What is the MIPS Protection System and How Does it Work
The Multi-Directional Impact Protection System or (MIPS) is designed to create what its designers call a Brain Protection System or (BPS). It achieves this by reducing rotational motion transferred to the brain from angled impacts of the head, whether on a motorcycle, where the forces are more acute, or on a bicycle.
The technology was created in 2016 and was designed for bicycle helmets only. There are now 28 bicycle helmet products and manufacturers using the technology. MIPS technology does not manufacture the helmet itself. The Swedish brand’s research confirms that ‘’sudden and slight movements of the head and brain can cause devastating injuries.” This has been validated by independent research at a number of engineering and medical educational institutions.
What MIPS technology provides is millimetres of slip thanks to a low-friction sliding layer that moves with the helmet during an impact. The transfer of energy compensates with just enough relative motion so that sudden rotational shocks to the brain are dramatically reduced.
Bell has incorporated the technology into its new helmet designs, which sell for less than $300 in the US. Autoweek.com provided an article entitled, “Two New Technologies Every Motorcycle rider Must Have” on February 2, 2023. In it, Mark Vaughn states, “When you have rotational motion coming into play, you need to have a different type of technology to address that. Because that is not about absorbing force, which you normally do in a linear impact, it’s about redirecting force, you want to get the force away from the head. That’s why we use slip plane technology to redirect the energy that otherwise would be absorbed by the head. And we have not found any more effective way to do it.”
What MIPS technology does is it allows a low friction layer of thin plastic to give way in an impact so that the outside of your helmet, the part that may well be striking the ground, twists independently of the inner part of your helmet. This technology can “potentially prevent or lessen a brain injury.” Bell, Thor, Fox, Alpinstars and Troy Lee designs now integrate the technology into their helmets.
Inclusion of MIPS costs approximately 36% more to integrate into helmet designs, but keeping your cognitive abilities is likely worth $100.
Not buying one in the future when purchasing or replacing a helmet may leave others questioning if that ship has sailed.
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