Hard Foam vs. Soft Foam

**Ian** · 10-18-2009 02:12 PM

Ok, so I'm am usually big believer in hard EPS foam only up until now. Today i tried on a Bern helmet with Bern's soft foam. Bearn called it a "hard hat". It fit me perfectly, very comfortable and i felt perfectly safe in it. I was ready to buy it but then I was not so sure about the safety of the soft foam. What I'm asking is what do you think? Should I have gotten the helmet? Is this soft foam safe enough for skating?

**ridesnow.** · 10-18-2009 03:41 PM

i trust my head in a soft foam triple 8, as do plenty of other people. It's won't be the safest, or as safe as hard foam, but if it fits well and you like it, get it.

**luftywaffles** · 10-18-2009 04:26 PM

So yeah I went to my neighbor's house just to take a look at his triple 8 soft foam helmet/.\

Damn that #### is way softer than the Bern soft foam. a lot thicker too.

I like my Bern.

**Understanding In a Crash** · 10-22-2009 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by [Ian]

Ok, so I'm am usually big believer in hard EPS foam only up until now. Today i tried on a Bern helmet with Bern's soft foam. Bearn called it a "hard hat". It fit me perfectly, very comfortable and i felt perfectly safe in it. I was ready to buy it but then I was not so sure about the safety of the soft foam. What I'm asking is what do you think? Should I have gotten the helmet? Is this soft foam safe enough for skating?

I'm also in the boat of the triple 8 sweatsaver helmet since it's by far the most comfortable helmet I've ever worn for anything. It depends on what your doing of the most part. Don't expect soft foam to be CPSC certified but if your bombing hills at 20+ mph I'd def wear a CPSC certified helmet for that ease of mind.

**speshlspeclsteak** · 10-22-2009 12:07 PM

i wear a bern hard hat for snowboarding. the soft foam is great for that stuff and i trust it alot. hell danny way was wearing a bern hard hat when he did this

YouTube - DANNY WAY BIG AIR CONTEST SLAM X GAMES...

**Cann0n** · 10-22-2009 01:39 PM

I rock the S-one soft foam. Multi impact is more appealing to me than single high impact... I live is FL though.

EDIT: I saw that on X-games. Blasted the shoes clear off his feet.

**Kenny_Ledesma** · 10-22-2009 01:59 PM

He also didn't hit his head.....

**Understanding In a Crash** · 10-23-2009 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by Kenny_Ledesma

He also didn't hit his head.....

I was going to say this but it looks like a pretty hard bail especially on his back. I'm pretty sure if he landed on his head though he would of been in trouble neck wise atleast just from gravity.

**flannelman** · 10-23-2009 12:10 AM

and now to derail this thread...

what would happen if at DH speeds, how cool would jump be then..

**KanoaSurf** · 03-31-2010 04:32 AM

Styrofaom (hard foam/EPS) has only one purpose, to prevent death when an impact would kill you without a helmet.

I does NOTHING to prevent concussions (despite all the BS out there).
Its just too hard.

For example. No football helmets are made with styrofoam liners,and their main purpose is to prevent concussions. (and there is tons of money and research behind football helmets)

No helmet can totally prevent concussions,
but a softer foam, mutiple impact helmet is actually better for concussion prevention in the types of impacts usually experienced by skateboarders.

In these "lesser impacts" the styrofoam in skate style bicycle helmets, does very little to absorb the impact, if anything at all. (except spread the impact over a wider area perhaps).

[felt I had to post this after reading a manu's blog that stated styrofoam is better for preventing concussions...WRONG]

**squishydonut** · 03-31-2010 04:59 AM

softer multi-impact like the large cell foam that's kind of shiny? protec has their multi-impact version. that's what i have.

**Petary791** · 03-31-2010 08:50 AM

I used the 2 stage Pro-Tec stuff for a long time and slammed quite a few times with a headache afterward but no long term damage. Then I got a Bell Faction because it had hard foam. I bought it online and it fit me weird (sat on top of my head too much and made me look "special") and I work it for a while and slammed REALLY hard in it. My head was spinning but I didn't have a headache. I have since retired it for another 2 stage Pro-Tec. It just fits so much better and is safe enough.

