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Sports Equipment Technology

Easton Hockey Unveils Ultra-Lightweight S19 Z-Shock Helmet for Hockey Players

March 08, 2010

(SPORTS TECHNOLOGY)
Van Nuys, Calif.-based Easton Sports, a provider of baseball, softball, hockey and cycling equipments for both sports professionals and enthusiasts, announced that Easton Hockey has launched a new ultra-lightweight helmet, S19 Z-Shock, for hockey players.

 
According to a press release, Easton Hockey’s new offering weighs about 325 grams, about half the weight of a traditional hockey helmet, thereby making it the lightest and most protective helmet in the NHL.
 
This ultra lightweight S19 Z-Shock helmet provides impact absorption results that are found to exceed the minimum protection requirements of all three governing safety bodies by as much as 40 percent. This is due to the fact that it leverages a patented solid state construction manufacturing process that combines polycarbonate plastic micro-shells and Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) foam, laminated together.
 
The S19 Z-Shock was developed to weigh about as much as a small cup of coffee at just 325 grams by drawing on the innovations and experience of the Easton-Bell Sports Helmet Technology Center in Scotts Valley, California, said officials.
 
Officials with Easton Hockey said that the company utilized the efficient one-piece construction to reduce overall volume. This kind of construction enabled Easton's engineers to replace air gaps and layers of plastic with enhanced EPP. EPP is flexible, lightweight foam originally designed for automotive energy management applications.
 
In addition, the lamination of these elements provides a new level of structural integrity to multi-impact hockey helmets that historically were available only in motor sports and other high impact sports, said officials in the release.
 
"This helmet is as unique as the Synergy (News - Alert) stick was when first released – there's really nothing else like it in the world," said Ned Goldsmith, senior VP of Easton Hockey. "By combining our best minds from the Easton-Bell Sports Helmet Technology Center and hockey R&D team, we've been able to create a helmet that is lightweight, very comfortable and incredibly protective.  Remarkably, we've been able to do so with a silhouette that has been an instant hit with elite players like Iginla and Zetterberg, who have all historically been traditionalists in their taste.
 
Available in May 2010 at major sporting goods retailers, the S19 Z-Shock helmet is currently being worn by men's and women's hockey players competing in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
 
Easton Sports was a subsidiary of Jas. D. Easton Inc. prior to the combination with Riddell Bell. 

Jayashree Adkoli is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Jayashree's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Marisa Torrieri