Guardian Caps

[Wi. Mike now in Florida]

I read wearing those Guardian Caps is optional in practice and regular season games for any player.
Do you think all players should wear them and is that the future of NFL?

Cheers!

 

[gopkrs]

I really don't know the stats on them. Doubs got his last concussion wearing one. If they feel all right in them and it doesn't affect their play; I guess why not. Surprised they can't make em look a little better. What about a bit of memory foam inside the helmut?

 

[Wi. Mike now in Florida]

. What about a bit of memory foam inside the helmet?

Yes, my thoughts also

 

[El Guapo]

I read wearing those Guardian Caps is optional in practice and regular season games for any player.
Do you think all players should wear them and is that the future of NFL?

Cheers!

I get that they are ugly, but we are told that they are safer. If the NFL with it's billions of dollars can't create a safer helmet I would be stunned. That said, if I were the NFL I would tell players that it is not mandatory but if you refuse to use the safer helmet, you are waiving any future rights to sue or seek treatment.

I really don't know the stats on them. Doubs got his last concussion wearing one. If they feel all right in them and it doesn't affect their play; I guess why not. Surprised they can't make em look a little better. What about a bit of memory foam inside the helmut?

As you pointed out, it was a subsequent concussion for Doubs so his brain already had a start on being scrambled. Had he been wearing it from the beginning, he may not have ever gotten a concussion. The CBS article below says that the correlated conclusion is that the helmets reduce the overall frequency of concussions by 50%.

Guardian Caps, helmet add-ons could reduce concussions by nearly 50%, so why isn't everybody wearing one?

The answer is complicated, perhaps unnecessarily so.

www.cbssports.com

As for memory foam, my only concern is the heat. Memory foam retains heat and could cause more players to have heat exhaustion/strokes. Maybe there could be an intermediary layer to prevent that - IDK. Anecdotally, Mrs. El Guapo and I finally jettisoned our king sized bed and put two XL Twin mattresses next to one another, still using our king sheets. She is a side sleeper so has the softest, memory foam mattress in the store. I went the other direction and got the second-firmest mattress in the store. Most importantly it has helped my back tremendously. I don't wake up with a bad back anymore - just from being dumb lifting things! I also noticed that when I go to bed at night, my mattress isn't as cold in winter. Memory foam holds cold. I also don't get as hot sleeping because the memory foam traps your body heat. So my back is better and the bed doesn't have the temperature extremes due to the lack of memory foam.

One more memory foam point. At our cabin, we have several normal mattresses and then one that is complete memory foam (came compressed in a tiny box). When we go on winter trips, that memory foam mattress is like an ice cube until the fire gets the cabin warmed up. We have to take off the blankets to let the heat get in there. So if a team like the Bills or Packers were playing in another 5 degree game, those memory foam helmets could actually be worse...like Lombardi's dismay at Lambeau Field prior to the Ice Bowl.

 

[mradtke66]

I really don't know the stats on them. Doubs got his last concussion wearing one. If they feel all right in them and it doesn't affect their play; I guess why not. Surprised they can't make em look a little better. What about a bit of memory foam inside the helmut?

The problem is there is only so much that can be done here. The biggest risk to concussions isn't the initial impact, it's the rattling around inside of your skull after the impact happens. This is why you see a lot of concussions happening when a player hits the turf and the back of his head hits the tuff after the body hits.

To prevent concussions, you need something to take impacts, absorb the force, and start slowing down. Ideally, you want something like a crumple zone in a car. Sacrifice the exterior, deform, absorb the force, and transfer as little as possible to the occupants. This is incredibly difficult for a helmet. It could be done, but might be even larger than the current caps and would potentially need to be swapped after every play.

The caps are sadly the best we can do right now within the constraints. They are better than not having them, but it's a relatively small improvement.

