Buying a used motorcycle helmet? Don't!

1. Age

To start with a helmet’s age. If you buy a second-hand helmet, you have no idea how old the helmet is. This is a very important factor when it comes to buying a helmet, as they do have an expiration date. This is due to the materials which are used to make a helmet resistant against all sorts of external influences. After a while a helmet starts wasting away and the material isn’t as strong as it was when the helmet was new. The expiration date depends on the material a helmet is made from.

• A polycarbonate helmet lasts 4 years at average
• A composite helmet lasts 6-7 years at average

2. A helmet is disposable

Helmet’s are basically disposable products. You can only use a helmet once for its main purpose, which is protecting your head during an impact. The outer shell breaks and the inner shell dents during an impact, for this reason a helmet cannot adequately absorb another impact. In case of a second impact with the same helmet, those forces will end up directly on your head. That’s why you should always throw away a helmet when it has fallen or if you have fallen with the helmet. The outer shell does not necessarily break, but the inner shell could be damaged. This is something you cannot see, so buying a used helmet is always a bad idea.

3. Broken helmet shell

This reason concludes the part about a helmet being disposable. A helmet consists of two shells; the outer shell and the inner shell. It could well be that the inner shell of a helmet is damaged, but that the outer shell is completely intact. This damage could even exist when a helmet rolls off a table and falls on to the floor. If a helmet has a damaged inner or outer shell then it cannot do its job when it needs to. If you purchase a second-hand helmet you will have no insight in to what has happened to the helmet. If you buy a new one, you know for sure that it hasn’t fallen on the floor.

4. Worn out interior

All helmets are provided with an interior (or ‘inner lining’). The interior starts to shape to your head after wearing the helmet for a while. This ensures that the helmet wraps perfectly around your head. When you buy a used helmet, the interior will have shaped to someone else’s head. So the helmet will not fit your head properly.

5. Worn out materials

The helmet’s materials wear out over time. Things such as UV radiation, differences in temperature and rain influence the helmet’s outer shell over time. The interior also wears out, impairing the helmet’s fit. EPC, the material used for the inner shell, hardens after a while. This material should ensure the impact is absorbed and that the forces and dampened. However, when it has hardened it will not absorb anything.

Use your head, always get a new helmet!

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