DOT German Army helmets

Found this site, lots of helmets, like the German style, ordered a matt black one
http://www.uhelmets.com/index.php?cPath=26_37

 

I guess you can wear whatever you want, or even nothing, if the law allows.... Freedom of choice.

I wear a full face helment anytime the bike is moving... period.

Personally, my head and face is worth more than $32.95

Some helmets I see make me wonder exactly what the minimum DOT requirements are... Does anyone know?

 

Apparently not very stringent is what. I don't know that I'd buy anything from a helmet company that doesn't know how to spell "carbon fiber."

 

Not True. The new DOT law takes affect in about a week. It clearly states that unless your helmet has an approved DOT tag inside, it will no longer be legal and law enforcement can pull you over to check your helmet for this approved sticker and write you up for it.

There are a lot of fake DOT insigneas out there, some are even on reputable manufactures, like HJC. But HJC does not have a legal DOT tag inside the helmet, so technically you are breaking the law if you have a HJC helmet. Helmets made overseas for foriegn markets do not go through the same testing as helmets made for the US market.

So be careful buying anything over the internet or at discount bike shops. Those helmets are made in China, Tiawan, Indonesia, or India. Some of tha largest motorcycles markets and do not have meet any safety requirements as helmets for the US.

Anything with a SNELL sticker inside is ok, but SNELL updates their standars every 5 years, so a 2005 SNELL sticker runs out in 2010. If ride at any track in your area, you will be required to have a 2010 SNELL compliant helmet to run on the track.

When protecting your head, any thing is better then nothing at all, but why take the chance? Head trauma is the number one cause in bike fatalities. There are 3 collisions diring an accident. You getting struck, your brain striking the inside of your skull, and you hitting the ground. Deaths have occurred at only 1G of force during a simple fall. Now multiply that by 20 - 50x and in some cases 100x in speeds over 60 mph.

I've been down twice on the road, and quite a few times off road. My helmet saved me each time.

Trust me I have done enough work with the auto industry to know these facts too well.

Bottom line is, you need to choose a good helmet that meets the minimum requirements, but SNELL is the best, sure it cost more money, but hey, what is your life worth? And besides, unless you are racing, you can get 10 years from a SNELL helmet, 5 if you are racing? It's money in the back when it saves your life.

 

I do have a Shoei Full face 2010 snell Helmet, We don't have a helmet law here in MN and sometimes I'm tempted to ride without one, at least I'll have something on when I heed to those temptations.

 

Where is this inside label? I have never seen a label other than the sticker on the outside. I have a KBC that is supposed to be Snell and DOT but I don't see any inside label

 

The labels are either sewn into the padded liner, or a sticker on the inner foam pad under the liner.

Mine are part of the manufactures label that is sewn in on the liners. There is "DOT FMVSS N 218" printed on tag on my helmet, which is the DOT approval number.

On the SNELL stickers, there is also a DOT approval number in very fine print.

 

There is a Snell 2005 Sticker inside under the liner - I don't see a DOT sticker but if it's Snell approved I have to assume it is also DOT approved

Thanks for the info.

 

Sorry man but not on this melon!!! It's full face or modular all the way, I don't want to be the man without a face if something goes south.
Shaun

 

Correct. SNEL approval is both.

 

No, SNELL is not a both. SNELL is a Nonprofit foundation that tests helmets on a different scale than DOT wich is a government entity. There are those that say the SNELL ratings are better but if you do the research both standards are flawed. You see they test mainly on crown impacts, thats right on the top of your brain cage. So few crashes result in a blow to the top of your dome.

So.. these pieces of junk may have approval by a system that measures the impact on the top of your noggin but 85% of all fatal head injuries from motorcycle crashes are as a result of a side blow to the head, not the crown. I'd be interested in seeing what your head is going to look when you get T-boned and smack your lump on the hood of a Lexus wearing that helmet. Might just as well by one that says TONKA on it.

