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| My Orange S-One Lifer Helmet in Action |
There is some confusion as to "one hit" versus "reusable" helmets. There are el-cheapo helmets that are not good for much of anything, there are multi-use which provide some protection, then there are high impact helmets. High impact helmets have layer of hard Expanded PolyStyrene (EPS) foam lining, which if you hit your head hard enough will act like a crumple zone in a car. Some cheap helmets will have a hard foam lining that may look like EPS, but look for the Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC) sticker on the inside of the helmet to make sure it is going to protect your brain. The CPSC certification means the helmet has been proven to protect your head in bicycle crashes (think how fast you go on your bike!), so they translate well to Roller Derby. Here is an illustration of a CPSC certified Lifer helmet:
Both S-One and Nutcase brands have CPSC certified helmets with a layer of hard EPS lining followed by a soft foam pad. They are made for multiple lower impact hits to the head and if you happen to take a hit hard enough to dent the hard EPS foam lining (you will be able to see this), it's time to replace it. So basically these helmets are reusable helmets at low impact and single use at high impact. You can replace dented or cracked S-One helmets for $20 through the manufacturer or $35 through 2N1 Skate Shoppe, which is a pretty sweet deal. I also heard a rumor that Nutcase likes to replace broken helmets when you send them an awesome story about how it saved your brain from catastrophe.
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| Non-CPSC Certified Helmet |
Helmets that only have a hard shell with a thick terry cloth liner (see picture to the right) used to be the most popular helmet in Roller Derby, and this may also be why we were seeing so many concussions or traumatic brain injuries. These helmets are not CPSC certified and are even illegal to sell in some states because your head is the crumple zone instead of a hard foam liner. Doesn't sound like much fun, does it?
The Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) has recently taken the helmet issue a step further by recommending HECC certified helmets. These are (imho) ugly hockey helmets that run about $150 (from the models I looked at), but are tested to even harder hits than the CPSC helmets.
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| Nutcase Modern Dots CPSC Certified Helmet |
Besides, with the awesome color selection S-One has and super cute Nutcase designs, who wouldn't want to switch it up every once in a while?
Chris from
Nutcase sent me a helmet to try out and review, as well as one to give away to a G Spot reader! While I'm testing mine out, let's hear some of your helmet stories... Post your tale of woe, near-miss, or triumph in the comments for your chance to get your own brand new Nutcase helmet. We'll announce the winner April 15th.
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| Sweet Atom Backpack |
Speaking of giving away stuff, you have less than 2 weeks left to enter our
Atom Backpack giveaway contest! Just post a pic of you showing your 2N1 pride on the
2N1 Skate Shoppe FaceBook page and you may be carrying around all your derby stuff in style!
Being a newer skater I have no head falls to report (and hopefully will never experience a fall hard enough to ruin a helmet, I'd rather not fall at all, thanks very much!) but I DO love to customize my stuff, and a helmet is an excellent place to start. I've built a set of foam spikes that velcro onto my helmet like a green spiky Stegosaurus mohawk, and am planning on constructing a fuzzy rainbow mohawk as well. The spikes pull off easily and the soft loop part is permanently attached to the helmet, so nothing snags a helmet panty for jamming or pivot. Very fun and easy way to distinguish your helmet without gumming it all up with stickers.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I'll put your name into the hat if you promisde to post pics of what you do with it on our FB page...oh and also if you give me your name ;)
DeleteThe first time (as an adult) that I skated in a rink, I had been skating a while, surrounded by enthusiastically encouraging strangers and rollergirls alike, and I was getting very tired (prior to derby I didn't do much of any sort of physical workouts) and my feet slipped out in front of me. Instead of landing on my butt in a sitting position, it slid out from under me too, and I ended up lying down on the rink floor, my helmet about half an inch above the floor! I was mildly bruised but fortunately not really injured!
ReplyDeleteMy team was playing freeze tag (two skaters wear helmet panties and are "it", if you get tagged you have to stand still with legs apart and can be unfrozen if another player 4-point falls/baseball slides through your legs) which is probably the best game ever on skates, but has its share of mishaps. Normally it's just vaginas getting whacked with a helmet, or a skater losing balance and sort of falling on the person trying to unfreeze them, but last time I was standing frozen when my coach completely laid me out. From what I can tell, he was trying to avoid being tagged but fell at a pretty high speed, and one of his skates clotheslined my ankle and I went straight back. I remember sort of leaning up and seeing him sprawled on the ground in front of me and giving him a "what gives?" shrug before just laying my head back down. Miraculously, I was fine. I figured I'd have a huge bruise on my ankle, sore bum, and be seeing stars, but the derby gods must have been smiling on me because I was able to get up, shake it off, and keep playing. That said, I'm pretty sure my current helmet has no certifications whatsoever--I got it in a fresh meat pack, and when I went to check it out recently I wasn't able to find anything listed inside. Scared me enough to start researching helmets!