 

[SudsMcBucky]

Anecdotally, Mrs. El Guapo and I finally jettisoned our king sized bed and put two XL Twin mattresses next to one another, still using our king sheets. She is a side sleeper so has the softest, memory foam mattress in the store. I went the other direction and got the second-firmest mattress in the store. Most importantly it has helped my back tremendously. I don't wake up with a bad back anymore - just from being dumb lifting things! I also noticed that when I go to bed at night, my mattress isn't as cold in winter. Memory foam holds cold. I also don't get as hot sleeping because the memory foam traps your body heat. So my back is better and the bed doesn't have the temperature extremes due to the lack of memory foam.

Here's where you screwed up. This was your perfect opportunity to justify a Sleep Number bed. It is one of the best purchases my wife and I ever made.

 

[Wi. Mike now in Florida]

Talking about heat and ventilation, I have a replica Riddell helmet signed by Brett Favre
in my house and just looking at it comparing the modern-day helmet, you wouldn't
believe the lack of vents on the helmets back then.

 

[El Guapo]

Here's where you screwed up. This was your perfect opportunity to justify a Sleep Number bed. It is one of the best purchases my wife and I ever made.

Screwed up is subjective. I've slept on those many times in hotels and tried them out in a store. However, for the money I saved I was able to buy the supplies to re-roof my sauna, woodshed, and part of my cabin.

 

[gopkrs]

I get that they are ugly, but we are told that they are safer. If the NFL with it's billions of dollars can't create a safer helmet I would be stunned. That said, if I were the NFL I would tell players that it is not mandatory but if you refuse to use the safer helmet, you are waiving any future rights to sue or seek treatment.

As you pointed out, it was a subsequent concussion for Doubs so his brain already had a start on being scrambled. Had he been wearing it from the beginning, he may not have ever gotten a concussion. The CBS article below says that the correlated conclusion is that the helmets reduce the overall frequency of concussions by 50%.

Guardian Caps, helmet add-ons could reduce concussions by nearly 50%, so why isn't everybody wearing one?

The answer is complicated, perhaps unnecessarily so.

www.cbssports.com

As for memory foam, my only concern is the heat. Memory foam retains heat and could cause more players to have heat exhaustion/strokes. Maybe there could be an intermediary layer to prevent that - IDK. Anecdotally, Mrs. El Guapo and I finally jettisoned our king sized bed and put two XL Twin mattresses next to one another, still using our king sheets. She is a side sleeper so has the softest, memory foam mattress in the store. I went the other direction and got the second-firmest mattress in the store. Most importantly it has helped my back tremendously. I don't wake up with a bad back anymore - just from being dumb lifting things! I also noticed that when I go to bed at night, my mattress isn't as cold in winter. Memory foam holds cold. I also don't get as hot sleeping because the memory foam traps your body heat. So my back is better and the bed doesn't have the temperature extremes due to the lack of memory foam.

One more memory foam point. At our cabin, we have several normal mattresses and then one that is complete memory foam (came compressed in a tiny box). When we go on winter trips, that memory foam mattress is like an ice cube until the fire gets the cabin warmed up. We have to take off the blankets to let the heat get in there. So if a team like the Bills or Packers were playing in another 5 degree game, those memory foam helmets could actually be worse...like Lombardi's dismay at Lambeau Field prior to the Ice Bowl.

I just bought old style normal medium Tempurpedic and I'm loving it. It's very hot here but haven't noticed any extra heat. I did put one of their mattress covers on it. As far as helmets, definitely heat could be a problem. I was thinking chunks of the stuff in strategic locations. Maybe cover those spots with something thin but doesn't xfer heat. To say the powers that be are doing their best I don't believe. Doubs looked like he fell on his back and then the back of his helmet came down ******* the ground. Shades of Boyd Dowler. So maybe some pieces inside the back of the helmet for that not unusual situation.

 

[AKCheese]

I totally do not understand anyone being serious about designing a helmet to cut down on concussions and then stuffing wads of hair between the skull and the helmet.

 

[mradtke66]

I totally do not understand anyone being serious about designing a helmet to cut down on concussions and then stuffing wads of hair between the skull and the helmet.

Honestly, it might help. If it slows the impact to the skull, it’s a positive.