We all know that the main importance of a football helmet is to prevent players from suffering head injuries or serious neurological problems. Being hit on the head is common and concussion preventing football headgears can save athletes from harm. But how much does a football helmet weigh? It could be 1lb, 2 lbs or 3 pounds. There is just no standard weight for the football helmets. So how much does an NFL football helmet weigh that it should just feel enough to prevent all the significant injuries and skull fractures, without placing any strain or stress on a player? Keep reading, you’ll find out sooner.
When you think of high-intensity games, you can’t ignore football. Every player needs to run, tackle, defend, and, in the course of doing that, they collide with other players.
Because so much risk of injury is associated with high impact crashes, every player has to wear a helmet to head protection.
Why is football weight important?
The material construction and the weight of the football helmet can affect how swiftly the player performs. If you wear a heavier football helmet in an NFL game, you will for sure run sluggishly.
Wearing a heavier football helmet can be potentially fatal to other players upon collision. It will feel almost like a big stone crushing down on you, when a high weight football helmet knocks your forehead or one side of your ribs.
From the knowledge of sciences, a heavier mass may accelerate slowly, but with a larger force and momentum. A heavy weight football helmet will not only impact the players(wearer’s) game, but it can break other players’ masks, break their bones around the unprotected parts of the body.
I think it has to be a rule, or a safety standard, to enforce a standard weight of a football helmet for the safety of other players. Just think of it, if your team has their protective gear and wears rubber boots, will it be acceptable to you if the opposing team’s players wear iron(steel) boots into the field?
Just a little difference of 1 ounce on a football helmet can significantly change the performance of an NFL player in the field
The additional weight on the head, including the weight of shoulder pads and boots, can impact a player’s game poorly. So if you are a football player or fan, it suffices to have a little idea of how heavy a football helmet needs to be.
Should all professional football helmet’s weight the same? Should youth foot helmet weight the same number of pounds? Well, that is a nice question, but I am totally against the idea that all football helmets should weigh the same kilograms.
Here’s the simple reason. Not all football players have the same body size and overall body weight. Tall and heavier players have large body build and they will probably feel comfortable wearing a 3lbs football helmet. Relatively short and skinnier NFL players can comfortably wear lightweight (less than 2 pounds) football helmets.
Proper weight compatibility of the football helmets with the head and strength of the player is vital to maximizing the player’s performance. Helmet weight Incompatibility may end up having a detrimental effect on the overall performance of the team.
Material affects the weight of a football helmet
The material used to construct a protective headgear for football is as important as the helmet itself. If players want to prevent serious head injuries and concussions, wear football helmets constructed from a tough, rigid and strong material that can absorb impacts without shattering. Also, the helmet material should not be heavy like steel, because that will mean another load the players have to deal with.
Now that material is the main factor affecting the perfect weight of NFL, professional, or youth helmets. When choosing helmets for full-strain tasks like football and biking, avoid overly lightweight materials, and overly heavy protective gears.
They made early football helmets from leather straps, padding, and ear flaps. They did little to prevent injuries. With today’s technology of making helmets, they design several components from different materials.
The outer shell
The exterior part of the football helmet often looks painted and carries the logo or the team. The thin shell of the NFL helmets is made from a solid polycarbonate material that is strong but lightweight. The polycarbonate material measures around 3.35mm in thickness but a hard plastic may be thicker than this.
The very strong thermoset polymer shell helps to absorb bigger hits or suffers the brunt of impact from other players. Since the material is durable, tough and light enough, any additional increase in thickness will lead to much addition in weight.
They made Schutt youth helmets and football helmet for kids from ABS – a lightweight material. This is because kids do not take high momentum hits as powerful as adults.
Manufacturers decide the molded polycarbonate shells’ thinness of a football helmet, and the right thickness can allow for quick movement of the player without strains. The greatest weight (about 70-80 %) of a football helmet is due to the outer shell.
