Schuberth shelf life and usage life.

My wife bought a Schuberth C3w. We thought that we were buying a Schuberth C3pro woman and wanted to swap the SRC-System from my C3 Pro. It can not be done. We are exchanging it.
While trying to I found the manufacture date of 9/2011.
Is it common for helmets to set in a warehouse for 3 years before being sold.
Will it have any effect on the 5 year life expectancy we are told that helmets have?
Schuberth claims that it does matter how long it sets in the warehouse and they warranty the helmets 5 years from the point of sale, because the helmet does not start to degrade until is put into use.
thanks tony

motocamper said:

My wife bought a Schuberth C3w. We thought that we were buying a Schuberth C3pro woman and wanted to swap the SRC-System from my C3 Pro. It can not be done. We are exchanging it.
While trying to I found the manufacture date of 9/2011.
Is it common for helmets to set in a warehouse for 3 years before being sold.
Will it have any effect on the 5 year life expectancy we are told that helmets have?
Schuberth claims that it does matter how long it sets in the warehouse and they warranty the helmets 5 years from the point of sale, because the helmet does not start to degrade until is put into use.
thanks tony

Click to expand...

As disappointing as that is, I cannot speak to how common it may be that boxed helmets sit in warehouses for 3 or more years - that could be an issue of supply and demand within the industry. Perhaps someone else with expertise in large inventory management could speak to that.

As for helmet life, keep in mind that a certain amount of 'moisture' (not water, but a formula of chemicals) is forced into the foam at the time of manufacturing. Under 'normal' use, that gives your average helmet a 5-7 year lifespan before the foam either begins to powder or is too hard to cushion your skull.

After all, the purpose of the foam is not to protect you from outside forces - that is what the hard shell attempts to do - but to lessen the shock to your brain from blunt force energy.

'Normal use' will involve such contributing factors as sweat, ultra-violet exposure (depending on how you leave an unattended helmet in sunlight), petroleum vapor absorbtion, humitidy and other environmental pollution. I worked for years with a Lead RiderCoach at an MSF site who was the VP for a major foam-producing company within that industry - learned a lot.

I was told by a BMW dealer once that a major premium helmet manufacturer would warranty its helmets for 5 years, but if not sold off a dealer's shelf within 2 years of the 'born on' date (easily found on a tag/sticker inside every helmet), it was sent back to Japan for destruction.

I also converse frequently with professional motorcycle racers at the track site where I work - their helmets are inspected before every sanctioned race and an orange, dated inspection sticker placed on the chin bar to certify that the helmet is less than 5 years old.

Draw your own conclusions, but I change helmets frequently enough (I have four - don't ask) that the one I trust my cranium to is never more than five years old.

Send Shuberth a note and ask them. USA-service@schuberth.com

They answer within 24 hrs.

Re helmet inventories- an example

Snell stds get updated every 5 years. Every time they do, there are sales of models made to the old std that last AT LEAST 2 or 3 years after the new std models are available. Not at all surprised by your experience.

But I also wouldn't worry about it. Helmets stored in the dark in air conditioned spaces are going to experience the absolute minimum of change that the foam formulas permit. Its use - mostly exposure to airborne petrochemicals, UV light, ozone and heat that greatly increase the damage rate.

Without making a list I can't tell you how many helmets are in my inventory at any moment. Several variants for use in track cages of different types and several motorcycle helmets of various types- full face and modular. I also have one open face solely for cage autocross where one needs to look down and close while on course.

I tend to add new motorcycle helmets at the rate of about 1 per 2 years. Helmets continually improve various features and I use them often so want the improvements. I have both bikes and helmets for specific uses.

Sometimes I wear a helmet out- or more accurately- kill it from so much sweat over so long that it can't be washed, rejuvenated or anything else. They get pitched or put on the "museum of memories" shelf- which is the ultimate resting place of all of them that don't get thrown out.

To me, helmets are like gloves- I want the best comfort and function combo I can get. If you ride a lot I suspect you will find the ultimate lifespan of your helmet doesn't really matter as you'll move on sooner than that.

Professionally, I have worked in many industries that assign product lifespans or expiration dates. Indeed, I have been the person approving those dates in many cases. One thing that is always true is that such dates are set very conservatively. For example, in many industries, the std for an ex date is either 10% degradation in performance OR the time limit of the testing the company conducted. NOTE THE LATTER.
A firm might test something for 3 years and find little or no degradation- then by using a variety of chemical and physical models- extrapolation of that data can be done with some certainty but the assigned date would remain the 3 years of actual testing. Yet if 25% degradation didn't bother you, the corresponding extrapolated dates might be 7, 10, or even 15 or more years.

Part of the reason for the above practice is that reputable firms assign high importance to the reliability of their product in all circumstances for which it is intended and also to the firms own reputation with the public. (In my own career, the very fastest way to end it in those industries was to do anything that tarnished the firms rep with customers and govt regulators. Our info was expected to be reliable and fact based, always. We often used the "60 Minutes" std when explaining this to younger employees- eg how you feel while explaining the matter to Mike Wallace on TV)

Anyone who has stored drugs or batteries refrigerated is aware of this. Lower temps slow degradation in virtually all cases due to simple chemical principles. (Exceptions being things that are susceptible to cold damage- which aren't many).

There are too many variables to assign exact dates for better than defined worse circumstances and IMO it doesn't matter anyway. You'll have a new one before then.