Is it safe to buy a used batting or catcher’s helmet?
Only with proof it’s still certified. NOCSAE says a helmet’s certification expires if it isn’t recertified within the interval its maker sets, some models can’t be recertified at all, and a recertified helmet carries a dated label inside naming the facility that recertified it.
What recertification is
Recertification means a helmet that was certified is tested again to make sure it still meets the original NOCSAE standard, and it gets new labels.
NOCSAE’s recertification standard ND026 covers baseball and softball batter’s and catcher’s helmets.
NOCSAE doesn’t require recertification but strongly recommends it, and it recommends that helmets made before January 2017 be recertified every year before use.
When a helmet’s certification runs out
How often a helmet must be recertified is up to its maker, and time counts, not use: a helmet that sat out a season may still be due. If it isn’t recertified within the maker’s interval, its certification expires; recertifying it renews it.
Some makers don’t allow certain models to be recertified at all; those must carry a permanent label saying when their original certification expires.
A helmet that no longer meets the standard must not be used.
Who recertifies, and the label to look for
A helmet can be recertified when it goes to a licensed recertification entity and is no more than ten years from its first certification, though age is not the only reason one can be turned down.
NAERA will not recondition or recertify a helmet 10 years old or older.
A recertified helmet has a dated label inside with the name of the NAERA recertifying facility and the year it was recertified.
Clubbie advice Who’s behind it?
Buy batting and catcher’s helmets new. You can’t tell what a used helmet has been through, and a seller’s word is not a recertification label.
If you’re handed one anyway, look inside for the dated recertification label and find the maker’s rules for that model. With no label and no answer from the maker, don’t use it.
A new helmet doesn’t have to be an expensive one: what matters is the NOCSAE mark and a snug fit.
Where this comes from
- NOCSAE, “Recertification FAQs”, read 31 Oct 2026
- NOCSAE, “General Recertification Requirements and Recommendations”, read 31 Oct 2026