Sports News

Here Are the New High-Tech Football Helmets of 2017

Helmet makers are using 3D printing and floating plates to try to keep players' brains safer this season.

Riddell
 
By Tim Newcomb

Football season is kicking off across the country in full force, but it's doing so under the cloud of even more studies pointing to prevalence of long-term brain damage and CTE in former players. The companies that make helmets for high-level football are coming up with innovative new designs to help their headgear absorb as much force as possible in a game growing in speed and impact.

RIDDELL


Riddell InSite player unit
Riddell

Riddell, one of the most popular brands in the NFL, has introduced two new technologies this fall for the NFL and NCAA. Its Precision Fit process uses 3D scanning to custom-fit helmets. The system puts cushioning and liners in exactly the right location for each person, and also improves a players' field of vision—ideal for avoiding collisions altogether.

That process is paired with the InSite Impact Response System. Here, Riddell has inserted sensors into the helmet to alert sideline staff when major impacts happen during a game or practice. Using a five-zone sensor pad in the liner of the helmet, the system measures impact severity and sends an alert when a single impact or a sequence of hits to the head exceeds a marked threshold. The system also tracks a player's history of impact exposure.

SCHUTT

Schutt and Riddell make up roughly 90 percent of helmets seen in the NFL. This year, Schutt has introduced the F7 helmet, which features a shell of what it calls "Tektonic" plates that move independently of one another and feature TPU cushioning to move independently of the helmet.

Beneath the shell/TPU layer of Schutt's helmet but before the fit liner, there is an RDS liner that aims to diffuse rotational forces by allowing movement in differing directions than the shell. With all the elements rotating independently, more energy can get absorbed upon impact. A new stabilization system extends the jawpad for improved fit, and a titanium facemask drops the weight. The F7 has moved into about 20 NFL equipment rooms and 60 NCAA teams use it, including Michigan and Utah.

OTHER PLAYERS

While Riddell and Schutt dominate the NFL market, newcomer Vicis has routinely rated high on performance tests and has started to make inroads into the higher levels of football. The Zero1 helmet, which has earned the top ranking in the 2017 NFL/NFLPA tests, offers the widest field of view of any football helmet on the market and has added a partnership with Oakley to design a shield specifically for the helmet and the optics of football.


Vicis

In addition, the Vicis design moves the polycarbonate shell to the inside, using a flexible polymer on the outside of the helmet so that the player's headgear can act like a car's bumper and deform upon impact, slowing down forces from the start. With the two layers connected by interior columns able to shift in multiple directions, Vicis has engineered movement within the design to push forces in varying directions.

The company Xenith has introduced its Epic+ to the market. Instead of gluing shock absorbers directly to the shell as has been traditionally done, Xenith has interwoven a floating shock bonnet suspension system to allow the head and shell to move independently, mitigating linear and rotational forces. The multi-stage shock absorbers strategically collapse and release air upon impact, meant to provide optimized resistance depending on the force.