Do not throw your crashed helmet away yet. There are several ways to reuse your expired helmet. You may use it for decorating your home. Or perhaps, you can donate your helmet to the nearby schools or theatres. If you are willing to know more about reusing helmets, you’ve come to the right place.
Old Crash Helmet Hacks
Think twice before you dispose of that old helmet in the bin. Below are some hacks that you can use for recycling.
Donate It to the Schools
If your helmet is somehow crashed and thoroughly ineligible for further use, donate it to a school. The school authority can provide your expired helmet to the students as sports equipment.
Using their imaginations, they can pretend to be a policeman, an astronaut, a race car driver, and so on. I must say, they would really enjoy your old helmet. Before donating, make sure that you properly clean your helmet for sanitation purposes.
Donate It to the Theaters
If you are interested in theatres, you can donate your expired helmet to theatres. They may use your helmet as their costume. Besides, if Halloween is on the way, you can give it away to your neighbor’s kid. They can paint or customize it and come up with a scary little costume.
Paint Your Old Helmet
If you are artistic by nature, you may print your helmet. With sprays, colors, and your DIY talents, you can make some awesome home decor stuff.
By selling your handmade stuff, you can even make money. There are several online shops, websites, and social media platforms for that purpose too. If you are not comfortable online, you can sell your product to the local craft market.
Target Practice
Generally, helmets are designed to protect your head in case of an accident. So, some helmets come with a bulletproof vest that protects your head from crash injuries. Consequently, if you are willing to practice shooting, you can make your helmet a target.
Place the helmet in a distant place and keep practicing. Who knows! You may be the next best shooter in your locality or even in the world.
Indoor or Outdoor Lamp
You can make fancy lamps with your expired helmet. Firstly, remove the inside padding of your helmet and paint its outer part with a spray. Set a holder for light, connect power cords, and supply with electricity. Isn’t it easy as pie?
I must say, this beautiful light can make your room more aristocratic. You may even use this lamp in your outdoor garden or even on the porch.
Nesting Box
If you have an aviary, place the helmet in it and use it as a den. In fact, the helmet does not need to look fancy. The outer shell protects the bird from sun heat and raindrops. Besides, the visor can be used as a bird gateway. As birds are too fussy, make sure that they can get in and out spontaneously.
Helmet Planter
It is not too difficult to make a planter pot with an old helmet. It may sound fishy but believe me, making a planter pot with an old helmet is an excellent idea to décor your home differently.
Firstly, remove the padding from your helmet and make a small hole for drainage. After that, hang it with a decorative rope or chain on the wall. Orchid is one of the plants that you may plant in your hanging basket.
Trade It In
Though it may not be a good idea to trade your old crashed helmet, you can sell those that are not thoroughly damaged. Even you can sell your expired helmets to the local crafter who may paint and make a living out of them. By doing so, you’re helping someone out, not to mention the few extra bucks coming into your pocket.
Recycle
To recycle your helmet, remove inside padding and check out which grade it is. If it is recyclable, go to your local recycling center. Nowadays, most helmet manufacturers use recyclable polycarbonate plastic.
As plastic is not perishable, it contaminates the soil. Hence, recycling your old helmet is an environmentally friendly process.
Use for Decorative Purpose
If you are not interested in throwing away your good old favorite helmet, turn it into a home décor thing. For example, if you have more than one helmet, you can hang them on your garage wall. You can even turn your helmet into a flower vase.
Can Motorcycle Helmets Be Used After an Accident?
In General, you are supposed to replace your helmet every five years or so. Yet, there are some issues like how many times you wear it or whether it went through a crash.
The manufacturer does not suggest you use a helmet after being in an accident or being crushed, no matter how good the helmet looks. After a crash, there may remain some chances of internal damage that lessen its effectiveness.
Can You Donate an Old Crashed Helmet?
According to the previous point, the helmet will lose some of its effectiveness after going through a crush. Even if there is no scar on the helmet surface, it may get damaged internally.
At this point, it is not a good idea to donate your expired helmet to the emergency services. Because if there comes any case of an accident, it may cause massive mischief.
Can Old Motorcycle Helmets be Recycled?
Helmets are usually made of hybrid materials that are not easily separated. And the main material component is plastic. In terms of recyclability, there are various types of plastic grades. Some can be easily recycled, whereas some are difficult to recycle.
Generally, helmets are made of polycarbonate, fiberglass, and other materials, some of which can be recycled. Most of the manufacturers accept old helmets for recycling. Yet, some say that trying to recycle a helmet is a waste of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why do helmets expire?
Ans: Generally, Helmets do not have any expiry date. Yet, they do get expired. When your helmet gets expired depends on its usages. The more you ride, the shorter your helmet’s life expectancy will be.
Several things are used in helmets, such as glue, foam, pad, etc. These things degrade over time. Other than that, your body oil, sweat UV rays can damage both the internal and external parts of the helmet. Therefore, even if a helmet may not get crushed, it should be replaced every five years.
Q: Can I sell my dropped helmet?
Ans: Dropping can damage your helmet internally that may be primarily invisible. But invisible damages are still dangerous. Consequently, wearing a dropped helmet is the same thing as not wearing any. Therefore, I wouldn’t recommend selling or donating it to anybody who rides a bike on highways.
Conclusion
You can use your expired helmet for several motives. But make sure you do not sell or donate it for further use. Because sometimes only one drop can damage your helmet internally, that lessens its effectiveness.
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