For many of us, experiencing the descent from the top of a roller coaster is the ultimate thrill. When we drop down from a height, we feel like being pushed into our seats. In scientific terms, this push can be quantified into 5 times the force of Gravity or 5Gs. A normal airforce pilot experiences a force of 10Gs when he makes a tight turn in his fighter jet. Now to put things in perspective, when two footballers crash into each other at full speed, the force recorded is 30 times that of a roller coaster ride – 150Gs. Even a routine collision records about 30-40Gs.
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Back in the 1900s, football became increasingly dangerous due to head injuries and fractures after collisions. This led to protective gears made out of leather being made mandatory. However, as the sport got popular, cases of injuries/deaths rose as it was discovered that leather helmets weren’t enough.
This led to standards being laid out with hard-shell football helmets and foam interiors being made mandatory. With the game becoming safer, the sport grew at a tremendous pace. So did the attached industries, including the helmet manufacturers. Riddle has been one of the frontrunners in the helmet industry with nearly 76% of the NFL players using Riddle-branded helmets.
Their rise to the top stemmed from constant innovation and diversification of products. Apart from helmets, they are also the leading producers of shoulder pads across college football levels to the NFL.
Due to the high volume of sales, they make a whopping $85 million pre-EBITDA. The $800 million Riddle has been the industry leader in this industry for years now. But it looks like their USP of innovation is under threat with their competitors VICIS launching position-specific helmets.
Position-Specific VICIS Helmets Are Truly a Game-Changer
When compared to every position, a lineman gets hit the most in every play. Under these circumstances, it doesn’t do justice for the linemen to use protective gear made for the trenches. Identifying this problem, VICIS has launched the “Vicis Zero2 Trench” – the world’s first position-specific helmet to take player protection to a higher level
. The “Zero2 Trench” has earned the highest possible grade from the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab’s Star Helmet Rating System. The helmet is perfectly tailored for offensive and defensive linemen. Seahawks offensive lineman Justin Britt, a VICIS helmet user since 2017 has embraced the Trench.
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Jason Neubauer, Vicis V.P. of product development in a statement yesterday emphasized their mission to protect the athletes from every collision,
“With players continuing to be bigger, faster, and stronger, most helmet evolution of recent years has centered around high-velocity impact mitigation. However, since these high-velocity impacts are few in comparison to low, repetitive impacts, VICIS saw an opportunity to further protect the athlete.”
VICIS has been in financial turmoil over the past few years. However, with the Zero2 Trench already receiving massively positive reactions since its launch, this product has the potential to be the solution to all its challenges.
