Ahead of the curve, part 2: helmet innovation and inclusivity, with Randy Swart of Helmets.org

RS 0:00

We've always had quite a appreciation for the need for helmets to fit a broad range of heads. If you can't get a helmet that fits your head, you got trouble.

TS 0:16

Welcome to Made For Us, a podcast about the intersection of innovation and inclusion. It's for anyone who's curious about how to develop products that work better for all of us. I'm your host, Tosin Sulaiman. My guest today is Randy Swart, director of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, an advocacy program explaining helmet technology to consumers. On their website helmets.org, you'll find answers to almost anything you wanted to know about helmets, they get questions like who makes the coolest helmet? Or where can I get a helmet to fit my extra large head, my bald head or my braided hair? Today we discuss some of the common inclusivity questions helmets.org receives, and the latest innovations in helmet technology. Here's Randy Swart.

RS 1:06

I run helmets.org and the other activities of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. It's a small active nonprofit helmet advocacy program funded by consumer donations, we grew out of a helmet committee of a local Bicycle Club and the committee began ride testing helmets in Nineteen Seventy Four. So it goes way back. We were set up as a separate organization in Nineteen Eighty Nine. And we're now a completely separate independent nonprofit corporation. We don't have our own Test Lab, wish we did. But we rely on data from accredited labs mostly in the US.

TS 1:47

Okay, and do you also have links with the industry?

RS 1:51

We are not linked to industry in any way. All of our funding comes from consumer donations. If we had industry links, I think it would compromise our ability to call bad helmets, bad helmets.

TS 2:07

And so your sites helmets.org, it's kind of like a Wikipedia for helmets. Is that fair to say?

RS 2:15

I think it's fair to say. We have 475 pages that cover I think just about every question you'd want to ask about helmets.

TS 2:27

And what are some of the reasons that people visit your site? What are they typically looking for?

RS 2:32

Well it's all over the map. Some of it is inclusivity stuff. In fact, people who are looking for a helmet that will work for their head, as opposed to all the other heads on their block, or people who are trying to find, well, we have a page with concurrent test results. The ones from Consumer Reports here in the US, and the ones from Virginia Tech's lab here in the US. Put those together, and you got a pretty impressive start on picking your helmet by lab test results.

TS 3:08

I did notice that you have a lot of posts on non standard helmets. And I guess that makes sense given the kinds of questions that you're getting. Has that increased over the years?

RS 3:17

We've always had quite a an appreciation for the need for helmets to fit a broad range of heads. If you can't get a helmet that fits your head, you got trouble. It's a basic piece of safety equipment that you really need to have on your head if you're going to ride a bicycle. And so if you can't get one that fits your head, it's a crisis. So it's very important that helmets fit a broad range of heads.

TS 3:45

So what are the broad categories of queries that you get about the way helmets fit?

RS 3:51

Well, I guess probably size has always been on the menu. It's a little better now because manufacturers are finally making helmets that are larger than they were in the early days. It was a real problem in the past because basically, the size of helmets or the sizes that people produce are driven by the market. Nobody wants to make a helmet that's huge, and only sells like five hundred in a year. They can't afford to do that. The tooling is expensive. The design is expensive. The certification is expensive. So there's always been a lag because head sizes have been getting larger and larger over the years. And as they get larger, the helmets just don't quite keep up.

TS 4:45

Although no one knows exactly why, research does suggest that American skulls have been getting bigger. Forensic anthropologists at the University of Tennessee Knoxville examined the fifteen hundred skulls of Americans born between Eighteen twenty five and Nineteen eighty five. They found that the average skull height had grown by about eight millimeters. That's roughly a tennis balls worth of extra space. The findings of the research, which were presented in Twenty Twelve, only apply to white Americans. The researchers told National Geographic magazine that the specimens came from collections to which Caucasian Americans regularly donated. When it comes to helmets, Randy says 3d printing can be the solution for people with larger heads.

RS 5:25

There are some workarounds now for that, because people are making helmets with additive helmet manufacturing techniques that actually fit your own individual head. And some of those can accommodate larger heads than they used to be able to.

Secondly, I think the Asian fit question, Asian heads are broader, and more round rounded than European heads or most other heads. So they find that when they put on a regular helmet - a regular helmet, a helmet that was made for a European head, it feels rectangular on their head, it just doesn't fit at all. And same thing, if you put on an Asian fit helmet on a European head, it wobbles because the sides are much too wide. So it's been a while for manufacturers to discover that there are a lot of people with Asian shaped heads who live in places like Europe in the US. So that that took a long time coming. Other things. Well, people were worried about braids, people worried about turbans, and about patkas, and women worried about hair. And it's surprising that manufacturers have been, I would say less than eager to provide ponytail ports for the back of their helmets. Part of that has to do with the performance, because you have to make sure that spot that you leave for the ponytail to come out, is capable of performing in an impact test. And so that makes it more difficult to design. I'd say those are the broad categories.

