Peltor Helmets and BS 6658-85 type A/FR

[Pascal]

Im wondering what everyones thoughts are regarding helmets with the BS 6658-85 type A/FR certification, specifically the Peltor G78. The certification on these helmets is no longer going to be recognized by the FIA after the end of this year. Rally America and CARS will also stop recognizing the certification for 2014. I've been told that NASA rally is going to allow these helmets from 5 (10?) years of date of manufacture. Here is the current NEHA rule for reference-

C. Helmet
1. a. Snell SA2005 or newer, or b. FIA legal
2. Full-face helmets are recommended.
3. All helmets must be in good condition.
4. Recommended that helmets carry a sticker or label with medical

[walterclark]

I am not sure if anyone has thought about it as it applies to NEHA...

I am going to be talking with Don tomorrow and I will bring this up. I think going with a policy similar to some other sanctioning bodies such as X years from date of manufacture for the BS helmets would be fair. Some of these are probably over 10 years old now but I would bet there are a number of them that are less than 5 and just fine. It is something that should be proposed and discussed at the annual rules meeting.

[Pascal]

Thanks Walter. I have another helmet I prefer for hill climb, but we do have two newer peltors in the household and I figured I would ask.

For reference, official word from NASA is 10 years from manufacture date.

[walterclark]

Pascal,

What do the Peltor's have for a manufacturing date label?

I went thru my helmets (all Bell with SA certs) and there are no official manufacture date labels in them. Just a serial number on the Snell sticker. One has a handwritten label with shell and liner dates but it looks like a MM-DD handwritten thing with nothing that would indicate a year.

If we were to go to the trouble of amending our rule to permit BS 6658-85 A/FR helmets by manufacture date we would need to be sure there was some sort of printed and dated manufacturing label being used in them to begin with and not just some hand written sticky that anyone at any time could have added.

[Pascal]

They have a label on the back of the helmet that says-

3M Peltor
Manufactured
201109

Clear and official looking.

[walterclark]

I submitted a rules proposal to permit helmets with BS 6658 or FIA 8860 approvals to be used in NEHA hillclimb classes for up to 10 years from date of manufacture. I suspect Steve will post it soon. Basically it puts a similar maximum time limit on these helmets as we allow for Snell approved helmets by permitting current and one back SA rated helmets. There will be limits to acceptance though. The helmets must be in good physical condition and the original approvals and manufacture dates may not appear to have been tampered with or removed and the date must be legible.

And, yes I know some SA rated helmets may be rendered illegal in as few as 5 years but that has been an ongoing limitation for at least 10 years so anyone purchasing a SA helmet bearing a 4-5 year old SA approval date should know (by now) what they are getting (and shop accordingly).

[Pascal]

Thank you for looking into this, and also for submitting the rules proposal.