We, at Raceland, had quite a problem with football helmets this past season and I was wondering if anyone else had such a problem.

 

We were using the new Riddle Revo and Revo Speed, and quite a few of them broke. I'm not talking about screws coming out, but the helmet it's self actually breaking. Most of them that broke, broke along the side around the earpiece. They actually broke and the side of the helmet was cracked and movable all the way to the earhole. We also had a problem with keeping the face masks attached, it seemed as if the screws were not long enough to stay threaded into the flange piece they screw into. And, the third problem we had was the helmets flying off the players. I have never seen a season with so many players loosing their helmets during a game. I noticed this happening to opposing teams as well, but it seemed it happened to our players more then other teams I saw. We would have player take a mild to moderate hit and the helmet would just fly off.

 

It seems "concussion" is the new catch phrase in football. With that being the case, why would helmet manufactures be using helmets that come off and break so easily?

Have not experienced any of the issues you mentioned.

I did notice helmets flying off the heads of players at an alarming rate. I attributed the cause to players wearing their chinstraps too loose, there may be more to it than that.

Ram, our school also uses the Revos & Revo Speeds, but we have gotten pretty good service out of them.

 

Breakage - that I know of, we have had one break in a similar manner just forward of the ear hole on the portion that kinda protrudes forward to protect the jaw area, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Facemask retention - no problems at all. It took a while to get used to the new quick-connections on the Speed, but once figured out, no problems.

 

Helmets coming off - Personally, I don't think this has anything to do with brand of helmet, but rather type of chinstrap. The new hard plastic chin straps all the kids want to wear seem to not grab the chin as well as the soft leather chin pocket on the traditional chinstraps. The foam inside the plastic allows the pocket to move more on the chin, and traps sweat as well - not a good combination for retention. I do understand why the kids want to wear them, however, as I suffer from jaw problems today caused by getting hit in the chin by helmets 30 years ago.

 

Hope this helps.

Watching most NFL games you you will notice that not many players wear the hard plastic chin straps. Most players wear the soft leather ones and seen even the old school chin strap by Riddle from the 80's era (mainly QBs). I agree with ft bronc on his assessment.

We, at Raceland, had quite a problem with football helmets this past season and I was wondering if anyone else had such a problem.

 

We were using the new Riddle Revo and Revo Speed, and quite a few of them broke. I'm not talking about screws coming out, but the helmet it's self actually breaking. Most of them that broke, broke along the side around the earpiece. They actually broke and the side of the helmet was cracked and movable all the way to the earhole. We also had a problem with keeping the face masks attached, it seemed as if the screws were not long enough to stay threaded into the flange piece they screw into. And, the third problem we had was the helmets flying off the players. I have never seen a season with so many players loosing their helmets during a game. I noticed this happening to opposing teams as well, but it seemed it happened to our players more then other teams I saw. We would have player take a mild to moderate hit and the helmet would just fly off.

 

It seems "concussion" is the new catch phrase in football. With that being the case, why would helmet manufactures be using helmets that come off and break so easily?

 

If no other schools are having the quantity of breakage issues that you are experiencing then it might be a production issue. I would imagine that these helmets are linked to a serial number or a unique ID that can track when they were made and other vital information. Check with Ridell to see if that is the case. If other schools received helmets from the same lot number then Ridell can contact them to see if it is indeed a common problem.

All new revo's in both the youth league and middle school, and no issues with breaking. I have seen more pitting and gouges in the new helmets, but none broke

I remember back in 2006 I broke two revolution helmets right near the ear hole. I would have thought the newer helmets wouldn't have this problem. At any rate, atleast they look cool...

I dont know about helmets breaking etc, but the helmet coming off is a "Riddell" thing.

I was at Kochs sporting goods, a downtown Cinti 2nd generation family business that has been furnishing hs, college and pro teams for over 40 yrs and was searching for a helmet for my youngest son and asked about the Riddell Rev and was told stay clear because its a non-universal type of helment, meaning that all components must be Riddell products and only Riddell products, no mix matching of mfr products,(ie - chin straps, ear pads and facemasks).

I was told that if you watch any hs, college or pro game and when you see a helmet come off its a Riddell. He said it has to do with Riddell chin straps only working with Riddell helmets, if you use their straps then you are ok, but as soon as you change brands then the helmet wont stay on. He said other helmet mfr products are universal and will work with other straps but not Riddell. This info coming from a guy with some knowledge in the football helmet business.

 

I do know that if a kid sits on the helmet it will crack it at the ear holes. A helmet is at its strongest when its full of melon, take the melon out and it is simply just a shell.

 

I can almost guarantee you that if you send a helmet back to a mfr such as Riddell they will tell you what you dont want to hear, it has probably been misused or damaged off the field of play. They have these helmets down to science for obvious reasons and when defects are talked about or claimed they get real nervous and dont take them lightly and will get to the bottom of it. JMO.

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by Sweeperboy

I dont know about helmets breaking etc, but the helmet coming off is a "Riddell" thing.

