ARPRO sports helmet offers protection from multiple impacts

It’s a fact of life that when you engage in certain sports you need to wear protective gear. Obviously, your head needs to be protected from any accidental impact and that’s where sports helmets come in. If you’re a keen sportsman, you’re likely to be frustrated by the fact that every sport requires a different helmet, which are not always comfortable or particularly cheap. Worse, if you happen to come to grief on your bike, snowboard, or other thrill seeking conveyance, you’ll be forced to buy a new helmet every time it's subjected to an impact. That could be about to change - Tatoo is a new sports helmet that is designed for comfort and can still be used even after multiple accidents.

The Tatoo helmet is designed to deliver increased levels of comfort along with protection from multiple impacts. The helmet is made from Arpro expanded polypropylene (EPP), a light weight material which absorbs energy repeatedly, and is highly durable. The helmet will be initially available for snowboarders and skiers with a new model for horse riders to follow.

Designed by French company Pulsium, the Tatoo helmet is created by linking four scales together. This gives it a semi-rigid assembly allowing it to conform to different head sizes and shapes. Arpro is the ideal material for the helmet as it is both flexible and resilient and offers improved levels of comfort.

Traditional helmets are made from expanded polystyrene (EPS), a material that is light-weight, cheap and can be crushed without much rebound. Unfortunately, once an EPS helmet has been involved in a heavy impact it needs to be discarded due to the loss of protective qualities. The Tatoo helmet, on the other hand, is designed to last beyond a single impact accident.

“Traditional polystyrene (EPS) helmets are inflexible and tend to be brittle – after a single impact they offer much less protection and should be thrown away,” advises Pascal Joubert Des Ouches, President of Pulsium.

“It’s a substantial problem that compromises safety and increases costs for the user. ARPRO, on the other hand, gives almost the same protection on the fifth impact as the first – for us, it’s an ideal material,” he added.

Due to its durability, ability to be custom-moulded and resistance to high temperatures, ARPRO has been used extensively in the automotive industry, including motor racing car seats. Another idea even has it as packaging for consumer product that gets a second life as furniture, - like this television stand.

Given that there were over 14,000 head injuries from horseback riding accidents and over 8,500 head injuries as a result of snowboarding accidents in 2004 - according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission - correctly-fitted helmets are still an absolute necessity in sporting pursuits. Perhaps given the durability and resistance of ARPRO it will be used for other sports helmets including bicycle and motorbike helmets in the future.

The Tatoo helmet will be sold under the Rossignol brand.