Cascade’s Ryan Demorest came through Bloomington to make sure the Hoosiers were wearing their helmets properly in 2012.

Wednesday our new lids arrived from Liverpool, New York.

Perfect timing.

It would be safe to assume that Cascade helmets aren’t adjustable beyond the interchangeable foam pads. Wrong. Wrong. Cascade took the Hoosiers through the paces yesterday on how to tinker with the star wheels on the temples and how to make chin strap adjustments to avoid the dreaded second bar syndrome which is both unsafe or unsightly. We also learned about angel clips on the face mask that allow for easy removal in the event of a concussion on the field. Nothing wrong with a little attention to detail when it comes to head safety.

Ryan brought his Motor City club team helmet featuring a beautiful orange chrome face mask and decals from Zima Gear.

Maybe Cascade will offer crimson/cardinal/maroon chrome masks in the near future. We were so enamored with the visit that we spent the rest of the evening designing CPX-Rs for IU.

And here’s two possible American Revolution lids.

(Probably going to ramp up the decal game for AR. Crimson helmets coming soon for IU.)

Following the fitting, we spent some time with Ryan talking about Michigan high school lacrosse, the MCLA, and of course helmets. The main things that we took away from the conversation is that Cascade spends an inexhaustible amount of money on research and development and if they wanted to make an indestructible helmet they could. However, their goal is to protect your head not create an invincible helmet. Given the number of people who wear Cascade helmets, it’s safe to say they’ve found the right balance between safety and performance. Did the helmet break on impact? Maybe, but how’s your head? That’s what they care about which is the absolute right thing to care about as the sport features more and more athletes of various sizes and strengths.

This.