TS 7:13

So yeah, I'd like to discuss each of those in a bit more detail. So we can start with hair, particularly long hair, or really thick hair or braids. How does bigger hair affect the fit of a helmet.

RS 7:27

Bigger hair is one of the biggest problems. The braids, especially the ones with the ceramic pieces incorporated in them are very difficult to handle under a helmet.

TS 7:39

You mean if they have beads?

RS 7:41

Right. I said ceramic. But what I really meant was beads. If you have to have them under your helmet, you can't do what most women do with longer hair, which is just bring it back to a ponytail that sits up as high as possible so it doesn't overheat the neck. And the braids question is one that is never going to go away. And I don't think any manufacturer has really solved it.

TS 8:08

Right. And so what happens is, if you're wearing a helmet with braids, it tends to sit higher on the head. Is that right?

RS 8:15

Yes, with braids the best I can suggest is spread them out as much as you can. Use a larger helmet if you have to.

TS 8:23

So another group of people that have challenges with finding helmets, people with cochlear implants.

RS 8:28

Yes, those are large, and they're located in a place where the helmet tends to interfere with them. Occasionally, parents just whacked out some of the foam from the helmet. Occasionally a manufacturer will work with - but not very often - will work with the buyer to try to shape the foam in the back, they have a little more sophisticated way. Because if you just chop out foam, you can actually set up problems for an impact. But cochlear implants are a definite problem.

TS 9:04

So what are the challenges of developing a helmet for people with cochlear implants?

RS 9:09

Well, to leave enough room for a cochlear implant, you would almost have to do what the Canadian company Bold has done for Sikh hair, which is they put a great big bulge in the top of the helmet to hold their hair. Sikhs don't cut their hair, they keep it and so you end up with a very large bulk of hair that you have to put somewhere. Even if you're taking off your turban, maybe wearing a patka to work around the turban problem, you still have so much hair up there that you need a special helmet.

TS 9:43

So has anyone tried to develop a helmet for people with cochlear implants?

RS 9:50

The standards are designed for normal helmets. They're not designed for inclusive helmets. There are no - at least in the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the standard that we use here in the US - there's no special allowance for places where you wouldn't have to pass the impact testing. And I think most manufacturers would be afraid to sell a helmet that had special, they call them waivers in the standards field, they wouldn't want to sell them for legal reasons. Because if you came into court to defend against a case where somebody was wearing a helmet that was made specially for cochlear implants, and they'd been injured, it would be very difficult to convince a jury that you didn't sell an unsafe product. I haven't seen anything specifically designed for cochlear implants. And I think most people are reduced to just having to butcher the helmet.

TS: 10:48

And to talk about turbans, so Bold Helmets launched a helmet for Sik kids who wear the patka. But for men who wear the turban, it's a bit more complicated, isn't it?

RS: 11:00

You can't wear a turban and a helmet, they just won't work. The turban is substantial, it has the hair, and actually a Canadian lab tested turbans versus helmets and said the turbans don't offer significant protection, they don't replace a helmet at all in a crash.

TS: 11:21

So I wanted to talk about Asian fit helmets. So are there manufacturers in the US that are designing helmets, specifically for Asian consumers?

RS: 11:32

There are and we have some of them listed on our webpage on Asian fit helmets. Some, for reasons that I don't fully understand some helmets can accommodate Asian fit heads better than others. And so we have a list of them that we've gotten by people sending in emails saying, well, I have an Asian head and I tried this and it worked. Obviously, anything you buy from Japan would be an Asian fit helmet. So but it meets the Japanese standard, as opposed to the US standard. And the Japanese standard is very different. The test head forms that they use are rounder than our standard European fit head forms, because nobody would buy a European fit helmet in Japan. And so the standard is very different.

TS: 12:21

And what about in Europe? Are you aware of any manufacturers in Europe that are also providing Asian fit helmets?

R Swart: 12:28

Yes, we have those again, listed on our rounder head page.

TS: 12:34

So I guess this is a good time to talk about how helmets are designed. Given the many variations. Why is it so hard to find helmets that accommodate different shaped heads?

