Protective headwear

In protective headwear adapted to surround at least a substantial cranial portion of the head of the wearer and comprising a shock absorbing shell including a thin wall outer shell of tough non-brittle material, a thin wall inner shell of tough non-brittle material fitted within said outer shell and spaced therefrom and a relatively thick walled shell of shock absorbing padding filling the space between said inner and outer thin wall shells, the improvement comprising:

• a recess at the inner apex of said thin wall inner shell extending substantially through the thickness of said thick wall shell of shock absorbing padding, said recess having an area which is a substantial portion only of the average area of the crown of the human skull;
• and
• an insert member comprising a generally planar member made of comfort padding and a generally planar member made of shock absorbing padding each having one major surface adhered to one major surface of the other, said member of comfort padding having major surfaces of larger area than said recess, said member of shock absorbing padding having major surfaces of smaller area than said area of said major surfaces of said member of comfort padding and centered on said one major surface thereof, and said member of shock absorbing padding being received within said recess with the exposed edges of said one major surface of said member of comfort padding on contact with the interior of said thin wall inner shell and the other major surface thereof exposed to contact by the head of the wearer.