LockJaw

[Tatonka]

I finally had a chance to try this product last week after having installed it on my Troy Lee Designs SE helmet. A simple concept, easy installation, low cost and very effective at doing what it was designed to do makes me wonder why the LockJaw hasn't gained wider acceptance.

Every helmet I've ever owned or tried seems to allow essentially the same pivoting motion no matter how tight you fasten the chin strap. Grab the front chin piece on your's and see how far up over your nose (or eyes) you can move it. Now imagine what might happen if the helmet gets forced into that position during a frontal impact. :yikes Well, the LockJaw keeps the helmet in place so that it can do the job it was designed to do - how cool is that? Common sense right?

I'll try and get some picture up and post some more info about this soon. The only downside I encountered so far (I plan on experimenting a lot more) is the best way to have the bite tube of my hydration system accessible when riding. The LockJaw is fastened by 3 snaps onto the helmet and it's easy enough to undo one of them, take a drink and refasten when stopped or even at trail pace but there are other times when that just isn't an option.

Any one else ride with one?

[Administrator]

:pics:

I like the concept, can you as the eagerness of photo's await :D

[Tatonka]

My pics aren't ready for download yet but here's a summary (sans pics) from their website, www.lockjawracing.com (http://www.lockjawracing.com).

Check it out!

+The Lock Jaw device is a Helmet Stabilizer.
+It fits on any full face helmet.
+The Lock Jaw Helmet Stabilizer helps keep your helmet where it’s supposed to be.

We all know the helmet is the most important part of your riding gear. What you might not know is that in a crash, if force is applied to the front/lower part of your helmet, the helmet chin strap can act as a pivot point, allowing the helmet to rotate upward, exposing the lower portion of your face. Depending on where the force is applied, and how hard, the entire area from your chin to your nose may become exposed. It doesn't matter what kind of helmet it is. It doesn’t matter how well it fits. It doesn’t matter if it’s a high end helmet, or one of the more economical models. ALL helmets can rotate. It doesn’t take an expert to realize that this is not good.

You can test this yourself (without having to crash). Put your helmet on and secure the chin strap as usual. Assuming you have a helmet that fits properly, if you press on the top, sides or back of the helmet, it will stay pretty much where it should. Now, use just one finger to press up under the bottom of the chin bar. This is exactly what can happen if you crash and hit the ground with your helmet. It can even happen when you don’t crash, but hit the handlebar crossbar after coming up short on a jump, flat landing, etc. You will easily see that the helmet rotates up, exposing your chin. Now just imagine how far the helmet can rotate, and how much more of your face can become exposed, if you crash and hit the bottom of your helmet!

Lock Jaw helps to reduce much of this rotation. Less rotation = less exposure of your face in a crash.

In addition to exposing your chin/nose area, other bad things can happen in a crash if your helmet rotates. Try the same test, but this time put on your goggles too. When your helmet rotates upward, notice that your goggles are pushed upwards. In a crash, the goggles can end up being pushed into your face, causing bruising or more.

How about the back of your neck? When the helmet rotates upward, notice that the lower back portion of the helmet is pushed towards, and into the back of your neck. Again, common sense will tell you that having the back of your helmet push into the back of your neck, is probably not a good thing.

Please note – we are not criticizing any helmet brand or model. We think in general that you get what you pay for, and we believe that if you are going to ride, you should get the best helmet you can afford. But ALL HELMETS can rotate. It’s just the nature of the chin strap system used in helmets today. That’s why we believe using Lock Jaw is so important.

If you think it’s a good idea for a helmet to stay put on your head, then Lock Jaw is for you.

[racer mom]

My son wears one and has for most of the year. He's 7. We first saw it on another local kiddo that races earlier this year. My son was CONSTANTLY pulling down the front of his helmet, said it always rode up. We tightened and tightened his helmet until it said it choked him and realized it made no difference. We bought the lockjaw and have had no problems since then.

The part that worried me when we first bought it was having to drill holes in the helmet for installation. Does it weaken the integrity of the helmet? I don't know.

I've talked to the "creator" of the lockjaw several times in the past. He "sold" the idea to ?????? someone I can't remember not long ago to get the word out more.

We love it and my son does as well. He unbuttons 1 side of it to get a drink while waiting in staging or what have you, but doesn't ride long distances to need a hydration pack.

All of his (1 for each helmet) are black. And I know I've seen quite a few people with them here locally. I just think they blend in. Maybe we will get Hunter a hot pink one to draw more attention to it :)

We even picked them up as a sponsor from sponsorhouse last year beacuase I believed in them so much. That's just my opinion though :)

[Tatonka]

Thanks for the feedback. Drilling the helmet is one of those things that's kinda tough to get yourself to do but I was assured by Greg Bixby (the guy you were thinking of who now is in charge of LockJaw) that it does not weaken the structural integrity of the helmet. IMHO the pros outweigh the cons.

[racer mom]

I agree that the pros outweigh the cons. The guy I was talking to in the past was Don Rasperry (sp?).