How to fit a football chin strap

The chin strap is the cheapest part of a helmet and the only one that decides whether it stays on your head. Riddell, Schutt and Xenith all publish precise fitting instructions, and almost nobody reads them. Here is what the rulebook demands, how to check that a strap actually fits your shell, and the order in which to pull the straps.

Play the video: Football Chin Strap Fitting: IFAF Rules and Fit Check

What the rulebook requires

The 2026 edition of the IFAF Football Rules and Interpretations, in force since 1 March 2026, treats the chin strap as part of the helmet rather than as an accessory. Rule 1-4-4-a-1 calls for a helmet fitted with a facemask and a 4 or 6-point chin strap, all attached while the ball is in play. Unclipping a bottom strap between plays, a familiar sight on the sideline, puts a player outside the rule as soon as the ball is snapped.

If the chin strap does not appear in the mandatory equipment list of rule 1-4-3, it is because it sits inside the helmet requirement. The same article, at 1-4-4-a-3, requires the NOCSAE certification of the manufacturer or the reconditioner, which has direct consequences for replacement parts. The six references we found on sale in euros are gathered in the chin straps collection, attached to football helmets.

Hard cup, soft cup, or both

Riddell settles the question in a single line in the fitting guide for its Speed platform: "Speed helmets include either a soft or hard cup chin strap with mid-high hookup." Both builds are foreseen by the manufacturer on the same shell.

The Riddell CAM·LOC Hard Cup is a hard cup, offered in eleven colours. The Riddell CAM·LOC TCP sits in between: its German retailer describes a hard polycarbonate shell lined with a soft cup interior, while Riddell publishes no material for either reference. At Schutt, the Fusion Elite Hard Cup is built around a deformable top panel and streamlined strap routing; the Fusion Hard Cup runs full hard cup coverage, in Youth or Varsity size for the same F7 helmets; the Youth Soft Cup, aimed at youth helmets, keeps a soft cup with built-in ventilation holes. Schutt also sells a system with no traditional buckle, the Grip Clip Kit: a polycarbonate shell over a stainless-steel frame that snaps onto the helmet's snap screw in one click, once that screw has been replaced.

We have tested none of these straps: no score, no comfort verdict. The descriptions come from the manufacturers and, where they stay silent, from European retailers.

Compatibility is decided by the attachment

A chin strap is not chosen by its shape but by its attachment system, which belongs to a given helmet platform.

• Riddell CAM·LOC: the upper straps run through Strap·Loc screws mounted on the shell, and both references attach to the helmet thumb screw, which is not supplied. Riddell lists compatibility with the SpeedFlex platform only.
• Schutt Fusion: Schutt presents the Fusion Elite as designed specifically for F7 helmets, in their 2.0, VTD and LX1 versions. Nothing is announced for the brand's other shells.
• Riddell Speed: snap-based fitting, two snaps above the ear holes and two below.
• Xenith: the Shadow XR fitting guide asks you to "slide each buckle along the chin strap until you can snap the buckle into place on the outside of the helmet with no discomfort or slack".

One discrepancy deserves a mention: on both CAM·LOC references, European retailers add the Axiom platform to the compatibility Riddell announces. Our product pages keep the manufacturer's data only, and that is the list that counts, not the shop's. A last point of assembly, true on every shell: the top straps are fed underneath the facemask, never over it. If you are also swapping the facemask, our guide to changing a football facemask covers the refitting order.

What NOCSAE says about add-on parts

NOCSAE has published a statement on products added to helmets, still online on its website. Two sentences carry the weight: "the addition of an item(s) to a helmet previously certified without those item(s) creates a new untested model", and the manufacturer that issued the original certification "has the right, under the NOCSAE standards, to declare its certification void".

The statement carves out an explicit exception for "skull caps, headbands, mouth guards, ear inserts or other items that are not attached or incorporated in some way into the helmet". A chin strap, by contrast, bolts or snaps onto the shell. NOCSAE does not name chin straps there, and it certifies no product itself, but the practical conclusion is plain: stay within the compatibility list published by your helmet manufacturer, and ask your club before mounting another brand's part.

Fitting it, step by step

Riddell and Xenith follow the same logic: the helmet is fitted first, the chin strap last.