The Face mask
Modern NFL football face masks have at least two bars made of titanium. Titanium on the multi-bar football helmets contribute a little, about a fraction of pounds, to the weight of the football helmet.
Some National Football League helmets today have facemasks bars made from heavy metals like carbon steel, and stainless steel.
By estimates, they add as little as 10% to the overall headgear’s weight. The advantage of using titanium is that they so light although expensive.
The impact-absorption elements
The lining and padding are constructed from polyurethane or nitrile foam. These materials aren’t as heavy as the metal-like shell.
These liming and padding materials take plenty of the impact energy and pressure (up to 1.5MPa) without deforming. In addition to absorbing shocks, they improve comfort inside the football headgear.
The lining, padding, the visor, air pockets, shock absorbers, and all other additional materials contribute the up to 10% of how heavy a football helmet is.
Since football helmets need to withstand multiple impacts from multiple hits, there is a design challenge. It is not very practical to reduce the weight of the football helmet while increasing its capacity to endure shocks.
how much does a football helmet weigh?
Standard football helmets designed for adult men and women can weigh between 2 pounds to 6 pounds (0.9kg to 2.8kg). Youths and other younger football players in schools have their own helmets, which are 1.5lb to 3lbs (0.6kg to 1.4kg).
The weight includes the mask and the shell, and the internal components. The material too includes those hard plastics, strong polymers, titanium and stainless steel. A multi-mask stainless steel custom made football helmets can even weigh up to 10 pounds.
Bill Simpson makes super lightweight football helmets that weigh under 3lbs (only 2 to 2.7 pounds)
How Much Does a Football Helmet Weigh? There is no standard weight for football headgears, as you can see. It just depends on the amount of material used in its construction, flexibility, and your football game preference.
Whether your NFL football helmets are heavy or lightweight, it absolutely depends on how much safety responsibility you want to give the helmet. That is why face mask, lining, visors and pads make the weight add up beyond the factory weight.
How much does a pro football helmet weigh? Adult and professional football helmet’s weight: 2lb – 6lbs (0.9kg to 2.8kg)
How much do youth football helmets weigh? The weight of football helmets for youngsters and school players weight range from 1.5lb to 3lbs (0.6kg to 1.4kg).
How much do SG helmets weigh? – 2.4-2.6 pounds
SG football helmets are one unforgettable handwork of Bill Simpson. This Racing car driver, perhaps inspired by the car and motorcycle racers’ helmet, revolutionized the helmet construction industry. For too much concerns about helmet safety, he introduced an ultra-light football helmet that even kids could wear.
SG headgears are so super light that they only measure within 2.4 to 2.6-lbs. Meanwhile, younger players and kid’s SG helmets weigh maximum 1.8-lbs. He constructed the crown of his SG football helmets with super lightweight Carbon Kevlar material in the place of hard plastic.
The carbon composite is far lighter than any polymer used in helmet industry and SG made the most lightweight helmets to dissuade players hitting others with their heads. The advantage is that the carbon material can absorb any high intensity impact from multiple hits during a football game.
The SG football helmet manufacturer had as objective to prevent risk of concussion rather than stop skull fracture. He understood that concussion is inherently risky, in a high impact contact sport like football. So he designed his concussion prevention headgear with weight, just half the normal mass of other sports helmets.
- Light LS1-CV football helmet – Weight: 3.2 lb
- SG DBS.001 football helmet –Weight: 2.9 lb
how much do Schutt football helmets weigh?
Schutt is another top-notch manufacturer of protective gears for protective games like football. This company cuts, bends, and welds over half a million pounds of wires, to make famous facemasks and fielders’ guards.
Schutt F7 helmet is one of the best headgears that Tyreek Hill has worn. It only weighs 4 pounds, which is heavier than SG helmet, but that weight never ever slows down Tyreek–the fastest football player ever known.
Schutt’s helmets feature “Tektonic Plates” which greatly prevents rotational force from crushing a player’s skull and brain. Some of Schutt’s helmets come equipped with special titanium faceguards with reduced weight, while other schutt’s models have Vengeance faceguards that help to add more impact dispersion.
