A Better Helmet

Football can be a dangerous sport. But for the millions of football players in the United States, it can also be very rewarding. HitGard is the first multi-component helmet designed from the ground up. Rather than just updating current designs, we truly set out to make a better helmet for pro and aspiring football players.

HitGard is not merely another helmet with extra padding, as is the current practice, but may one day be considered as the first major breakthrough in helmet design since the advent of the plastic shell.*

Learn More About HitGard®

Recognized by the NFL

In September 2017, the NFL recognized our HitGard® football helmet technology as an innovation which has the potential to improve sports safety. As part of their Head Health Challenge II, the NFL awarded us a grant to advance our technology. HitGard may well change how football helmets are constructed in the future.

Our Design Goals

Compared to commercially available youth helmets, we have reduced the weight by over 30%, and in one case over 54%!  For a typical 9-year old player, this reduces the helmet mass as a percentage of head mass from about 41% to 33%. This is critical to the development of young brains and neck musculature.

Since our design does not need to accommodate the thicknesses of foam pads as found in the tops and sides of conventional helmets, we are able to reduce the profile so that the helmet is now a smaller “target.”

HitGard prototype tests indicate that acceleration magnitudes were below those generally associated with concussions for both linear and rotational acceleration. Additionally, compared to conventional helmets, the duration of impact time is increased which reduces acceleration and thus the overall force of the impact. HitGard’s average impact duration time tested 127% longer than the leading youth helmet, with one location on the shell at 206% longer.

Flexible energy-absorbing upper shell to attenuate impact forces in a two-step process.  Also insures that the helmet cannot even accidentally serve as a “dangerous” weapon.

  • HitGard is over 30% lighter than most commercially available helmets 30%
  • 22% of football concussions involved head-to-head contact. 22%
  • 15.8% of football players who sustain a concussion severe enough to cause loss of consciousness return to play the same day. 15.8%

Disruptive Innoventions

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Addressing Rotational Acceleration Hits

This is the first helmet specifically designed to address rotational acceleration, which many physicians and researchers now view as a primary cause of sports-related concussions.

30% Lighter Than Other Helmets

Importantly, the patent-pending HitGard weighs over 30% less than a conventional football helmet, which in itself serves to reduce the energy force of a hit.

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Impact Sensor Compatibility

Compatible with many of the leading impact sensors which can transmit impact data to the sidelines.

Emergency department visits for concussions sustained during organized team sports doubled among 8-13 year olds between 1997 and 2007 and nearly tripled among older youth. Protecting Our Youth

A 2011 study of U.S. high schools with at least one athletic trainer on staff found that concussions accounted for nearly 15% of all sports related injuries reported to athletic trainers. Addressing A Growing Problem

More than 248,000 children visited hospital emergency departments in 2009 for concussions and other traumatic brain injuries related to sports and recreation. Numbers That Matter

*WARNING

No helmet can prevent all head or any neck injuries a player might receive while participating in football. Helmets cannot prevent concussion/brain injury. Researchers have not reached agreement on the relationship of impact absorption tests to concussions and other head injuries. No conclusions regarding risk reduction should be drawn from laboratory impact tests.

Contact Us

To find out more about Baytech Products and HitGard, send us an email now.

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