I would drop the dime on one.
The Buff

 

Buff what the heck are you saying? I understand and can agree about the SNELL based on my reading. But most Helmets I see claim either DOT or both DOT and SNELL ratings. Are you talking about SNELL only rated helmets?

I misstated earlier - my helmet claims to be DOT and SNELL approved. I don't see the DOT sticker mentioned but I do see a legit SNELL sticker so I am assuming the DOT claim is legit also - which was the topic - fake certs.

I think it is important we do understand how to tell if a claim is legit to make us better informed purchasers of helmets.

 

True; while Snell approval isn't technically both, the Snell standard is MUCH higher than the DoT. You won't find a Snell-approved helmet that doesn't pass DoT standards-- except for maybe the sticker or lack of it.

 

Agreed. Sorry, if you can't use spell checker on your advertising I won't buy from you.

 

First off the thread started out with 550FAN stating he bought a cheap helmet. The thread then became a discussion of DOT vs SNELL ratings and those that are not really approved.

If a helmet is tested by SNELL only it will only have a SNELL rating. Those that carry both ratings are tested by both. Either way you cut it, the testing is flawed when it concerns side impact. Furthermore it is mainly the shell that is tested but not the suspension material on the inside which is where the real protection takes place. The tests are unrealistic and until these orginizations change the way they test helmet we can expect more head injuries in our ERs and worse yet morgues.

The answer here is to do your homework. Don't buy a cheap helmet just because it looks cool in a helmet mandated state. Look for a reputable manufacturer with a solid history. Also just because a helmet is made in a foreign country. I think you would be surprised where most of our high dollar lids are made.

The Buff

 

Maybe because it's not really CARBON FIBER but just a decal painted over ?? C'mon- - it's $32 .00 !!

{the carbon fiber helmets at the Harley shop are $180}

 

It says specifically carbon fiber LOOK. LOOK means not really carbon (or carbin) fiber but made to look that way.

 

(And as I step in front of the firing squad) - I live in Illinois, and my Dad was a charter member of the local ABATE chapter. My parents used to go around to Drivers Ed classes educating the students in regard to motorcycle awareness. The circle I grew up in was primarily helmet free - and I do not own a helmet.

I took my safety course, I know the stats... but for some reason, I am more comfortable riding without one. I also know how stats work, not saying that helmets dont save lives, but smoking a cigarette one time in my life doesnt mean that when I die of cardiac arrest at the age of 92, it was because of smoking.

Our safety instructor, who was very informative, and I got into an argument over the possibility of a helmet causing an issue. Tiger Wallis was a friend of my family who died in a motorcycle accident - he raced motocross, as a matter of fact. He died near his house after he dumped his bike and the helmet caught a flaw in the pavement, cracking his neck.

They say this absolutely does not happen - I was at this guy's funeral, and doubt his family made it up.

Now, I understand the logic behind helmets, and have contemplated getting one, but my sound mind and concentration while riding is more important to me than a piece of gear to deal with the aftermath of the neglect of that concentration.

I believe helmets save lives, but with experience, I feel they could hinder my own - thus choose not to wear one. If states are so uppity about legislating things, I think they should be much more concerned about tightening up licensing procedures to prevent idiots that will kill people from getting on, behind, or in front of an engine, and not focus so much on protecting the people from the idiots they allow to legally drive.

Now, I will accept my thrashing.

 

I pray you never loose this argument as that would be the last argument you are in.

Course, the same goes for the rest of us.

 

I remember going to a bike shop as a "younger" rider and looking for a "cheap" helmet. The older salesman who served me smiled and said:

"You'll end up spending as much on a helmet as you think your head is worth".

I bought a full face Shoei....