I was at Kochs sporting goods, a downtown Cinti 2nd generation family business that has been furnishing hs, college and pro teams for over 40 yrs and was searching for a helmet for my youngest son and asked about the Riddell Rev and was told stay clear because its a non-universal type of helment, meaning that all components must be Riddell products and only Riddell products, no mix matching of mfr products,(ie - chin straps, ear pads and facemasks).

I was told that if you watch any hs, college or pro game and when you see a helmet come off its a Riddell. He said it has to do with Riddell chin straps only working with Riddell helmets, if you use their straps then you are ok, but as soon as you change brands then the helmet wont stay on. He said other helmet mfr products are universal and will work with other straps but not Riddell. This info coming from a guy with some knowledge in the football helmet business.

 

I do know that if a kid sits on the helmet it will crack it at the ear holes. A helmet is at its strongest when its full of melon, take the melon out and it is simply just a shell.

 

I can almost guarantee you that if you send a helmet back to a mfr such as Riddell they will tell you what you dont want to hear, it has probably been misused or damaged off the field of play. They have these helmets down to science for obvious reasons and when defects are talked about or claimed they get real nervous and dont take them lightly and will get to the bottom of it. JMO.

 

Considering Riddell and Shutte own 90% of the market (with Xenith, Rawlings and Adams being very, very small players) there isn't much of a choice. Shutte isn't universal either for facemasks or pads ( not sure about chin straps). Both companies provide repair kits to the organizations they outfit, and it's not all that difficult to get the proper replacement parts anyway. Besides with all the options the companies provide, why would you need to (or want to) mix and match replacement parts, and no third party provides any real cost saving alternatives anyway. I do know Riddell is very good about replacing damaged equipment and replaces several jerseys, shoulder pads and helmets each year that show excessive wear at no cost.

Considering Riddell and Shutte own 90% of the market (with Xenith, Rawlings and Adams being very, very small players) there isn't much of a choice. Shutte isn't universal either for facemasks or pads ( not sure about chin straps). Both companies provide repair kits to the organizations they outfit, and it's not all that difficult to get the proper replacement parts anyway. Besides with all the options the companies provide, why would you need to (or want to) mix and match replacement parts, and no third party provides any real cost saving alternatives anyway. I do know Riddell is very good about replacing damaged equipment and replaces several jerseys, shoulder pads and helmets each year that show excessive wear at no cost.

 

I think the point I was trying to make was that the "helment coming off" issue is purely chin strap. The aftermarket parts are items like the Oakley shields, the adams chin straps, etc. If you use a adams chin strap with a Riddell helment there will be problems. I just know from dealing with proprietary specifications of equipment and product that as soon as you alter (ie - drilling holes for facemasks, shields, extra holes for chin strap clips etc) you lose your warranty, and rightfully so imo......

I dont know about helmets breaking etc, but the helmet coming off is a "Riddell" thing.

I was at Kochs sporting goods, a downtown Cinti 2nd generation family business that has been furnishing hs, college and pro teams for over 40 yrs and was searching for a helmet for my youngest son and asked about the Riddell Rev and was told stay clear because its a non-universal type of helment, meaning that all components must be Riddell products and only Riddell products, no mix matching of mfr products,(ie - chin straps, ear pads and facemasks).

I was told that if you watch any hs, college or pro game and when you see a helmet come off its a Riddell. He said it has to do with Riddell chin straps only working with Riddell helmets, if you use their straps then you are ok, but as soon as you change brands then the helmet wont stay on. He said other helmet mfr products are universal and will work with other straps but not Riddell. This info coming from a guy with some knowledge in the football helmet business.

 

I do know that if a kid sits on the helmet it will crack it at the ear holes. A helmet is at its strongest when its full of melon, take the melon out and it is simply just a shell.

I can almost guarantee you that if you send a helmet back to a mfr such as Riddell they will tell you what you dont want to hear, it has probably been misused or damaged off the field of play. They have these helmets down to science for obvious reasons and when defects are talked about or claimed they get real nervous and dont take them lightly and will get to the bottom of it. JMO.

 

Hmmm! Interesting! I haven't heard this before but really makes sense.

My son has been wearing the same helmet for the past four years at Rockcastle. It's an old Schutt that I personally went out and bought a full "umpire" facemask with extra bars to protect his chin where he plays on the line. It is gouged, beat to hell and the facemask has a few bent bars on it, but, it is still intact and survived four years of him starting on the line. It never came off and the only problem with it was replacing a few of the rubber facemask holders on it and a whole bunch of the chinstrap snaps that would get broken. I had a Riddell in high school in the early 80's and I still wear the scar on my chin where I hit a big guy from Harrodsburg in the numbers while downfield blocking. Three of the four rubber facemask holders broke and my teeth went through my upper chin. Thus the attention I put into my son's helmet.

BTW....he got ribbed by the other boys at the KY/TENN Border bowl for having an "old school" egghead helmet. He just grinned and said he'd keep it.