- A helmet is cool for the same reasons
that a car is cool.
It's a beautiful thing that has a job.
When F1 drivers unveil their helmet,
it's almost as big as when they unveil their car.
It's as iconic as a leather jacket.
Technically they're both safety equipment.
But they look badass.
Darth Vader in a helmet,
is the most iconic,
scariest villain in cinematic history.
But then you take it off,
and he looks like your toe after a long bath.
(gags)
As cool as they are,
helmets exist to keep our heads from exploding
when they hit things.
(hip hop music)
Pop!
This is cars down to the atom.
Science!
The first helmets were leather,
and they were more about keeping your head warm,
and protecting your ears from noise,
which I guess is better than nothing.
But in 1956 Pete Snell died in a racing accident.
His buddy, George Snively Jr. was like,
- "Dang, I miss Pete.
I just wish there was something
he could have put on his head that was
harder than my jacket, my couch, or my shoes."
- Snively incorporated the Snell Memorial Foundation
in 1958 and published the first Snell Safety Standards
for Protective Headgear.
They smack them on machines.
They hit 'em on anvils.
And they burn them with torches
like a Frankenstein monster.
(monster screams)
So this one claims that it meets Department
of Transportation standards.
Technically it's illegal to put DOT on helmet
unless it meets their standards but,
as far as we can find
it's kind of like an honor code.
Snell on a helmet,
that's the Snell Foundation,
telling you they tested this helmet
and it meets their standards.
A Snell approved helmet is tested by the Snell Foundation.
I guarantee it.
- So Bart, how does a helmet work?
- Pretty well James, pretty well.
Now you may have heard someone say a helmet absorbs impact.
Physics tells us that energy can't be destroyed or created.
So in the helmet biz, they say managed.
The helmet has to take the energy of an impact and
manage it by spreading it out,
so it doesn't hurt you.
The energy of the impact has to be distributed through
a number of layers of different materials,
so that it doesn't get distributed
into your skull.
The better the materials are,
the better the energy management is.
The hard stuff manages the impact,
the soft stuff cushions your head.
Armadillo...arma-pillow.
- Ha!
- Alright, let's do some "science stuff".
This is my friend Brian.
He's going through a divorce and just bought a motorcycle
and decided to cheap out and get a discount helmet online.
Brian's like "Hey, I got this bike, I need to get a helmet.
40 bucks, I'm legal."
Colin spent 400 bucks and got a medium grade helmet.
Alright, bear with me, I haven't done this in a while.
This is a shock pad.
It's designed to burst when it experiences 75 Gs of force.
Government scientists say that is you experience
75 Gs of force,
you're gonna be severely injured.
Or dead.
Here goes Brian in the 40 dollar helmet.
Good luck Brian.
(helmet thuds)
And now Colin in the more expensive helmet.
Good luck Colin.
(helmet thuds)
Let's see how my buddy Brian did in his 40 dollar helmet.
Oh Jesus Brian,
(slurp)
you feeling OK, huh?
How are you...oh Brian.
You've experience over 75 Gs.
I don't know how to tell you this buddy,
no, you'll be fine, don't worry.
We'll get you some help.
He cracked his melon.
Alright now let's see how Colin did.
Hey buddy, you hear about Brian?
He didn't make it.
Colin's fine!
And look at this guys,
the shock watch didn't burst.
That means this helmet kept it under 75 Gs on his head.
That means Colin's not severely injured.
That's pretty cool.
I mean, this is a melon.
Both helmets look the same on the outside,
so the answer must be on the inside.
- You good?
- So let's find out what's on the inside!
(saw motor whirring)
Something smells bad, like stuff was melting.
That's not good.
Let's crack her open.
What in the...
It's just one solid piece.
It's got a weird lining, it's got packing tape.
And now, the more expensive helmet.
(saw motor whirring)
Whoo!
Look!
This is Princess Leia's helmet when she was on Endor.
(motorcycle noises)
Dude, that's totally how that happened.
It's pretty obvious that the more expensive helmet
is better in this case.
This shell is thin and is just made of plastic.
It even melted under the grinder.
Where the Snell helmet has a proprietary thick liner,
this inexpensive helmet has a foam that's much less dense,
and I couldn't tell you what it's made of.
I can tell you that it also melted under the grinder.
If you're in a car accident,
you don't want stuff melting to your head.
If you look at the most expensive Snell certified helmet,
it's really easy to see why it was so effective.
First, the diamond blade made a nice clean cut.
Nothing in here melted, and that's a good sign.
This shell is a thick, layered fiberglass composite
with a fire retardant resin and enamel coating.
And beneath that is this two tiered, bead all liner.
These things together are what saved Colin's melon.
The visor is a three millimeter thick piece of Kevlar.
That's the stuff in bullet proof windows.
Helmets started as glorified winter racing hats
made out of cows butt skin.
But over the years they've evolved into these
well thought out, high tech life savers.
You can see the difference between a more expensive,
certified helmet and a budget helmet.
So wear a good helmet like a good car boy.
Thanks for watching Science Garage!
I had a great, great time cutting these helmets open.
This was one of your ideas, so thanks.
Give me more ideas about stuff you think I should cut open,
or blow up,
or I don't know, drink.
Follow Donut on Instagram at Donut dot Media.
If you're thinking about getting into racing
check out Tony's video on the
best tuner cars under 10 grand.
You wanna know more about helmets?
Check out this video we did on the
evolution of racing helmets.
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Check back every Wednesday to learn more science.
Don't tell my wife I did this.
Bye guys!