Last year Virginia Tech – Wake Forest School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences began testing adult football helmets. The school just released its 2012 ratings, and added two helmets with five-out-of-five stars, joining last year’s pick.
Testing the helmets is a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded project. The test uses the STAR Evaluation System, which is an acronym for the Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk. It involves performing 120 impacts on each helmet model at multiple locations and impact energies to evaluate the degree of head protection.
The Riddell Revolution Speed earned five stars last year. This year the Rawlings Quantum Plus and Riddell 360 also earned five stars. The Rawlings implus and Rawlings Quantum each earned four stars, which still falls in the recommended category for Virginia Tech. Continue reading Virginia Tech Releases 2012 Football Helmet Ratings