Snell/SA rating - change to 2005?

[John LaRue]

Do we know when SCCA intends to mandate 2005 Snell/SA ratings?

Thanks,

John

[cooleyjb]

Good question, traditionally it has been when the new Snell rating has come out that the "current rating and one previous" are still good. However I've heard some internet rumors that the 2000 helmets may be allowed for a bit longer dpending on the organization.

[Marshall Mauney]

Who keeps a helmet around that long anyway? In open-cockpit racing, they get beat-up with small chips and general wear in a few years....

[dc]

End of 2010, the new SA ratings will come out, and the SA2000s will expire. So if you need something in the next 2 seasons, your choice is SA2005 or nothing. The helmet I just bought is an SA2005, and will be good for another 7 years (December 31, 2015), technically.

[Daryl DeArman]

Depending on your timing when you purchase a new helmet it could be "good" for as few as 5 years or as long as 11. Most of us probably keep our helmets somewhere between the two.

[dalz]

Who keeps a helmet around that long anyway? In open-cockpit racing, they get beat-up with small chips and general wear in a few years....

Very true. Five years is the longest I could deal with a helmet, and the longest I could resist something new and intruiging that showed up in the market....

[Ted Idlof]

End of 2010, the new SA ratings will come out, and the SA2000s will expire.

The 1995 helmets were good to the end of 2006 with SCCA. IIRC that gave us more than a year after the 2005 Snell stds were publshed. Also, I'm not sure how this might come into play, if at all, but the differences between the 2000 and 2005 stds were pretty small. But I guess that won't play at all, since the predominant factor is simply the age/normal deterioration of the liner material.

[cooleyjb]

The 1995 helmets were good to the end of 2006 with SCCA. IIRC that gave us more than a year after the 2005 Snell stds were publshed. Also, I'm not sure how this might come into play, if at all, but the differences between the 2000 and 2005 stds were pretty small. But I guess that won't play at all, since the predominant factor is simply the age/normal deterioration of the liner material.

IIRC the 2005 standards came out very late in 2005 so noone could really get helmets out in any quantity with the 2005 standard until 2006 which pushed the date back

[Daryl DeArman]

The standards for SA2010 do not have to be any different than the SA2005 standard. There have been years where the testing procedures were changed and the passing values reduced. So a new SA2005 purchased in 2010 may be better, protection-wise, than a SA2010 depending upon when the 05 was actually produced and what the SA2010 standards are.

Anyone compared the SA2010 and SA2005 standards yet?

[dalz]

Are the SA2010 standards published somewhere already? They might not be finalized yet. In the past a new standard is established very late in the named year, if not the next one.

[Dave Gomberg]

Are the SA2010 standards published somewhere already? They might not be finalized yet. In the past a new standard is established very late in the named year, if not the next one.

More to the point (regardless of when the final standard is published), there needs to be a supply of products meeting the standard before SCCA can mandate them. For example, the 2005 standard was not mandated until 1/1/07. At that time, helmets made to the 1995 standard were no longer allowed. This has been the pattern for a while. So, I would expect helmets made to the 2000 standard to be acceptable until 1/1/2012.

Dave

[Daryl DeArman]

Are the SA2010 standards published somewhere already? They might not be finalized yet. In the past a new standard is established very late in the named year, if not the next one.

Not that I am aware of, however, manufacturers certainly have to be developing toward a known standard. It isn't that the standard is established late in the year, it is the helmets bearing that new sticker aren't widely available until very late in that year/early next year. Delayed entry into market until large retailers have sold most of their old supply.

If you are somebody who keeps their helmets 5 years or so, wait until the 2010's come out and if the standard isn't much different pick yourself up a new SA2005 on the cheap.

[Ted Idlof]

Anyone compared the SA2010 and SA2005 standards yet?

Talking to Gib, the Snell chief engineer, today, he was saying the SA 2010 standards are no tougher than the 2005, just different; the 2010's address some differences for how smaller sizes have to be tested. He seemed to think the SA 2005 will continue on (run concurrently with the SA 2010) for a couple more years for the typical adult size helmets. I didn't get a real clarification because he was rambling about reconciling the Snell standards with FIA's etc, but I think that might mean that the 2005's will be good with SCCA more like 13 or 14 years instead of the typical 11 years we've seen.

Here's some interesting trivia. Previously he had explained that the liner was typically the critical part of the helmet damaged in an impact moreso than the shell itself. So I asked him about age being a significant factor in deterioration of the liner and if that was the main reason a helmet needs to be replaced after a certain time limit. He said no, it's more about the actual use of the helmet, but of course, how would a sanctioning body determine that? They couldn't of course; hence the time limit. Why was he so sure? To find out if age alone was a factor, Snell engineers did an experiment/test on this issue. They took a bunch of helmets up to the Tahoe area (elev > 6000 ft) and left them outside on a flat roof exposed to the elements (heat, cold, rain, wind, snow, UV) for 5 years. They brought them back in and tested them to the original standards that they were certified for; they all passed. Their conclusion was that the age and exposure did not compromise the helmet's integrity and function.

[D.T. Benner]

Thanks Ted.

[ffrgtm]

Sounds like helmets need some type of modified pedometer

[Robert Zecca]

I believe it was January of 2007 that SCCA mandated SA2000 or SA2005 models. The SA95 was no longer allowed. Typically they allow helmets for about 12 years so a SA2000 should be good thru 2012. A racer should change their helmets every 5-7 years from new. There are plenty of good deals on the internet so you might as well purchase a SA2005 and get the most years of use.