A bike helmet is one of those purchases you make once and then stop thinking about — you buy it, you clip it on, you trust it to do its one job if the day ever comes when it matters. If you or your kid is wearing a Tongyang Cycling Basecamp helmet, model HT-10, that trust isn’t backed up by testing right now.
What the testing actually found
The Consumer Product Safety Commission’s recall notice, issued September 17, says the Basecamp HT-10 fails on three separate points: impact attenuation, positional stability, and the certification testing that’s supposed to confirm both before a helmet ever reaches a shelf. That’s not one narrow technicality — it’s the core function of a helmet, tested and found wanting on multiple fronts at once.
There’s a second, smaller issue layered on top: the helmet uses a coin cell battery — likely for an integrated light — without the warning label federal rules require about the danger of a child swallowing it.
How many, and where they were sold
This is a small recall as these things go — about 315 helmets, sold exclusively through Amazon.com between July 2024 and July 2026 for roughly $34 apiece. No incidents or injuries have been reported. Small numbers don’t make the underlying failure less real, though: a helmet that fails impact attenuation testing is a helmet that may not actually protect a head in the exact moment it’s designed for, whether one person owns it or a hundred thousand do.
Why cheap imported helmets keep showing up on this list
If this feels like a recall you’ve half-seen before under a different brand name, that’s not a coincidence — CPSC’s own recall roundup this same week included multiple unfamiliar helmet brands failing the identical mandatory bicycle helmet standard. A helmet is a genuinely hard thing to fake your way through certification on, which is exactly why the failures keep surfacing: real impact testing either passes a helmet or it doesn’t, and a growing number of low-cost, direct-from-manufacturer helmets sold through online marketplaces aren’t clearing that bar before they ship.
That’s not a reason to assume every inexpensive helmet is unsafe. It is a reason to check for a recognizable, established safety certification before you buy one for yourself or your kid, rather than assuming a listing that says “meets safety standards” has actually been tested to prove it.
What to do if you have one
Stop using the helmet today — don’t wear it, don’t let your kid wear it, don’t keep it in the car “just in case” for a quick ride around the block. The recall process here is specific: cut the straps so the helmet can’t be worn again, take a photo of it in that condition, and email the photo to Tongyang Cycling’s recall address for a refund. It’s an unusual process compared to a mail-in recall, but it’s the one the company set up, and it’s worth following exactly rather than skipping the documentation step.
Replacing a $34 helmet is a small cost against what it’s supposed to protect. Pull it out of rotation today, get the refund started, and use the gap before your replacement arrives as the reminder to actually check for real certification next time — not just a listing that claims it.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Womens Overview editors prior to publication.