To Paint or Not to Paint? How to Safely Upgrade Your Helmet

One question that we receive often is, "Hey! Can you paint my helmet?" and the answer is, it depends. 

If you're looking for a wild paint job on your custom trophy helmet, bring it on! In fact, you can have these painted at places like auto body shops or maybe even try it yourself.

Exhibit A: (NOT FIELD USE)

However, if you're looking to have your field use helmet updated, the answer is a hard NO! and we also strongly recommend against you trying to do it yourself. 

Read that again, if you need a helmet painted that you or someone else may be playing in, you should NOT paint it yourself. Instead, head over to NAERA and find a licensed reconditioner near you or check with the manufacturer!

Here's Why:

Field use helmets have to meet certain specs in order to consistently take hits and to remain certified for games. This means that the materials used on them have to also meet those specs. Yep, even the paint. First, if the helmets are painted with the wrong type of paint, they will likely chip pretty quickly. Not only would this make the paint job that you just spent time or money on look like garbage, but you could also end up with paint on your uniforms and nobody wants that. Even worse, though, is the fact that using the wrong materials could cause the helmet to break down prematurely and that is a safety concern.  

We're no scientists here but the long and short of it is that if the wrong type of paint is used, there could be a negative chemical reaction causing the polycarbonate shell to become brittle or even crack. Not what you want in the middle of a game! Good news, though; there are plenty of reconditioners out there who are in the know and have the proper paint and coatings that have been approved by the manufacturers so they can upgrade your helmets correctly.  

TLDR

Only use a NAERA licensed reconditioner or the original manufacturer to have a field use helmet painted.

Wanting a replica or trophy helmet customized? Get creative or give us a shout at sales@greengridiron.com