Why I wear a full face helmet.

[stubbie]

Full face after a close encounter with a golf ball from the local course.

[twowheeladdict]

It's ridiculously easy to be killed by a slight upward blow to the chin.  Ask Dale Earnhardt.  It's also very hard to kiss the bride with a reconstructed chin.  Carry on................. ......

But, let's not kid ourselves about how much protection a helmet provides.  If we hit something that stops our forward movement it is pretty much over.  The helmet is helpful for glancing blows, or sliding down the road, or deflecting small objects like bugs and pebbles.

Put your chin into the side of an SUV, the FF is just going to disburse the impact energy a little, but your jaw will likely fracture.

[kingoffleece]

Your point is valid.  However, don't discount the fact that a slight upward blow to the chin can result in a fatality from a seemingly extremely light blow.
This is the advantage of a full face.  Not telling anyone what to do, mind, and it's not much of a leap to figure hitting a brick wall at 100mph is survivable, but a slight tumble or very low speed impact?  No, not every time.  I boxed, I get it.  But, it's the main reason my surgeon riding friends use a full face.  They understand how vulnerable that area really is.

Just trying to add to the knowledge base, not preaching.

[cliffrod]

Your point is valid.  However, don't discount the fact that a slight upward blow to the chin can result in a fatality from a seemingly extremely light blow.
This is the advantage of a full face.  Not telling anyone what to do, mind, and it's not much of a leap to figure hitting a brick wall at 100mph is survivable, but a slight tumble or very low speed impact?  No, not every time.  I boxed, I get it.  But, it's the main reason my surgeon riding friends use a full face.  They understand how vulnerable that area really is.

Just trying to add to the knowledge base, not preaching.

To add to the knowledge re Dale Earnhardt/"slight blow to the chin", the kinetic energy of his head vs the sudden deceleration from nearly 200mph to almost zero constituted something much different than a "slight blow."

When I bought my large Gairu (pullmax clone) metal working machine from the Butler Built race car seat company in 2019 https://www.butlerbuilt.net, we discussed his business during the previous 20 yrs.  There had already been at least three deaths in the same manner as Earnhardt's shortly before that crash.  But they didn't have the public profile of Earnhardt.  This company already had a seat on the market with enhanced head restraint capacity, to provide protection that a helmet alone simply cannot provide. They also had others products and ambitions.  But once Earnhardt was killed & the rules changed & drivers realized the appropriate seats were already available, Brian said they had been making seats non-stop and playing catch-up for almost 20 yrs.  Their business took off and there was no time or room for any other products or pursuits.  The goal is to better match any deceleration of the head & contents to the rest of the body mass so that things don't separate externally or internally (like they did with Earnhardt).  This is done with a seat that additionally supports and restrains the head.  A helmet alone- full face or not- isn't going to do it at those forces.

fwiw- I rode with an old half shell helmet for years. Some other guy that eats bugs made some very logical arguments to help enlighten me.   Now I wear a full face. 

[kingoffleece]

yep.  I've seen those reports.  I was oversimplify for brevity.  It remains a valid thought that if he's used a simple additional device (Hanns or similar) the outcome would almost assuredly have been different.  IIRC, did that incident also drive Simpson out of business or something like that?  Bottom line point is that it's a valid concern with an unprotected chin.  Simply educational.  I care not about anybody's risk tolerance-heck, we ride MOTORCYCLES!  Risky enough as it is.  To each their own.

Anyway, 200G's is beyond horrific.  Verstappen hit at approx 65 G's at the "incident" with Hamilton at the British GP a few weeks ago.  Wow.

[twowheeladdict]

yep.  I've seen those reports.  I was oversimplify for brevity.  It remains a valid thought that if he's used a simple additional device (Hanns or similar) the outcome would almost assuredly have been different.  IIRC, did that incident also drive Simpson out of business or something like that?  Bottom line point is that it's a valid concern with an unprotected chin.  Simply educational.  I care not about anybody's risk tolerance-heck, we ride MOTORCYCLES!  Risky enough as it is.  To each their own.

Anyway, 200G's is beyond horrific.  Verstappen hit at approx 65 G's at the "incident" with Hamilton at the British GP a few weeks ago.  Wow.

I wear a FF or modular 99.9% of the miles I ride.  But this discussion brings up a point.  FF helmets provide better protection to the face.  But what about protection in an actual crash?  Where do we draw the line as street riders between protection, comfort, and ability to enjoy the ride. 

We all know that there are the Leatt neck braces, and the Helite air bag jackets, and knee braces, and hip armor, elbow braces, race quality gloves, and on and on. 

Where does the level of protection take away the enjoyment of the ride.  We all have to come to that decision.  Many say they are ATGATT, but everyone has a different definition of what that means to them. 

Statistically the vast majority of accidents happen at 30 mph or less, so I always try to ride at 35 mph or more. 

Number 16 in this list.  https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/little-known-facts-about-motorcycle-accidents-31124

[jbell]

To the OP, Whew! that would have chipped a tooth.

[redrider90]

About 5 years ago I did an extensive research of studies on helmets M/C accident victims in hospitals from all over the world.
Bottom line is half helmets and 3/4 helmets are about equal amount of protection which is not much.
FF by far and away provide much greater protection in virtually all accidents world wide. I no longer have the information as I lost it in an upgrade and thought I had to saved elsewhere.
On a side note I low sided my Mille in the apex of a 45 MPH curve. I wasn't even highballing it. Missed seeing the gravel patch in the apex and I just fell over instantly. My FF bang the pavement and I felt the comfort of the cushioning. I said to myself before I quit sliding as least my head is OK and it was. The handle bar was bent as well as the crash bar bent up against the left cylinder. Scratches all over the left side from the chin up to the top of my ear. I would torn that side of my face off without a FF helmet.