 

I always wear a helmet. That is my choice. I do not appreciate our elected officials appointing themselves our nannies and mandating helmet use by law. It is a real quick jump from requiring helmets and seat belts to dictating to you the makeup of your meals....because it is for your own good and to reduce the burden on our medical system. If this social medicine comes to pass then we will see wholesale governmental intrusion into our lives. Already, government has mandated certain water use standards on our toilets. Every time you sit to contemplate things, uncle sammy is right there with you. I normally wear a seatbelt because I choose to. The 'Click It or Ticket' propoganda makes me want to unbuckle out of spite. Some individual police officers may care, but as an entity, all the various layers of government care about is raking in the dough so that they can give it to women that have 5 kids with 5 different men and dont work, people here illegally. We are all our brother's keeper at the point of a gun...government force.

I apologize for the rant admins. Notice that I did not specify any party or group other than Government. If this is too inflammatory for this forum, PM me and I won't post like this again. I simply feel that we are rapidly losing our individual liberty. After all, the greatest minority, the minority of minorities is the individual. I love our country, our way of life, and I fear for it. I am 38, and in my lifetime I have seen a dramatic encroachment upon our individual liberties. Seriously, If government can mandate a helmet for 'your own good', where does it end???

 

I would never ride without my full-face helmet. It is good because you do not need a windshield and it is also safer. Many times when I am riding a huge bug will smack my shield and I am grateful it was not smacking my face causing me to have a wreck. My helmet is also DOT and Snell approved.

 

The bugs really suck. I have had them hit my helmet hard enough to snap my head back!!!

I remember a friend riding a Sportster to school when he was 15. He was wearing a viking helmet with the horns. Wonder if it was DOT approved. LOL.
Still, somehow, it seemed perfectly fitting that a kid with no license would drive a sportster to school in 1985 while wearing a horned viking helmet.

(Very Rural area. Back road, relatively slow speeds. No he shouldn't have been out there, but hey, all of us were kids. I drove that 360 without a license on the back roads and firetrails. Good Memories)

 

Dad gum govmnt getting in my business! telling me what to do.

Admins, please don't hinder my freedom...


It just cracked me up that you could rant about the goverment intrusion on your life while cow towing to the site admin. (No offense admin, I'm just saying.)

 

DianCecht - well said - we do lose freedoms and I think it is getting ridiculous. Regarding helmets causing injury there are the same arguments with seatbelts. You can always argue both sides. With seatbelts there are studies that show with is safer than without. I have not read any helmet studies in that area but my gut feel is it would be the same.

Personally I wear a fullface all the time. I am against helmet laws as as well as seatbelt laws. But I would choose to wear a helmet without the law. I wear the jacket, gloves and shoes all the time too - no law compels me which is as it should be - my choice.

 

People that choose not to wear a helmet, who defend their rights of freedom of choice, standing behind the "It's my life, I should be able to do what I want with it" ... are these the same individuals who, after receiving severe head trauma/paralysis willing to refuse the health care they will need to keep them alive? More importantly, once incapacitated, can you count on your family honoring your wishes in this regard? There is a clause called implied consent that grants you medical care in the event of a debilitating injury without your consent, and hospitals are mandated to follow it. (As they should...)

As rude as it sounds, if you accept the risks of riding without a helmet and personal protective equipment, you should then not expect the government to step in and provide health care for your injuries.

The local hospitals, however, have to step in and save your life, unless you have Do Not Resuscitate orders on you or readily available for medical professionals to follow. Otherwise, regardless what your wishes were when alive, you will be intubated, you will be given medications to keep you alive and you will be billed possibly hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You may say that you don't expect anything; however, the law is setup to protect the common citizen in the event of a traumatic injury. I'm not saying that a helmet will save your life. I'm not saying ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time) will save you from injury. What I am saying is you have a better chance at survival if you take the necessary precautions than if you didn't.


/end rant

 

Madmax,

You rock! I couldn't have said it better myself. As an ER nurse that works the Sturgis Rally every year see about 35 cases a day from MC wrecks. Those with head injuries not wearing helmets out number those that were by 85%. Of those 85 out of 100, 60 do not have insurance. Who's paying for this? In most cases? the government by way of our taxes or you and I through higher health care.