1. Check the helmet. Riddell asks for a helmet never worn too high or too low, the front roughly one inch above the eyebrows, all liners in contact with the head, and the skin of the forehead moving with the front pad when the helmet is turned side to side.
2. Hold the cup. The player holds the chin cup centred and firmly on the chin throughout.
3. Top straps. Feed them underneath the facemask, take up the slack through the buckles, then buckle into the snaps above the ear holes. On a SpeedFlex: loosen the Strap·Loc screws without removing them, glide the upper straps through the Strap·Loc to tighten, then tighten the screws again.
4. Bottom straps. Take up the slack the same way, then buckle into the snaps below the ear holes. On a SpeedFlex, engaging the CAM·LOC means pulling the bottom straps towards the rear of the head until the chin cup is secure.
5. Lock it. Xenith asks you to feed the end of the strap through the second slot of each buckle.
6. Check it. Xenith offers a simple test: apply mild force to the facemask in several directions, and tighten if there is excessive movement. For Riddell, once buckled the helmet should feel comfortable and snug.

Riddell prints the same line at the head of all its guides: inspect the helmet before each use. None of the manufacturers consulted publishes a replacement interval for a chin strap.

Sizes and European prices

Two caveats. The CAM·LOC Hard Cup went from €20.74 at an Irish retailer to €44.90 at a German one on the same day, for the same reference. And the TCP was out of stock at €49.90 when we checked, available at €52.50 in L/XL elsewhere.

Riddell publishes no sizing figures at all, no chin circumference in inches. Its German retailer offers two useful points: chin strap size does not follow helmet size, and most adult players take a Medium.

FAQ

Can you fit one brand's chin strap to another brand's helmet?
Nothing in the IFAF rules forbids it, but NOCSAE writes that adding an item to a certified helmet creates an untested model, and that the maker may then declare its certification void. Stick to its compatibility list.

Four-point or six-point: which one?
IFAF accepts both. The Riddell and Xenith guides describe systems built around top and bottom straps, and none of the four references in our catalogue states its number of attachment points.

Which size should I take?
Not your helmet size: the two scales are independent. With no published chart, the only reference point given is that Medium covers most adult players. The CAM·LOC Hard Cup comes in M and L, the TCP in S/M and L/XL.

Should a chin strap be replaced every season?
None of the manufacturers consulted publishes a replacement interval. Riddell does ask that the helmet be inspected before every use, straps, buckles and snaps included.

Sources

• IFAF, Football Rules and Interpretations, 2026 edition (rules 1-4-3, 1-4-4-a-1 and 1-4-4-a-3): https://amerikanskeidretter.no/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IFAF-Rules-and-Interpretations-2026.2.4.pdf
• NOCSAE, Certification to NOCSAE Standards and Add-on Helmet Products: https://nocsae.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/NOCSAE-Add-on-Fact-Statement-Final-2013-Updated.pdf
• Riddell, Speed Platform Helmet Fitting Guide: https://content.riddell.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Speed-Platform-Helmet-Fitting-Guide-min.pdf
• Riddell, SpeedFlex Platform Helmet Fitting Guide: https://content.riddell.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SpeedFlex-Platform-Helmet-Fitting-Guide-min.pdf
• Xenith, Fitting Guide — Shadow XR: https://xenith.com/pages/fitting-guide-shadow-xr
• Riddell, CAM·LOC Hard Cup Chin Strap product page: https://www.riddell.com/riddell/en/Open-Catalogue/Accessories/Helmet-Accessories/Chin-Straps/CAM%C2%B7LOC-HARD-CUP-CHIN-STRAP/p/RSF_HC
• Riddell, CAM·LOC TCP Chin Strap product page: https://www.riddell.com/riddell/en/Open-Catalogue/Accessories/Helmet-Accessories/Chin-Straps/CAM%C2%B7LOC-TCP-CHIN-STRAP/p/RSF_TCP
• Schutt, Fusion Elite Hard Cup Chinstrap product page: https://schuttsports.com/products/schutt-fusion-elite-hard-cup-chinstrap
• Schutt, Youth Soft Cup Chinstrap product page: https://schuttsports.com/products/schutt-youth-soft-cup-chinstrap