Think about the suspension system in your safety helmet – chances are you’re picturing straps, foam, or a combination of the two. These types of suspension systems have been the norm in the safety world for decades, and though they’re adequate at providing head protection on the job, a major improvement has been long overdue for years.
That got us thinking: How could a hard hat suspension system work better—differently—to protect your head? And more specifically, how can it help lower impact forces on the head and neck? Our ideation took us in many directions, but we ended up with something simple—a simple machine.
After tremendous research, prototyping, and years of design, development, and testing, we’ve created the first suspension system to react dynamically to an impact event.
Kinetix® is unlike anything in safety you’ve ever worn before; it works like a literal machine inside your safety helmet to divert the blunt force trauma of an impact on the job site.
But what makes this patented Kinetix® suspension system dynamic? Read on.
Turning ordinary helmet suspension into a working safety machine
In its simplest form, a machine is “a basic mechanical device for applying a force, such as an inclined plane, wedge, or lever to perform an action”.
In other words, it’s a foundational mechanism used for leverage (or mechanical advantage) to manipulate force.
When thinking about how this can be applied to a suspension system, we thought about the physics of an impact event, the effects on your safety helmet as a whole, and the subsequent energy flow and transfer of the impact on you, the wearer.
From there, we nixed the old suspension blueprints and added simple machine ideologies into several innovative designs. By modifying and optimizing the system’s components to work together—a.k.a. machine behavior—we found it possible to transform and redirect impact energy efficiently and, therefore, minimize the forces transmitted to the safety helmet wearers' skull, brain, neck, and spine.
This is a revolutionary way to look at suspension technology – one that has the potential to be the safest on the market.
Let’s show you what Kinetix® looks like.
How our “machine” suspension system works
For a quick-hitting description, think of it this way: it’s a dynamic solution to energy transfer instead of a linear one.
With Kinetix®, an impact event to the head triggers a dynamic chain of events through innovative components that work together – flex bands, power bars, and pivot points – to absorb, flex, and redirect the impact's force outward, while stretching the moment of impact out over time.
Take a peek at the components:
When an impact’s peak force is lessened, redirected, AND stretched farther over time, you win.
This is compared to competitive systems that transfer impact forces linearly—or straight down—through your head, neck, and spine.
As a result, Kinetix® suspension will divert and reduce the severity of traumatic forces around your head and beyond by lessening an impact’s force energy by up to 40% per the ANSI/ISEA force transmission standard compared to the competition, drastically increasing protection.
This equates to nearly twice the ANSI/ISEA force transmission requirement for impact protection in Type 1 safety helmets. Learn more about safety helmet standards here.
HexArmor® can help
Kinetix® suspension technology is exclusive to HexArmor® and can be found in our incredibly comfortable and secure climbing safety helmet, Ceros® XA250. It is appropriate for work-at-height, high mobility, and confined spaces and is made for all workers regardless of the task.
Are you getting the best-performing head protection? Let us know if you need help—our Solution Specialists are ready to work with you. Call 1.877.MY ARMOR or send us a message.
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