# Brock Foam and EPS



## Qball (Jun 22, 2010)

I've been looking into buying a new helmet and as always I get way too in depth on the research of the whatever it is I'm buying. I have found that there is little info on Brock foam, which is used in the Bern hard hats. The only link I could find with really any info was this >> Bicycle Helmet Foam

I'm curious what your experiences are with different types of helmet foams. Does soft foam provide adequate protection for snowboarding? Or should we listen to the safety standards and go with the EPS hard foam?

The only experience I have with soft foam helmets is with baseball helmets. Baseball helmets use a very soft foam and the can withstand a 90 mph fastball, granted most hits are usually a glancing blow because of the round object on round object collision. I have seen direct hits, though not 90 mph, that didn't even result in a concussion.

Is Brock foam a good form of protection of is just for the mild blows with no protection in a major hit?


----------



## legallyillegal (Oct 6, 2008)

football helmets use vinyl nitrile (shit), relying on the shell to disperse energy (and mostly failing until the latest helmets)

hockey helmets use vinyl nitrile, but EPP (good) is slowly being introduced

baseball helmets (also rely on the shell for energy dispersal - they get seriously deformed on impact) use urethane foam (shit), but like hockey helmets, EPP is slowly being introduced

almost all skate/bike helmets use EPS (shit)

almost all ski helmets use EPS

Brock, EPP, Zorbium, and the other multi-impact foams (other than urethane and vinyl) are superior to single-impact shit like EPS


the standard certification test involves just dropping the helmet from a small height


----------



## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

I don't think you have to be worried about the brockfoam not providing adequate protection. From what I understand unless your going to be taking a massive death-defying fall on your head while doing something nutters, the brockfoam holds up fine. For average and above-average impact use it works better.


----------



## Qball (Jun 22, 2010)

Yeah it seems like the way they test helmets is pretty dumb. Dropping them straight down on to an anvil isn't a realistic situation. If I'm going to spear a rock with the crown of my helmet it seems like I would snap my kneck regardless if the helmet saved my head or not. I've noticed that Bern seems to advertise their Hard Hats more than they do the EPS helmets, but due to possibilities of lawsuits, they can't say much about the protection of the Hard Hats because they don't comply with the tests.


----------



## Nivek (Jan 24, 2008)

My Brock foam Bern has been much better at protection than any others I've used. Hard foam, like the shell of the helmet, takes up a lot of the shock. What it doesn't do is give your head additional time to slow down. This is where a hard shell and Brock makes more sense. The shell deforms and takes most the impact shock, and the Brock foam lets your head decelerate. You wont break your head in either, but Brock and the like keep headaches (concussions) away.


----------



## Qball (Jun 22, 2010)

After doing a little reading...
EPS: Absorbs energy by compressing and breaking apart, decelerating the head at a slower rate. Once the shell is completely broken the helmet is unable to absorb any more energy, which means whatever energy is left is sent directly to the head. Helmet is useless after one good impact.

Brock: Compresses and deforms to absorb impact. Shell also deforms and possibly breaks, depending on amount of energy, to absorb impact. Once shell is broken and foam is totally compressed, the rest of the energy is transferred directy to the head. Foam rebounds back to original form and helmet is good to use as long as shell is intact.


----------