Their football helmets have strong and durable polycarbonate alloy shell, which are ready to withstand the hardest hitting from heavy (fat and tall) NFL players at the top levels of football game. This material is common in most Schutt varsity helmets, including the TPU and D30 cushioning system.
- Schutt F7 LTD football helmet Weight: 5.1 lb
- Schutt F7 VTD football helmet Weight: 4.1 lb
- Schutt Vengeance Pro LTD football helmet Weight: 3.4 lb
- Schutt Vengeance Pro LTD football helmet – Weight: 3.8 lb
- Schutt Vengeance Z10 football helmet – Weight: 3.7 lb
- Schutt F7 football helmet – Weight: 3.3 lb
- Schutt F7 football helmet – Weight: 4.1 lb
- Schutt Air XP Pro VTD II football helmet – Weight: 4.5 lb
- Schutt Vengeance VTD II football helmet Weight: 4.2 lb
- Schutt Air XP Pro Q10 VTD football helmet Weight: 4.1 lb
- Schutt Air XP Pro football helmet Weight: 3.7 lb
- Schutt Air XP Pro Q10 football helmet Weight: 4.0 lb
how much do Riddell football helmets weigh?
Riddell helmet technologies started in 1929 by John Tate Riddell – a premier designer and developer of protective sports equipment of the National Football League (NFL®). If you want helmets for both professional and amateur athletes, Riddell manufactures them.
Riddell has a deep football heritage and their footballs helmets have been protecting every player-youth, athletes and NFL professionals from concussion and head injury.
Some of their protective gears are lightweight, mini size models, suitable for kids. They weigh a fraction of pounds to 5 pounds of weight.
How heavy is a Riddell speedflex football helmet?
The adult Riddell Speedflex measures 4.55 lbs in weight while your Riddell SpeedFlex weighs in at 4.2 lbs. This is the heaviest football helmet so far and except a football player is over 100lbs of body weight, don’t let someone carry it into the field.
Their engineered protective technologies are featured in all the following Riddell helmet models:
- Riddell SpeedFlex Diamond football helmet Weight: 4.8 lb
- Riddell SpeedFlex football helmet Weight: 4.4 lb
- Riddell Precision-FIT football helmet Weight: 4.8 lb
- Riddell Speed football helmet – Weight: 3.7 lb
- Riddell Speed Icon football helmet Weight: 3.8 lb
how much do Xenith helmets weigh?
If you want your team’s players to play with extreme confidence, fast and at a high level, go with the Xenith football helmets. Former Harvard University quarterback Vin Ferrara created Xenith in 2004.
His head protecting product has been satisfying for some coaches or parents who want the perfect fit and performance football helmet for their NFL school players. They highly rated Xenith helmets on the Virginia Tech helmet evaluations.
Since Xenith of Detroit had received a grant to help improve NFL helmet safety, things changed. Today, they make their NFP helmets with multifunctional elastic and highly energy-absorbing material.
They employ their technology combined with 3D printing, and what they developed is an optimized prototype footfall helmet with an energy absorption system.
This sound like they are using weak material. Not really, for example, their helmets have liners made with complex and organic 3D printed mesh. Moreover, the Xenith football helmets have compliant shells constructed from a highly performing and durable material.
Coupled with customizable foam inserts, you’ll see that Xenith X2E and XR helmets just have improved performance and comfort, which is good for both professional football players and colleges youths.
How heavy are Xenith football helmets?
Let us see how heavy is a Xenith X2E+ helmets and how much does the Xenith shadow XR weigh. The X2E+ model is the lightest, weighing about 4 pounds, while the XR shadow varsity models come heavier at 4.5 pounds of weight. With these weight figures, nothing changes its lightweight feeling, comfort, or agility.
The Xenith varsity models of youth football helmets featured metallic-painted polycarbonate shell. This polymer shell is a bit heavier but durable and has “shock matrix” technology for absorbing hits.