We need to stop thinking about our own personal rights and start thinking of the bigger picture of the family and friends that may be impacted by selfish ideology and poor decision making. A lot of those that rant about personal choice personal responsability are some times the first to sue a company for not making the dangers of a risky activity more clear in their instruction manual.

The Buff

 

Awesome!! Another ER nurse that rides! Can't tell you how few ED nurses there are that ride in my ED.

I recently had to cut the leathers off a poor rider who had suffered a serious head injury. Perfect body protection but he neglected to wear a helmet. Not sure why he opted out but he has a C3 fracture for his trouble. He's alive, if you can call it that. I guess that's what fueled my rant.

Sturgis, eh? I hope to make it there one day.

 

We need to stop thinking about our personal rights????!!!!!!?????? I cannot believe someone actually said that!!!!! OK Comrade, papers please!!! Believe me, the head injury cases paid for by the taxpayer due to no helmet are insignificant next to the bill inflicted by illegal immigration. Insignificant compared to TARP, Omnibus, Stimulus One, Cap and Trade, and Universal Health Care. The federal deficet has been increased in the last 6 months more than the last 200+ years combined. Insignificant compared to this silly war on drugs. I have never used in my life, but any fool can see that we are wasting resources in this 'drug war.' Let the addicts blow their brains. Give em all the coke they want!!! It will kill em. Yes the teen ones too. Ain't that too bad, and yes I guess I am a heartless pr$%k. Can't you parent your kids??? I was exposed to peer pressure...oh yes....but I never caved to it.

I try to obey the forum rules because the forum is owned by someone else. This is like I am a guest in their house. I am respecting their wishes and rules. I do not have to frequent this forum. I choose to.

Remember that ANYTHING at all can be deemed to be in the public interest. If that is the basis for an encroachment on personal liberty, then we have no liberty.

 

I'm so sick of hearing about taxes. Do a bit of research on the federal reserve... Understanding that it is a commercial bank, it collects interest on a debt. A deficit occurs annually, the debt is the sum of the deficits. If you break the money down, EVERY NICKEL of your income tax goes to the INTEREST on the debt of this country.

It's nice to feel like you're contributing, but your income tax has one sole purpose - The Federal Reserve. Income Tax was enacted to suit the transfer of monies into the federal reserve. Your tax dollars will have absolutely nothing to do with my head trauma.

One of the things they teach you in advanced mathematics classes it the importance of understanding numbers with more 0's than just a few... Anyone know what 11 trillion dollars would look like? Imagine a warehouse of pallets, doublestacked, packed full of Benjamins.

No one should have their freedoms stripped of them because someone is concerned about where their tax dollars are going, because, quite frankly, they don't have a clue.

But, for those interested in my own situation - We have damn good health insurance on account of my wife working with the Sec. of State. So I'm only affecting your premiums....... but more so with my Pall Malls than with my bare head, I assure you of that.

Again, I will suggest that your fake money will be better served by better licensing of motor vehicles... but I'm fairly sure, with a 78$, soon to be 98$ yearly registration fee in Illinois, that's just another cash cow too.

 

I guess when I said we need to stop thinking about personal it came out wrong. I'm a strong believer in those rights but at the same time we make that decision to live recklessly we also need to think of all the other people that that choice is going to affect. I f you want the to spend the rest of your life with your loved ones feeding you through a tube than take the helmet off.

 

I think that everyone knows why they should wear a helmet and that no one can deny the obvious improvement in survival rates of those who do. I do not wear a helmet but I do own one. It is full face. I hate the way a half helmet raises up in high winds and strangles you with the chin strap. I have been riding for fifteen years and had one accident. That happened 6-29-2009. 40 MPH and my head never hit the ground. I am extremely aware of how incredibly lucky I was for that. I have no illusions of immortality but hate to think of death. I ride on, rubber side down, face in the wind. If you are going to wear a helmet, spend some real dough. Come on, $32.95 for a dome? Might as wear one of those leather caps or duct tape some egg cartons to your head. That way you can be original.

