[81alum]

The wiki gods state that leather helmets were first used in the 1920s.  The plastic helmet was first marketed in 1938, but leather helmets continued to be used and improved until the use of advance polymers helped plastic helmets completely replace leather helmets by the 1950s.

The talk about leather helmets and concussions is interesting, though.  Leather apparently does as good a job as modern plastic in preventing concussions--but it does a much worse job of preventing skull fractures, according to this 2011 Time article.

But on the type of lower-impact hits to the head you typically see in college and high school games — the constant subconcussive blows that can also cause brain damage — leatherheads do a comparable, and sometimes better, job of reducing concussion risks than today’s helmets, according to Cleveland Clinic researchers.

How could a leatherhead possibly be more protective? One reason, Bartsch says, probably has to with the stiffness of today’s helmets. While these helmets are effective shields against catastrophic skull fractures, they don’t do as good a job absorbing energy from a lower impact hit. These hits might not break the skull, but they can cause the brain to shift a little bit within the skull. And such jiggling causes concussions.

Think about hitting your thumb with a hammer. If you put, say, a piece of a padded gym mat on your thumb, that padding will absorb the impact from the hammer, and dull the pain. Now, imagine putting a two-by-four on top of your thumb.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/in...ncussion/ 

It sounds to me like helmets need a drastic overhaul.  A solid plastic shell somewhere in the inside to prevent skull fractures, and energy absorbing padding on the outside to mitigate concussive blows.  I wonder about disposable helmets that look more like bike helmets that get replaced after each major hit.  Keeping the weight low to avoid neck whip.

Anyone know if there are prototypes of experimental helmets like this?

Edit:  I found this:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/20...page=0%2C3

[81alum]

The wiki gods state that leather helmets were first used in the 1920s.  The plastic helmet was first marketed in 1938, but leather helmets continued to be used and improved until the use of advance polymers helped plastic helmets completely replace leather helmets by the 1950s.

The talk about leather helmets and concussions is interesting, though.  Leather apparently does as good a job as modern plastic in preventing concussions--but it does a much worse job of preventing skull fractures, according to this 2011 Time article.

But on the type of lower-impact hits to the head you typically see in college and high school games — the constant subconcussive blows that can also cause brain damage — leatherheads do a comparable, and sometimes better, job of reducing concussion risks than today’s helmets, according to Cleveland Clinic researchers.

How could a leatherhead possibly be more protective? One reason, Bartsch says, probably has to with the stiffness of today’s helmets. While these helmets are effective shields against catastrophic skull fractures, they don’t do as good a job absorbing energy from a lower impact hit. These hits might not break the skull, but they can cause the brain to shift a little bit within the skull. And such jiggling causes concussions.

Think about hitting your thumb with a hammer. If you put, say, a piece of a padded gym mat on your thumb, that padding will absorb the impact from the hammer, and dull the pain. Now, imagine putting a two-by-four on top of your thumb.

http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/07/in...ncussion/ 

It sounds to me like helmets need a drastic overhaul.  A solid plastic shell somewhere in the inside to prevent skull fractures, and energy absorbing padding on the outside to mitigate concussive blows.  I wonder about disposable helmets that look more like bike helmets that get replaced after each major hit.  Keeping the weight low to avoid neck whip.

Anyone know if there are prototypes of experimental helmets like this?

Edit:  I found this:

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/20...page=0%2C3