the history of charles owen - page 1 - page 2 - page 3

There is a popular misconception that building a helmet safer is all about making it stronger. In protecting the head from the most damaging injuries, it is all about building a helmet weaker than your head, with resilience to endure the multiple impacts of a real life accident. Too strong a helmet can result in all of the damage being done to your brain.

There are 4 parts to making a helmet safer:
design the helmet to comply with all the major recognised standards in the world.
add additional features that improve safety but are not controlled by current standards
ensure the fit of the helmet is the best, with models to cover a range of head shapes.
build the helmet to exacting standards in our own factory

Charles Owen is the only manufacturer that has a wide range of helmets that are independently certified to the three most recognised standards in the world. There are many arguments about which standard is the best in the world. Making helmets to all the major recognised standards is Charles Owen's way of winning no matter what the outcome. It is only in the small helmets that we decided to stay with the European and British approach. We believe that the ASTM standard requires too stiff and bulky helmets for little heads. In the laboratory it may be okay, but our mission is to use our expertise to protect the riders of the future from helmets that are too stiff and that may cause neck injury due to their bulk.

Standards are all about setting the minimum acceptable standard of safety. Charles Owen since 1953 has been part of the committees setting these standards. To enable us to do our job as a member of the British, European and American standards committees, requires us to be building the helmets of the future and researching the performance of those compared to the current. Working with doctors, engineers, material scientist ensures that our designs are constantly being updated to give you the best.

Whilst many designers use the test head forms as the basis of their designs, we know from our extensive anthropological studies that real heads are just not the same as test dummies, especially as their basis is from research of males and female heads are quite different. It is well known amongst safety experts that the fit of the helmet is an extremely important factor in the level of safety afforded to the user. Not only do we design helmets to fit better, we design helmets for the wide variety of head shapes and we train our distributors in how to ensure the correct fit. In the event of difficulty, courses are run to train personnel in custom hat fitting. Giving the user a pack of pads to use themselves is really not good enough.

Charles Owen is the majority brand in Britain and we are very proud to be part of the marked reduction in head injuries to riders as determined by independent research. Designing it and fitting it is not enough if you do not ensure that the inevitable variance in the performance of materials, machines and personnel is not strictly controlled. In the strive for greater profits, many brands are outsourcing their production. This loss of control can only compromise the brands ability to consistently deliver the best. Charles Owen builds all its helmets in a two million pound purpose built production facility in North Wales. Attracting the best caliber of personnel and the selection of the best materials is a constant pursuit. Our people are not so much as builders of helmets as savers of lives. Each story of a rider joining our survivors club is retold and reinforces our mission. Even with the best of suppliers, there are deliveries that fall below our high standards. Luckily for our suppliers there are always other manufacturers willing to buy them at a discount.

Charles Owen products are uncompromisingly built for safety. Would anyone really be prepared for less if they really knew? .