Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Cricket Manufacturers / Brands => Ayrtek Cricket => Topic started by: Ayrtek Cricket on November 13, 2009, 10:57:17 AM
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Thought I would upload a few short video clips of the work we had carried out regarding the impact testing onto the computer aided models of the helmet beyond what was possible when having them put through BSI testing.
The videos simulate a cricket ball impacting the helmet/grill at 101mph and show the effects that it would have upon the materials and helmet/grill design that we came up with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H_JcC1RF3s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H_JcC1RF3s)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4-Tpu6VPM (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD4-Tpu6VPM)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3xEUkaZ9Bs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3xEUkaZ9Bs)
As you can imagine at 101mph the impact is amplified above and beyond what any of us average cricekters would face but worth going to the extreme to show the protection can stand up to extreme conditions. In each case study the grille carries out its task and avoids contact with the face when replicating the human head inside of the helmet.
In a real life scenario the head would obviously move backwards to absorb an element of the shock/impact.
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Hey ayrtek,
Your videos assume that the helmet does not move even a fraction on the head of the batsman, surely though, in reality, when the ball hits the grille the helmet will be pivoted/levered at the point of impact? Thus move the grille closer to the face and inevitable contact?
Im not familiar with your helmets and have never seen one, but do your designs differ internally from masuri or Albion etc? i.e. are there innovations inside the helmet to stop it moving on a batsman head?
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Dan
Yes the liner to the helmet is the biggest innovation we have made, it is an inflatable system coupled with a combination of impact absorbing foams that makes it safer than other models. Due to the fact it can be inflated to fit the exact shape and size of each persons head who wears the helmet it helps to eliminate the wobble and improve the fit provided by the helmet when worn. Meaning it will fit better and move less when running/moving when wearing it.
This coupled with a 4 point chin strap attachment helps to eliminate a point for the helmet to pivot on as it is anchored in front of and behind the hears so that a single pivot is removed.
As mentioned at the bottom of the above the human head form would move backwards with the impact making the impact less due to the helmet moving away from the impacting ball.
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Well i stand very much corrected! haha
I didn't realise the innovations that had gone into your design, just thought the design was gimmicky, so i apologise unreservedly, and i will look more closely into your product! Ive just moved clubs so will be after a new lid as my old has the badge of my former club on!
One criticsm i always had of my beloved Masuri was that it move around a lot when running etc.
Cheers
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Dan
No problems and no need to apologise!
Yeah this was something we looked into after the Daniel Flynn incident and realized all was not well in helmet design so took it upon ourselves to improve the safety provided by the helmet. The liner paired with a carbon fibre/Kevlar outer shell provides excellent protection and well as a light weight design.
Club badges can be doen easily enough for each helmet as they dont need to be embroidered or anything and simply produced from a high res. JPEG etc.
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Yeah i think that incident really stands out in my mind. . . .good to see some innovations in helmet design, as personally, they have not changed much recently apart from the introduction of Ti grilles!
On your website its says its £45 to customise the helmet?
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Yeh thats for having it designed to your own colour scheme in terms of different shapes, stripes etc so it would be a one off as such to whatever you want in one, two or three colours.
Yeh suprised me when looking at an albion helmet that the design dated back to 1994 and the same materials and shape is still used now. With the innovations in materials it seemed a bit stupid to use outdated mateials when improved ones are available.
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Thats a lot of money to shell out. . .but i guess its worth it as you will be getting a 'one off' . . . well if the missus can spend £25 quid on a bottle of shampoo surely im allowed to fork out £100+ for a life saving piece of kit! haha
Yeah it seems albion and masuri have somewhat rested on their laurels believing they own the market . . .which i guess they do. . . but if you guys could somehow adjust your price point so your lids are inline with their prices . . . who knows eh?
