of you have some old lids you don't know what to to with.

 

[FJRPilot]

My last two helmets when they were to the point of being worn out, I donated to a local fire department/ambulance organization for training purposes. Just in case some of you have some old lids you don't know what to to with.

That's a good idea. I have a neon yellow Nolan N102 flip front lid, made famous in one of the cover photos on the BBR website. It's now just my commuting helmet and is also overdue for replacement, being about 5 or 6 years old

Almost two years ago now I'd bought myself a new 'posh' helmet (a Shoei Neotec) and decided to wear my nice new lid on a work job commuting to another hospital in the County to fix some broken medical equipment. Those that know me will no doubt be bored by me now repeating the story of being knocked off my bike en-route. My modular helmet did it's job and the chin bar stayed locked in place although the visor did fly off somewhere. The impact of the front of the helmet on the road was that hard that the polystyrene inner shell pushed through the fabric lining and cut me to the bone above my left eye.

Although I must have blacked out I can recall giving the paramedics instructions on how to open the chin bar. After checking for signs of neck and spinal injuries they were easily able to remove the helmet in the road.

Suffice to say after recovering and deciding to get back on two wheels as soon as I could, I went out and bought the exact same helmet. The doctors in A&E said that helmet saved my life

I was watching an episode of 24 hours in A&E today and a motorcyclist was brought in after colliding with a car. He was wearing an open face helmet and had front teeth smashed, a broken jaw in two places, and two fractures below his eyes. So there's a lot to be said for chin bars on helmets.

 

[scooterboy]

I have a Nexx Diablo2 helmet, full face but with tabs underneath that when pulled remove the inner cheek linings for easy helmet removal in an emergency situation. Great idea and effective as I tested straight away...downside, stickers all over face of helmet explaining these release tabs which I did remove as they did look pretty daft. Oh well, back to the drawing board Nexx if you want to draw attention to this mechanism in the real world.

 

[scooterboy]

[/QUOTE]
I was watching an episode of 24 hours in A&E today and a motorcyclist was brought in after colliding with a car. He was wearing an open face helmet and had front teeth smashed, a broken jaw in two places, and two fractures below his eyes. So there's a lot to be said for chin bars on helmets.[/QUOTE]

As a smoker I have often been asked why I do not have a flip faced helmet, especially as it would probably speed up my bonus collecting on rally's. I used to have an open faced helmet when I rode a scooter until a chance encounter with a gentlemen in a queue at Paddington railway station whilst queuing to buy tickets. My attention was first drawn to his two very young, but smartly dressed daughters playing to the side. He spoke to me regarding my helmet saying it was a very bad idea and he proceeded to tell me about an accident he had whilst wearing the same type of helmet a few years previously. He had numerous sessions of facial reconstruction fixing broken bones and dental work along with many skin grafts...he said I it wasn't for his daughters he would have most likely committed suicide as it affected him so psychologically. I wished him well and complimented him on his beautiful family.
A while later I recounted this conversation with a police motorcycle rider (bikesafe course I believe) and the officer said to me the only reason police riders wear a flip faced helmet is that they need to show their face when speaking to Joe public in the course of their job and if they had the choice it would be full face helmets only.

One of IBA's safety mantras is ATGATT, all the gear all the time which I agree with wholeheartedly, but the right gear nonetheless (barring Seville, apologies but calculated risk then).

Ride safe guys, Iain