**KanoaSurf** · 03-31-2010 08:04 PM

Originally Posted by Petary791

..... and I work it for a while and slammed REALLY hard in it. ...... I have since retired it for another 2 stage Pro-Tec. .

Well... you HAD to retire it.

Disposable styrofoam helmets are like kleenex... one slam and it should never be used again.

**Petary791** · 03-31-2010 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by KanoaSurf

Well... you HAD to retire it.

Disposable styrofoam helmets are like kleenex... one slam and it should never be used again.

Haha great point but whatever. I like my soft foam. I really want a Kanoa but can't justify the loot. But God they're rad.

**pjcasabuena** · 03-31-2010 11:09 PM

I have the red helmet with soft foam.

Had a hard fall once. hurt really bad for the week that followed. Soft foam helmets work(most of the time at least), but hard foam is more of a guarantee for safety.

**AlG** · 04-01-2010 08:00 AM

Originally Posted by Petary791

Haha great point but whatever. I like my soft foam. I really want a Kanoa but can't justify the loot. But God they're rad.

I've got an old shell (clasp instead of D-ring) that needs liner replacement ($25) I could sell you. PM if interested.

**KanoaSurf** · 04-02-2010 10:01 AM

I really would like to hear from other styrofoam lined helmet users that have hit their heads.

Yea, I know the helmet was toast afterwards, but how did it feel?

What I have heard is that it hurts your head alot more to slam in a styrofoam helmet vs multi impact helmet.

Any stories?

I only hear the stories about my soft foam helmets, and usually its....

"Barely felt the impact, but my neck's kinda sore from the whiplash"

(note: Use at your own risk!)

**bemmons1222** · 04-06-2010 07:02 PM

i've been using triple eight soft foam half shells since i got my first longboard in eighth grade. i've never really slammed my head except for one time (knock on wood), but have bumped it a number of times and have always been fine with my soft foam helmets. the one time that i did sorta slam it i was a bit disoriented and dizzy (symptomatic of a grade 1 concussion), but i don't think a hard foam helmet would have done any better.

of course, a fullface will always have hard foam (at least every one that i've seen), but that's because they're meant for more extreme circumstances in which death is more of a concern than a concussion. therefore, they may prevent death and facial damage more effectively, but as has already been said, the hard foam is not really better and possibly not eve as good at protecting from a "routine" concussion as soft foam.

STILL, despite all sorts of information on helmets, there is more to head protection than just the helmet. obviously, don't do something that puts your head in an unnecessary amount of risk. of course it is impossible to longboard without risking head injury, but minimize that risk by being wise about how and where you skate. furthermore, if you do hit your head, treat it properly. get google and go read about head injuries. concussions are really way more serious than people, especially skateboarders, make them out to be. it is super important to take proper action and be responsible after you have hit your head, or you can cause further damage to your brain. even the most minor concussions DO cause brain damage, and while you may not notice, it leaves you brain more susceptible to injury in the future, especially when not properly cared for.

please do not think that head safety ends at wearing a helmet

**EBasil** · 04-13-2010 03:38 PM

I'm not a soft-foam fan, and I think several of the soft-foam helmets out there are an outright sham that will get skaters badly hurt. I see these things at ASR with squishy foam that feels like the "sizing pads" used on a real helmet and I wonder what trick is used to make these legal just so some kid can be suckered into buying something that won't muss his cute hairdo too much.

I am a hard-foam fan, and one that's seen and lived a few wrecks to support this adopted view.

I fell off the back of my board in the Keyhole at Del Mar, landing on the back of my head and breaking my nasty-ass, thick-hard shell Bell helmet's styrofoam. My head hurt, my neck hurt, my butt hurt and I got right up and skated with no concussion. Actually, I skated without the helmet until they kicked me out for that.