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Yeh the £100 price tag for the carbon model is deemed as expensive in the cricket market but if you look at other sports such as skiing and equestrian a carbon shelled helmet will cost from £215 upto £749 (half way down...GPA highlite helmet 100% carbon shell as our cricket shell is).
http://www.amirashop.co.uk/acatalog/GPA_Riding_Helmets_for_Adults.html (http://www.amirashop.co.uk/acatalog/GPA_Riding_Helmets_for_Adults.html)
Then really we feel you are getting value for money as we appreciate there is a celing limit in cricket that people will pay for a helmet....yet oddly they will pay £250+ for a bat which may break after a season rather than something that may save you from serious injury.
As im sure you can appreciate any product with carbon fibre in it will have a more expensive price tag than something that uses ABS or fibreglass as carbon is more expensive to use as a raw material.
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I can see where you are coming from and no doubt your products are of the highest quality . . . in my experience i have only ever bought 2 helmets and i have been playing senior cricket for 10 years. I guess like myself others will see the helmet as a necessity rather than a 'luxury' piece of gear like bat, pads, gloves etc.
My point is though most of us do not play at a high enough standard to warrant paying out £100 for a carbon fibre/kevlar helmet when a bog standard masuri/albion etc is sufficient. I emplore the innovations that yourselves at ayrtek have developed, but in order to reach the majority market (club cricketer) i think the £100 price tag needs to be lowered or otherwise it will scare most of us off. . . anyone else got an opinion on this?
Just my opinion tho ayrtek and i do love the idea of having a 'one off' custom made helmet that can stop bullets!!
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Dan
Yeah completely see where you are coming from i guess we have started at the top with protection and with that comes a price tag to match.
We are looking at working back towards an injection moulded shell as a sort of "replica" model of what the carbon shell offers which is something we would then be able to offer at the price points you suggest for the average club cricketer such as myself.
We may also be able to offer a custom design on these shells so that the scope isn't lost when offering something different to the public.
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surely the base cost of the carbon fibre shell is not too expensive, where are they being made? I would have thought they could have banged these out for between £10-£20 in either india, pakistan or thailand with mr.lekka.
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The shells are UK manufactured by a company that makes F1 parts for major teams to ensure quality as its alot harder to send back any with a fault once they have been shipped to the UK, with previous experience in signing off a Indian/Pakistans/Chinese sample the final product that turns up in bulk can be different to whats approved.
Im sure a cheaper option is available but a sacrifice on quality would have to be made in order to do so which is something we wouldnt consider as it would effect the end product.
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Keep the prices how they are, I think they're fair for the moment. Although if you ever go into retail you'd probably have to look into different production otherwise I'd think the RRP is going to be huge.
£100 is a good price point. It gives more protection, is made in the UK and can be customised.
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Thanks Tom, we realise that we will need to use another material if we wish to go down the retail route as otherwise they would be very expensive and realistically a plastic shell would be the only option so that a "replica" can be offered.
As mentioned hopefully we can have these made so that they too can be customised so that it offers an additional feature to other brands.
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will the protection be the same in the more traditional model?
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Apple
Yeah it will be the same due to the same construction of the carbon/kevlar outer shell. So will have the same protective properties as the modern helmet.
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cheers ayrtek have u tested masuris/albions?
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Yeah we did comparative testing when we had the modern shell put through BSI testing and tested the Masuri and Albion shells against our Carbon fibre and Fibreglass models so that a safety comparism could be made to see how our helmet performed.
This involved testing the different helmets under varying conditions and submitting 3 of each brand/size to be put through the rigors of the test standard under laboratory conditions.
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New video from the company who carried out the work for us www.Simpact.co.uk (http://www.Simpact.co.uk) shows a few different angles of the impact and the effects of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOnfvjw73fs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOnfvjw73fs)
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Do you have a junior model?
Because I really like the look of your helmets.
Shiv
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The ACIS will cater for a range of head sizes so we have no need to produce a junior model shell, when your head grows you simply pump less air into the helmet to make it fit.
Therefore if you invest now you wont need to update your helmet to an adult size later on!