ReplyDeleteGlad you realized you need a better helmet before hurting yourself. A little advice, when you get your new helmet start wearing it RIGHT AWAY. I've had 2 customers purchase CPSC certified helmets and decided to skate one more time with their old helmet, both skaters ended up with severe concussions. One of them is not assure to skate anymore and I think the other one is still experiencing issues a year later.
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DeleteEmily Joy, you are the winner of a new Nutcase helmet! Send me an e-mail at 2N1SkateShoppe@gmail.com so we can get it to you ASAP :)
DeleteShocker
Luckily I haven't had any large hits to the head yet, but I often wonder how the heck my helmet got so scratched and beat up. I think a gang of gnomes lives in my skate bag and uses my helmet for their indistinguishable cave paintings. Perhaps they also like to pee all over because it sure stinks in there and I never smell that bad! ;)
ReplyDeleteI don't have any stories about helmets yet, because I'm starting my derby experience this week! Thought I'd try my hand at winning a really nice helmet to help me with all of the fresh meat expenses...so I did what I do best and drew some illustrations to honor the importance that is keeping your noggin safe!
ReplyDeleteImage I-Safety First!
Image II-Protect the Head
Alternatively, I have a friend who rides fixed gear and was biking along when a car sideswiped her at 40 mph. She was lucky to have came out relatively unscathed, considering she wasn't wearing a helmet. She wears one constantly now, and I want to make sure I'm just as safe.
Once upon a time, I played softball. Actually, for a good portion of my life up until the end of high school. I had never had any injuries until my senior year, when everything seemed to be added up.
ReplyDeleteNow, we have top-of-the-line helmets as far as softball regulations went. My coach loved us like children and didn't want to see anyone hurt so he made sure he bought us the best helmets that each of us could keep (for the season). At this point, the league was about to initiate new safety rules, including cages and certain types of padding but Coach was ahead of it all and got them before it was mandatory.
I loved my helmet; it was all mine. I was used to the cage/mask since I was a catcher. The new pumped-padding (padding that was like plastic filled with air instead of foam) was a dream. Not only could I simply fill it up with more air if it somehow deflated, but it fit me perfectly. It was like having kittens sitting around my head.
Fast forward to my senior year, I'm running as fast as I can to home plate. I have time. I can definitely make it. The other team manages to get the ball and throw it to try to get me out. By league rules, I HAVE to slide into the plate if the ball is headed in that direction, even if I'm safe by miles. So I do, I slide.
When a person slides, her feet hit the plate first, right? Apparently the other team's catcher was not familiar with this phenomenon. Instead of swiping her glove towards my feet before they touched the plate, she thought it was best to slam her glove into my helmet. My helmet. Which was the last thing to touch the plate. 5 feet away from the action. A few inches off the ground. My precious helmet.
Unfortunately for me, we were playing in the city's public field. A field that's been around as far as my father could remember, with little to no maintenance since then. The dirt around the plate felt more like concrete. Uniforms have been known to get frayed and tattered from sliding against it. And I had managed to have my helmet slammed, at full force, with an aggressive catcher's heavy (and full) glove against this cement pretending to be dirt.
I don't remember much of what happened afterwards. I actually heard my head shaking around inside. But I had completely shut down for about 20 seconds. It was as if all my vital signs were off. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't hear anything. I didn't breathe. Hell, I wasn't even conscious. I don't know how I stood up. I think someone helped me. I just remember I had to sit on the sidelines gasping for breath for the next inning and a half, unable to play the rest of the game.
But you know what? I would have been a hell of a lot worse if Coach cheaped out on the helmets, if he didn't get his girls the best he could. That helmet saved my life, and after a thorough inspection, she was still perfect even afterwards.
I also wrote a post regarding my helmet woes on my own blog here http://captain-back-harness.tumblr.com/post/43694327997/keeping-with-the-current-theme-of-safety-gear-i
DeleteIm still a freshmeat and i have a terry cloth lined helmet because thats what everyone recommendes, even the local skate store. As our league grows, we've become more aware about the right gear we should use and the risks o not using them. Specially helmets and their certifications. Im glad we found put this info before anyone got hurt
ReplyDeleteWho knew you could get whiplash playing roller derby? It was one of those moments in practice when the fall is so quick, there is nothing you can do to stop it.
ReplyDeleteI believe I was practicing a knee start (this was before the one-whistle start when we used to do these pretty frequently), and as I began to quickly move to a standing position, a teammate got her skate right under mine and I flew straight onto my back, cracking the back of my head on the floor. Oof! I took a short time out, massive headache coming on, but like most of us after a hard fall, after a few minutes, continued on with practice.
No concussion or anything. My headache went away. But 4-5 hours later, could barely move my neck! (Thank you chiropractor). Bottom line - was so glad I was wearing a decent helmet, and would really love a new one. :)