U of Hawaii Rainbows Helmet Help

[jetersbatboy]

I just picked up this University of Hawaii Rainbows helmet, and am pretty sure its a mid 90's game used helmet. I have compared it to a couple others I have seen, and the brand, padding and decals all seem to style match. Only concern that I have is that it lacks the BOWS decal on the front. I was told by the previous owner that it fell off somewhere awhile ago. It looks to me like at some point there was a decal there, do to the discoloration difference on the AIR logo. So I guess it makes the story plausible. I just wanted to get others opinions on the helmet as this is the first U of Hawaii helmet I own. Also there was a few signature on the helmet which I removed with the help of a magic eraser, you can only see faint signs that they where there.

Aloha and thanks for the help.
Scott

[beaglegypsy003]

I checked a couple of media guides and Hawaii team card sets and all the pictures that I could make out did not have BOWS on the front.

[jetersbatboy]

I checked a couple of media guides and Hawaii team card sets and all the pictures that I could make out did not have BOWS on the front.

Thanks for the reply!

With the help of forum member Rex, I was able to pinpoint a use time frame to 96-97 seasons. He also confirmed the same thing, saying that he has seen a few without the BOWS decal. I was also told that this a lineman's helmet or LB most likely. I'm going to try and add a chin strap and decal for restorative purposes.:D Thanks!

[beaglegypsy003]

I know from past postings you collect baseball so are you now expanding to football? If you are and need to know information about former UH players in the pros, you can contact me at beaglegypsy003@aol.com. I might be able to help you.

Lester

[jetersbatboy]

Picked up another Vintage Hawaii helmet and wanted to get some others opinions. It is what I believe to be a early 80' possible late 70's U of Hawaii game used Bike Air helmet. From what I have read, It seams like Bike stopped using the Bike decal around 1985. Thats why I'm thinking this is a early 80's helmet. The decals look time period correct, also the decal placement looks correct. It has a 70's-80's vintage schutt green dot face mask, at some point someone just threw on some generic clips. I believe the size to be a 7-1\4 to 7-3/8, but cant tell do to the faded interior stickers. It's snuge on my head and I wear a 7-5/8. The helmet at some point looks to be have been repainted, which I believe to be a common practice for Hawaii due to the lack of money. The miss matching face mask does not seem to be a issue as I have found a few photo of Riddell helmets with Schutt mask and the other way around. So I am guessing this may have been a common practice to recycle face mask??? I am attributing this to lack of funds. Just wanted to get the opinions of other who no more about helmets then myself. I have attached a couple of photos showing players from the early 80's to compare.

[jetersbatboy]

I was look at some 80's USFL Bike made helmets, and noticed that some helmets had this exact same face mask with the green dot. Can anyone tell me if this is a original Bike mask? I just always associated the green dot with Schutt.

[John in KY]

I was look at some 80's USFL Bike made helmets, and noticed that some helmets had this exact same face mask with the green dot. Can anyone tell me if this is a original Bike mask? I just always associated the green dot with Schutt.

I don't recall Bike making masks back then; since most teams used Schutt (or Schutt's other brand which I think was Cramer or Kramer?) it's most likely an early 80s-style Schutt mask; it doesn't look like a Riddell from that USFL era.

From what I've read Bike's parent company was acquired by a larger medical equipment company (the Bike Air Power was designed by neuroscientists at Michigan) and that company got cold feet about being sued by those who suffered head injuries so they spun the company off as something like "Air Helmets Inc." There was actually a brief transition logo that had the copmany name spelled out in between the end of the "BIKE" logo and the first appearance of the "AiR" logo. Schutt snapped up the "Air Helmets Inc." company pretty quickly; I'm not sure if it was an independent company for a full year.

[jetersbatboy]

I don't recall Bike making masks back then; since most teams used Schutt (or Schutt's other brand which I think was Cramer or Kramer?) it's most likely an early 80s-style Schutt mask; it doesn't look like a Riddell from that USFL era.

From what I've read Bike's parent company was acquired by a larger medical equipment company (the Bike Air Power was designed by neuroscientists at Michigan) and that company got cold feet about being sued by those who suffered head injuries so they spun the company off as something like "Air Helmets Inc." There was actually a brief transition logo that had the copmany name spelled out in between the end of the "BIKE" logo and the first appearance of the "AiR" logo. Schutt snapped up the "Air Helmets Inc." company pretty quickly; I'm not sure if it was an independent company for a full year.
Thanks John, I was able to identify the helmet to 1978 with the help of BrianK. He helped with the date code stamped on the rear of the helmet. Thanks for the info on the mask. I did notice as I looked at more photo's schutt seemed to be the predominate mask of that era. So with all this said I pretty feel good about the helmet being a almost all original Hawaii helmet

Aloha Scott