How old is too old (for jackets, helmets)?

[El Toro]

Put em on eBay, or offer them on consignment through www.motorcyclegear.com. Ive never had any trouble selling jackets, pants, or boots. I wont sell helmets though. They get their straps cut and a trip to the dumpster.

 

[Ludwig61]

I've donated a couple of my old helmets to local fire/EMS units for training purposes. They can always use stuff like that for teaching new recruits and it saves them money from buying stuff just for that purpose.

I'll also suggest seeing if there is a local Road Guardians instructor who can use it for training people in Accident Scene Management and motorcycle oriented first aid.

https://roadguardians.org/

 

[Mad German]

The component in helmets that supposedly degrades is the EPS foam, which is amusing since that is the same stuff we cant seem to get to degrade in landfills. Im sure that it does lose its ability to cushion to some extent, and that is likely due to the environment it has been exposed to. But, when a helmet manufacturer claims their lids need to be replaced in X number of years I become extremely sceptical.
There are far too many environmental variables to make a blanket statement like that, so my gut feeling is that these manufacturers, who have no small conflict of interest in coming up with this replacement schedule, err on the conservative side such that no possible abuse youve given your helmet in 5 years would result in reduced safety. A helmet that was worn a dozen times a year and stored indoors is bound to be in better shape after 5 years than a helmet worn to work every day for one year and left on the handlebar all day.

Wearing any helmet is a conscious decision to improve your safety. Certainly we can make our own decisions about how degraded those 5 year old helmets are.

Very well said. My wfie's helmet, Schuberth C3 Pro, has been worn a handful of times (certainly less than 10 times) since she got it two years ago. At the time we bought it, it was 2 years old. It's now 4 years old. She stores it inside, in the helmet bag, in the box. Her helmet is in waaaaaaaay better shape than one that is worn by a rider who rides darn near 365 days/year, rain or shine. The whole expiration date never caught on with me; it's something the helmet manufacturers came up with. I want to see objective scientific testing that shows that a 5-7 year old helmet is NOT safe. Sure, the liners will need replacing, but that's how it goes. When the liners wear out, just replace the liner. Almost all mid-high end lids have replaceable liners.