The United States Army and the Joint IED Defeat Organization funded a study looking into various military and football helmet pads and their attenuation of concussive forces.  Posted on R&D Magazine online the results were summed up this way;

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found that soldiers using military helmets one size larger and with thicker pads could reduce the severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) from blunt and ballistic impacts.

This would be a low-cost solution/improvement on current technology.  The study did indicate that no material tested outperformed the current padding in the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH); they looked at old military padding, two types of padding in NFL helmets and “padding used in other protective equipment”.

The researchers Willy Moss and Mike King say that these results can be used in current sports too; Continue reading →