Sea Otter 2016: 6D Helmets

Rotational forces on your head are bad, m’kay? Crash impacts tend to have both an impact force on your head and often a rotational force, as you bounce your head down the trail. This rotational force can’t be reduced by the EPS helmet foam that will protect you from impacts and can cause brain damage as the brain sloshes around in your skull.

This movement is what MIPS helmets are designed to reduct, though it’s not the only way of doing it. A relatively new company, 6D helmets has a different way of going about it. It calls it ODS – Omni Directional Suspension.

Instead of having a plastic shell next to your head that can move within the helmet (that can be hot and a little unyielding) its helmets feature two, thinner, EPS foam layers that are separated by a matrix of little rubbery dots. This allows the two layers of foam to move against each other and slow your head – and therefore brain’s – rotation.

The system adds a little extra volume to the helmet, (and about 100g to the weight) but due to running two thinner shells, it’s not actually that much. The two layers are clearly visible and a squidge around can show you how they can move against each other. The helmet weighs in at 480g, which is on the chunky side for an all mountain lid.

The helmets are just being released about now and will be available in the UK through Decade Distribution. US price is $269.99.