OK people, class is in session!
Lots of inaccurate info being blathered about, some right on the money.
First lets start with the TWO standards that are acceptable in the USA.
There is the DOT (Department of Transportation, FEDERAL) and the Snell Foundation.
This link will take you to the entire page, I'll just post the good stuff.
[url]http://www.smf.org/articles/dot.html[/url]
There are two organizations setting safety standards for motorcycle helmets in the United States, the Federal Government's Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Snell Memorial Foundation.
DOT sets minimum standards that all helmets sold for motorcycling on public streets must meet. The standard is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 (FMVSS 218) and is known commonly as the DOT helmet standard.
Both Snell and DOT position the helmet on a test headform and then drop that helmeted headform through a two guided falls onto a fixed steel anvil. The test is repeated so that each helmet is impacted on at least four different sites on its surface against either a flat or hemispherical shaped anvil. Snell testing also impacts the helmet against a steel edge anvil that may simulate the edge of a sign stanchion or guardrail. The differences are in impact severity and impact criteria. How big an impact must the helmet withstand and how do the testers determine that the helmet actually withstood the impact.
Snell requires that helmets withstand substantially larger impacts than DOT.
Ancient wisdom has it that it's not the fall that does the damage, it's the sudden stop. Both Snell and DOT measure the suddenness of the stop with an accelerometer, a device used to measure acceleration or in this case deceleration, that is mounted inside the headform.
Snell and DOT use different methods to analyze these pulses. Snell limits the peak value to 300 G's. The DOT Standard requires that the peak acceleration not exceed 400 G's but they also put duration limits on the acceleration pulse.
There are also administrative differences between Snell and DOT. Snell Certification means that Snell technicians in Snell labs tested samples of the helmet to Snell standards before the helmet was certified. Furthermore, as a condition of certification, Snell regularly buys samples of all Snell certified products and brings them into our lab for follow-up testing.
DOT certification is done on the honor system. The helmet's manufacturer determines whether his helmets satisfy DOT and then claims the qualification for himself. There is not even a reporting requirement. The government does contract for some spot check testing at commercial and private labs but not very much. In recent years much of their effort has been spent against so-called beanie helmets that are obviously substandard and are worn only by helmet law protesters.
In fact, Snell certified helmets do meet DOT. If you want to be sure that your helmet meets the DOT standard, get a Snell certified helmet. Manufacturers apply for and earn Snell certification because they care about quality. These are the very manufacturers for whom the honor system works. A Snell sticker is your best assurance that the helmet meets both Snell and DOT.
With motorcycle helmets the old Bell Helmets ad line still applies:
"Buy a 10$ helmet if you have a 10$ head".
The best helmets sold in America are Arai and Shoie and in that order.
As far as fit goes the more expensive the helmet is the better the fit (sorry, that's the way it works).
Arai helmets used to be for people who had a "long" face, Shoie helmets were for people who had more of a "round" face. Arai now makes a helmet for each style of face. Shoie has always done that. You may find that in one model they only have the long face version, and you may have to move up or down to get to the round faced version, or vice-versa for the other manufacturer.
Don't discount Sumoy, HJC or Bell helmets, they meet the Snell and DOT standards and they are on the "less" expensive side.
Buying a used helmet is always a crapshoot, you don't know if it was owned by a lice and ringworm infected non-hairwashing mo-fo, and you may not be able to see if there is any crash damage to it.
About crash damage, once your helmet has been "used in anger" and you have knocked your mellon off the ground your helmet is now worthless. The outer shell is what protects you against the sudden impact, it is designed to take the impact and spread it out from the point of impact all over the helmet. The inner foam liner (EPS) is what cushions your skull. It works by being crushed, this is what slows your mellon down and cushions it when it bounces back and forth inside of the helmet. On many helmets you can't see when the EPS liner has been crushed. Some manufacturers will do an instection on your helmet to see if the liner is still good.
Full face is the only way to go IMHO, and always wearing a helmet is the only way to go IMHO also.
However, I agree that wearing a helmet SHOULD be a CHOICE.
Did you know that the Federal Gov'mint used a VERY FLAWED study (done by Harborview Medical Center in Seattle) to base the FEDERAL helmet law on. Harborview is the same liberal commie left wing POS hospital that churns out other flawed and worthless studies, like how many CHILDREN (up to age 20 frickin 5) are killed by guns everyday.
So, I hope this has answered your questions and has helped to clear up any misconceptions about motorcycle helmets.
CLASS DISMISSED!