A Method for Assessing the Overall Impact Performance of Riot Helmets

The objective of the present paper is to investigate the overall impact performance of various riot helmets in a comparative study. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ-0104.02) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA-Z611-02) standards regulate the use of riot helmets in North America. Both sets of standards have a number of requirements for impact performance. Impact tests carried out with the use of a drop tower apparatus compliant with NIJ test protocols demonstrated large differences in impact attenuation level among the helmets from six manufacturers in terms of frontal and lateral impacts to the shell, and face-shield deflection. For instance, the impact energy yielding a head form acceleration of 300 g’s was measured for each helmet for frontal impacts on the helmet shell. Values ranging from 69 J up to 171 J were obtained. The energy levels of typical crowd-control threats, e.g., baton blows and projectiles, were quantified and compared with the impact energy values used in the standards. I...