RS: 12:45

Well, one of the problems is you have to meet the standards. A bicycle helmet is, it's kind of a minimalist helmet, it's a little thing that sits way up on your head, as opposed to a skate helmet or a motorcycle helmets with much more protection down below, much more stable, much more likely to stay on your head in a crash. So it's very important with bicycle helmets that the helmet fits properly. If it doesn't, if you're hit by a car, for example, your helmet may fly off. And when you actually get to the pavement, you may not have any protection, even though that's the moment when you really need it most. You may be unconscious, your helmet may be across the street. So you have to make sure that the helmet fits well. And in order to do that helmets have to be pretty well tailored to the heads that they're going to go on. When the helmet is, as I say small and way up on your head, the straps have to be very adjustable. The person wearing the helmet has to adjust the straps. All that's important. Manufacturers would like to make a helmet that fits as many heads as possible, because that reduces dealer inventory. And the dealers like that, they don't want to have helmets sitting around gathering dust on the shelf. So they're trying to fit as many heads as they can. And that imposes a certain number of restrictions.

TS: 14:14

And the testing as well is another constraint because of the expense involved.

RS: 14:20

Well, for a big series manufacturer, testing is not all that expensive, because they're going to sell maybe tens of thousands at least and maybe hundreds of thousands of the helmet. So the testing cost is spread out over that. Testing is not a significant cost in that situation. But if you're making a specialized helmet for an individual head that is different from other heads, then yes, the testing becomes a larger part of the overhead.

TS: 14:52

Let's talk about who is innovating in this area. You did mention innovations such as additive manufacturing.

RS: 14:59

I was actually thrilled to see that the London company HEXR H E X R came out with their additive manufacturing or 3d printed helmet. They scan your head with an iPad, and you can scan it at home in fact, you send them the scan, they build a helmet that is, is for your specific head. Now for cochlear implants, that might be a good, good way to go. I don't know, I haven't talked to HEXR about that. But certainly, for a head that has an unusual shape, that's the best way to tailor the helmet exactly to your head shape. So that was a big advance. There's a company called Kave here in the US, they actually use standard shapes based on measurements, and then they 3d print a helmet for you. And then of course, you talk to the Bold people, Bold helmets meets a need that nobody else does. They are in tune with the Sikh community. And they have designed a helmet that is specifically for Sikhs, which makes an awful lot of sense if you're going to be inclusive.

TS: 16:14

A number of companies have also developed airbag helmets, most notably the Swedish company Hovding, which sold over 300,000 Helmets since 2006, according to its website. Hovding filed for bankruptcy in December after this interview was recorded. But in case you're wondering, here's how it's airbag helmet works.

RS: 16:33

They have an airbag that is in a collar. And when you fall, it pops up and protects you. It seems to work pretty well in a fall. But on the other hand, if you hit an overhanging tree limb, or a bridge abutment, or something like that before you fall, then the helmet isn't going to help you at all. It's just not there. It's in the collar around your neck. And it's not terribly uncomfortable. But it is also a solution for the helmet hair problem. And it could be a solution for people with braids, if you want to trust the mechanism that is supposed to blow up the helmet. Then secondly, there's a another company in Germany right now working on an inflatable helmet. They haven't passed the safety standards yet. If they do, then that might be very interesting helmet. I think there there are new materials coming out all the time now in a really rapid sequence, every time I pick up something on new materials, there's something there that that helmets might be able to use. So I think the future might be in the additive manufacturing sector, which is unfortunately always going to be much more expensive than a mass produced helmet.

TS: 18:01

So there's that tension between inclusivity and affordability.

RS: 18:07

Oh, there certainly is, a tension between what a dealer's menu is able to stock and the inventory they're able to carry, and inclusivity. So far, I have not seen anything like a specialized retailer called Inclusive Helmets Inc, or something like that. And I think that, again, that's market driven. The people who make helmets are profit oriented. They're not nonprofits, and they have to make money for their shareholders. So that limits how much they can do to be inclusive.

TS: 18:45

And how about the people who design helmets.

RS: 18:49

Most of the helmets are designed in house by the manufacturer. Sometimes they're designed by a manufacturer of many helmets for various brands. They have constraints, the helmet that they sell for a given market has to fit as many heads as possible in that market. It can't go too far outside of the standard dimensions or it won't fit anybody. And they can't produce an all inclusive helmet because of that.

TS: 19:21

Right, I see. Well, thank you very much. It's been a fascinating conversation. Is there anything that we haven't covered that you want people to know about helmets?

RS: 19:30

Careful fitting is the most important thing you can do with a helmet. Doesn't matter what helmet you wear. If it fits you well and meets the local standard, then it's going to be a good thing to have on your head when you crash. But again, because bicycle helmets are minimal you have to spend time fiddling with the straps and the band that goes around and that sort of thing, you have to work on the straps when you get a helmet to make sure it fits you well.

TS: 20:07

That was Randy Swart of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. You can learn more on their website helmets.org. If you learned something new in this episode, please do share it with someone who would enjoy it. And I'd be grateful if you could rate the podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you're listening. I'm Tosin Sulaiman. Thanks for joining me on Made For Us.

Transcribed with the help of https://otter.ai