I watched my friend plow through the rear side window of a Torino station wagon like a dart, bang his head on the B-pillar on the other side and then blast through the other rear side window to land on the street. He was going 35mph, slower than I skateboard sometimes, and wearing a Shoei full face that literally split and fell onto his shoulders when he sat up. This was a "styrofoam" helmet. He had a concussion, a shattered arm and a chipped tooth, but no brain damage. I wasn't wearing a helmet, but began doing so when riding motorcycles, that night.

I hit an oak tree, head on, going about 20mph while racing bicycles in Sycamore Cyn, outside of Malibu, ducking my head into the tree to take the hit on the helmet. It hurt and I was knocked out, but I awakened, got up and rode out. No concussion and I have been more docile eve... no, not at all. I was wearing a hard-foam, Gecet-based, Shoei mtb helmet with a skate-style hard shell.

I watched my girlfriend ragdoll down a trail after an mtb-wreck, hitting her head on the ground and her bike several times. She was wearing a Bell, microshell, Gecet-based hard foam helmet and walked away, but reported that her entire body hurt and felt as though she'd been run over by a truck. The helmet was scuffed and dented from impact.

The next day, I flipped over the edge of the Dark Hollow Trail in Brian Head, Utah on my mtb, fell 10-12 feet before first contact and then rag-dolled down a rocky slope with multiple impacts on my helmet. It didn't hurt, not counting the broken ankle bone, and my Bell "pump", micro-shell, hard foam, mtb helmet was dented all over like a golf ball. No head injury. The girlfriend who crashed the day before was watching. Turnabout is fair play.

I went over the bars and head-planted like an idiotic spear onto rocks on the Skid Marks trail in Mammoth. 15mph, probably less. My Bell, hard Gecet-foam, microshell mtb helmet split in half, but stayed together inside the shell. I tumbled it out and got up, fine. My head didn't hurt, but my ego was badly bruised. I rode out, somewhat more calmly and bought a new Bell at the shop before going back up the hill.

I took a stupid tumble while skating down Pump Station, wearing a Pro-Tec Ace, hard shell, hard foam skate helmet, and managed to head-strike three times while flailing around in some stupid-ass attempt to tumble it out (mtb reflexes BAD on pave). I might have been going 15mph, maybe. I got up and was fine. Helmet was scuffed, but not as bad as my hands. I began wearing gloves for slalom after that.

I slid while racing Banana Bay alone and hit the vertical corner edge of a concrete pillar with the side of my head, wearing that Pro-Tec Ace. It spun me around, felt like my head had been split with an anvil and I lay on the ground for about 10 minutes before getting up. The hard foam was shattered, my ear was cut by the hard shell and I had no concussion...did go to the hospital and did have to call wife. I bought a new Ace and that's the one I'm still skating in.

I skated with a skilled rider that didn't want to wear a lid because he knew what he was doing. I watched him lay on the ground, drooling and moaning after he pitched backward onto the concrete in Banana Bay when he rubbed wheels with a close friend. We and he got lucky: he awakened and his friends agreed (over his protestations) with my demand they drive to the ER: he had a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and spent 2 days in the hospital. Definitely concussed, too.

I've had many glancing or letter blows where I bet one of those soft-foam lids could have been fine, and me too. My hard foam helmets were also fine, as was I. It seems to me that when stuff really goes wrong, you'd be wanting the helmet that can take the hit. I don't wear my lid for the minor scuffs and stacks, but for the nasty ones.

**bemmons1222** · 04-13-2010 04:40 PM

^ not disrespecting the valuable experience that you've shared with us, but if your head hurts from hitting it, or you get knocked out, you have a concussion, and if you have a concussion, you have incurred brain damage. there of course are varying degrees, but that is simply the truth.

aside from that, it sounds like you've been through and seen some very gnarly head injuries, so thank you for sharing. i personally still prefer my soft foam helmet for applications in which i may get a concussion, but death or severe concussion/brain damage is not a threat because this is what the soft foam is designed for. that being said, i also like to wear my fullface with hard foam for applications in which the threat is much larger than a mild concussion, and death or severe concussion/brain damage are very possible because that is what the hard foam is designed for. if i i could only use one foam or the other for the rest of my life, i would definitely go with hard foam, but since i can chose, i'll use each foam for what they are best for.