With a background in racing, what is the motivation for designing a football helmet?
A: Coach Tom Moore invited Bill Simpson to his first ever football game back in fall of 2010. During that game a player was carried off the field with an injury. Simpson thought that was curious considering the amount of padding that football athletes wear, so he started to do some research. After realizing that football safety equipment was outdated compared to the equipment
What was the impetus for starting SG and designing a football helmet?
A: It was simply that we felt that we could do a better job of protecting football players – especially the kids.
What has been learned from racing that you were able to apply here in a football helmet?
A: The impact velocities and goals for safety in the two sports are so different. In racing, you’re dealing with 200+ mph impacts, and in football, the maximums are 15-18 mph. In racing, you’re trying to prevent catastrophic head injuries, and in football the focus is on concussion reduction. But the principles and lessons learned in 45+ years of designing and building helmets have been applied to the SG Helmet. For example, the autoracing community banned polycarbonate helmet shells in 1974, the vast majority of football helmet manufacturers still use polycarbonate shells. Simpson learned from the autoracing industry, so SG Helmet shells contain no plastic.
What is this helmet made of?
A: The shell is a proprietary blend of materials including carbon fiber and Kevlar. The liner is composed of multiple layers of a proprietary blend of foam substances (not including Styrofoam). The face mask of each SG helmet is made to be lightweight.
Why is lighter better?
A: Start with the fact that the lightweight SG helmet provides better protection, as independent drop testing has shown. Add to that, the fact that every impact to the head involves rotation – on impact, the head always rotates around its point of articulation, the neck. Wearing an SG helmet means reduced mass, which means reduced momentum and reduced rotational force, therefore, a reduction in the chance of severe injury.
What is the specific SG technology that makes it so much better than what is available today?
A: Conventional helmets, made of polycarbonate plastic, cannot disperse energy from impact as effectively as ours, and their increased weight leads to other problems as described above. In addition, most traditional helmets use air cushioning for padding inside the helmet, however air is not an effective energy management system.
How is this helmet similar to a driver helmet? How is it different?
A: The materials used are similar, although they have been adapted to the challenges that football presents such as taking repeated hits.
What have the tests shown about your helmet so far?
A: Our helmet is at least 50%, and up to 100%, better at attenuating forces reaching the head than any other helmet in independent testing conducted by Purdue University researchers.
Who is wearing the SG Helmet in the NFL? College? High School?
A: Players across the NFL, NCAA, and high schools wore the SG in 2012. These include Jeff Saturday of the Green Bay Packers, Tyler Horn of the Houston Texans, Nick and Nate Montana, NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana’s sons, both of whom are college quarterbacks.
Will the SGH helmet prevent concussions?
A: No, nothing can do that. However, we feel that we have created a helmet that will dramatically reduce the likeliness of football head injuries.
How does the SG fit different head sizes?
A: Based on head measurements or hat size, we can provide a SG Helmet that will fit comfortably on just about any head size or shape. To achieve a snug fit once a player has the proper size, we include custom-fit pads with each helmet.
How does the SG compare price-wise to the market?
A: While are helmet is far more expensive to manufacture because of the high-quality materials, we are priced to compete with other helmets on the market.
