S1 Lifer Helmet - Testing Lab - Soft Foam Helmet VS S1 Lifer Helmet

Soft Foam Helmets test ok at the 2.5 foot drop height. But when dropped at 3.5 feet (ASTM Multiple impact Test) the peak G's spike over 300 G's. And when dropped at 7 feet (Current Helmets Safety Standard / CPSC) the Peak G's spiked to over 800+ G's.  

There is a video online circulating showing a old school soft foam helmet (Flyaway) performing well on a 2.5 foot drop. On the video the soft foam helmet performed better than an S1 Lifer Helmet. And the soft foam helmet company made a big deal about how much better their helmet was than an S1 Lifer Helmet. My first question after watching the video was “Why did they choose a 2.5 foot drop height? It is such a low drop height! The ASTM standard for skate is 3.87 feet and the current helmet safety standard for skate and bike helmets is 6.5 feet. Why did the choose a 2.5 foot drop height? I suspected they tested their helmet at higher drop heights and it didn’t perform well so they only released the results from a 2.5 foot test.  This highly suspect video prompted me to go purchase 2 of the branded soft foam helmets and test them at a 2.5’ height, the 3.87’ (astm test) height and at 7 foot height (cpsc test). And we also tested the S1 Lifer Helmet at these heights.

Observations: Flyaway tested ok at the 2.5 foot drop height. But when dropped at 3.5 feet the peak G's spike over 300 G's. And when dropped at 7 feet the Peak G's spiked to over 800+ G's.  
The soft rubbery foam disperses energy ok at a low height of 2.5' feet but after 2.5' the soft rubbery foam does not disperse energy adaquately and too much energy enters the head form resulting in a high spike of G.s

Summary:

Flyaway / 2.5 ft drop height / Front / Peak G’s: 86 G (raw test footage video 5) 

Flyaway / 2.5 ft drop height / Back / Peak G’s: 148 G (raw test footage video 1)

Flyaway / 3.87 ft drop height / Front / Peak G’s: 380 G’s  (raw test footage video 9)

Flyaway / 3.87 ft drop height / Side / Peak G’s: 841 G’s  (raw test footage video 11)

Flyway / 7 ft drop height / Front / Peak G’s: 909 G’s (raw test footage video 7)

Flyaway / 7 ft drop height / Back / Peak G’s: 963 G’s (raw test footage video 3) 

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S1 Lifer Helmet / 2.5 ft drop height / Front / Peak G’s: 107 Gs (raw test video 6) 

S1 Lifer Helmet / 2.5 ft drop height / Back / Peak G’s: 102 G’s (raw test video 2) 

S1 Lifer Helmet / 3.87 ft drop height / Front / Peak G’s: 168 G’s (raw test video 10)

S1 Lifer Helmet / 3.87 ft drop height / Side / Peak G’s: 175 G’s (raw test video 12) 

S1 Lifer Helmet / 7 ft drop height / Front /  Peak G’s: 164 G’s (raw test video 8) 

S1 Lifer Helmet / 7 ft drop height / Back /  Peak G’s: 176 G’s (raw test video 4)