ASTM is not the same as the British as I understand it. ASTM is an engineering standard for materials with purported safety properties. The British standard is industry specific. I do not know which is better. I know most British helmets fail ASTM. Charles Owen is the exception, but that is just what I have gathered over the years in speaking with former business colleagues. I wish someone who had the facts would confirm or deny.
[QUOTE=retreadeventer;8038989]
ASTM is not the same as the British as I understand it. ASTM is an engineering standard for materials with purported safety properties. The British standard is industry specific. I do not know which is better. I know most British helmets fail ASTM. Charles Owen is the exception, but that is just what I have gathered over the years in speaking with former business colleagues. I wish someone who had the facts would confirm or deny.[/QUOTE]
ASTM is just a company. They create standards for all sorts of materials and equipment. They are based in the US but their standards are used in a variety of industries and countries http://www.astm.org/ That said, each standard is in fact industry-specific. So, they have a specific standard for equestrian helmets which is different than their standard for bike helmets, football helmets, etc etc. It doesn’t just relate to the materials, it relates to specific tests which are performed on the complete helmet and designed to mimic equestrian falls/injuries.
The british equestrian helmet standards are very similar, and after looking through both exhaustively I don’t really think one is better than the other. There are some differences which cause some helmets to pass ASTM and not the British standards, and some helmets to have the opposite profile. The companies that create these standards compete with each other… so by definition they want to do things a little differently. I couldn’t find any significant science to support one being better than the other in this particular comparison (there are more distinct differences in some other standards, like NOCSAE.) I ultimately concluded that I would feel equally safe using a helmet that met the ASTM or British standards, and would just use whichever one was legal in the country where I was riding.
A synopsis of standards;
http://www.beta-uk.org/media/safety/download/BETA%20Guide%20to%20Riding%20Hats%20A5%202%20pager%20to%20go%20as%20insert%20in%20nehellip.pdf
It may be that skull caps conform to PAS015: 2011, which is Euro certified.
Throw in insurance companies and there you have it ?
Interesting debate…
I personally have always used skull caps for XC (and I think most Brits do, too…as well as many other XC riders, right??? Or are there lots of XC riders that wear brimmed helmets? Maybe I just don’t notice)
In any case, I LOVE skull caps because you can get your custom Sipps Silks covers…ehheheeeeee…in all seriousness, they are ventilated, comfortable and affordable…I’d say, why not? My OneK Furlong is AWESOME!!!
One rider I can think of off the top of my head is James Alliston, I remember seeing him at Rolex in a brimmed hat, albeit a CO one…