 

LMAO - very funny

 

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle- ... andard.htm

There are the detail for the current DOT regulations umm yeah from reading that I don't see how a free fall on an anvil from 118", or a 6 pound striker sharpened to a piont again dropped only at free fall can give accureate info when you have the average person of 150-250 pounds and the enertia of the bike,car whatever hitting the helmet. My good friend has a saying He believes the only difference in a full face or a half helmet is a open or closed casket. I am split on this I wear my full face most of the time. I do own a german style DOT helmet that I wear around town but never on any trips or cruises. Idunno I like the feeling of the halfer but like the safety of the full face when I want to twist the grip.

 

DOn't get me wrong. I always wear a helmet unless I am piddling arount the yard at 5mph. I took a lot of crap in school because I wore a skid lid on a moped. Law did not mandate a helmet on a moped then. I wore it because it was better for me...by my choice. Our constitution, our bill of rights specify what government may and may not do. Many of the may-s have been twisted and contorted to include serious intrusions into the life of the individual. Meanwhile, many of the not-s have simply been ignored. It is the nature of an individual to want as much of everything for himself. Civilization puts checks on this desire. Law describes the checks and the penalties for ignoring them. Any group - be it a government, a social organization, a corporation - consists of human nature writ large. Our elected representatives have forgotten this or have chosen to ignore this in their individual quest for more of whatever happens to float their boat. All I say is that we must be careful. We have less freedom than we had 30 years ago. How much are YOU willing to trade in the name of safety, security?

 

Holy smokes!!!! I haven't looked at this post since I posted it! I always wear a helmet, just get tempted to not when its very hot out, like I said I have a snell 2010 full face that I always use. If any of you guys want to buy me another helmet feel free. This is for shootin around town on hot days, not highway trips where I'm pushin 60 + or even 50. I have an Icon Daytona full Armor jacket that retails for around $450. Shoulder pads, back pad, elbow pads, and extremely thick leather, what kind of jacket do you have? I wear boots, and some times chaps I know this is a cheap helmet. Find me a better one in this style and I'll buy it. HOW MANY OF YOU SMOKE? How many of you drink? How many of you eat at McDonald s,or White Castle, Drink Coke? Or diet Pepsi? how many of you don't exercise? how many of you do rolling stops? Drugs? the list goes on. I workout every day, I compete Jui-jitsu, I eat right, I take care of my body and I wear a helmet........ OK I'm done ranting. I'm sure I'll here more.

 

Do yourself and your family a favor... be uncomfortable for a little bit during that quick trip around town, and wear the full-face... that way, you won't have to spend *ANY* extra money on a piece of garbage helmet that won't help when that cager makes a left turn in front of you.

Happy riding!

 

I am well aware of my surroundings, even better when my ears aren't covered up, I've never been in a bike accident yet, because I keep my Eyes open and am always looking for the stupid ass cage that makes a left turn in front of me. I always anticipating that any vehicle is going to cut me off, drive in front of me etc, etc, but thats not what your gripe is about. its the fact that I bought a cheap helmet, SO SUE ME. there is are thousands of people that ride without helmets. and I always wear one.

 

No need to get rude. We can discuss this rationally. Well, I can anyway!

You said it right when you said you haven't been in a bike accident *YET*. Ride long enough, and you will be in one, regardless of how aware you are of your surroundings and other drivers.

Yes, my gripe (I prefer to say "concern") IS that you wear a helmet that doesn't offer you any protection. Yes, there are people that don't wear helmets, and with that piece of junk, you are (perhaps) marginally better off than they are.

I have said my piece... You are an adult, and free to do as you like. I wish you well. Again, ride safe!

 

Thanx, I respect your concern.