Zenith also uses low density foam for comfort and high-density foams for protection. In all, their proprietary polymer shell is 10% lighter than traditional sport helmets for football.
However, as a business that caters for players’ safety, Zenith did a football helmet shell recall when some owners experienced cracking helmets. Here are few lightweight, supportive Xenith Football helmets with how much they weigh.
- Xenith X2E+ football helmet Weight: 4.1 lb
- Xenith Shadow XR football helmet Weight: 4.7 lb
- Xenith Shadow football helmet Weight: 4.3 lb
- Xenith Epic+ football helmet Weight: 4.2 lb
how much does Vicis Helmet weigh?
- VICIS Zero1 football helmet Weight: 4.4 lb
- VICIS ZERO2 TRENCH football helmet Weight: 4.7 lb
- VICIS ZERO2 football helmet Weight: 4.3 lb
Are Heavier Helmets Safe?
Dave Straight is a Doctor of Physical Therapy. He tells people that a little lighter weight on the head places less stress on the neck. He’ll ask people to hold a 12- to 15-pound bowling ball and shake their wrist around, drop it and then hold a lighter one. The results you’ll get are hugely different.
Moreover, facemask is half as light and twice as strong when you compare to some heavier helmets. Helmets with super light but tough Kevlar composite outer shell help to widely distribute the impact energy on a hit.
If the makers use expanded polypropylene material as they do in motor racing and fighter jet helmets. That could mean a lot. Traditional football helmets have various small pads which sit on the head.
But a foam inside a helmet will touch all points of your skull, and that will more evenly distribute the energy of collision or blows over large area.
So are heavier football helmet safer?
Science 101 says a heavier objects moves slowly but with a larger momentum and great impact than a light one. I guess that is why football helmets have been getting heavier over the decades (1 lb in the 1970s, and 2.5lbs in early 2000s).
Helmet manufacturers believe a heavy weight helmet will be stronger and pass the test performed by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) and the NFL.
Yes, wearing a heavier helmet will increase the impact of any collision, and that is good if you are skinny guy playing against heavy tall fat Joe running at 20mph. But one thing remains, the weight of the helmet can violently throw your head to the side while you run. This is common for kids with weak neck and chest muscles.
A heavy weight football helmet and facemask can cause players to dip their head more, and cause more fatigue during the football game. If the consequence of concussion is due to head acceleration on collision, then wearing a lightweight football helmet can reduce the head acceleration and risk of concussion.
Overall, you just need to ensure the weight of the helmet is appropriate for your body structure and build.
How heavy is a football helmet?
How heavy is a football helmet? Between 4 and 6 pounds. A standard football helmet weighs between 3 and 6 pounds. A 4.5 lbs football helmet is already too heavy for any person or player’s skinny body. Allow those heavy set football helmets for tall and big guys (overweight)
What is the heaviest football helmet?
Riddell Speed Flex Diamond Football helmet. How heavy is a Riddell speedflex? It is incredibly close to 5 pounds. If you want to pick helmets that won’t slow you down, then avoid Riddell Speed Flex Diamond, because it is undoubtedly more heavy than any other. It only suitable for overweight players with over 100 pounds of body weight.
how much does football gear weigh in total?
Consider that your football helmet weighs 3-6 pounds, and steel facemask adds 2-4 pounds. How much does typical NFL player protective padding weigh? The shoulder padding can contribute up to 3 pound on average. So how much does NFL football gear weigh? Sum that all and you get that depending on the padding, a player carries an extra 8-12 pounds of weight and he is expected to run around in the field.
What is the lightest football helmet?
The best thing is to test it on the right person who is going to wear it. If he can wear it without feeling stress on the neck and shoulders, that is the right headgear for him. A varsity football helmet designed from light weight plastic can ruin the balance of a player and not protect his brains and skull. A super lightweight football helmet is not a good choice for high-intensity or competitive games.
