Helmet Construction?

A snowHead

I don't know a great deal about helmets but my just about grown up son needs a new one and as he's not growing anymore it makes to get something decent.

Anon's seem to fit him well so using that as an example they have 3 models: a "Hard Shell", "Endura-Shell" and a "Hybrid construction: ABS + In-Mold shell"

Reading this guide it seems that the first one would do the job but is perhaps not as comfortable? Whilst the second would be lighter and less robust. And the last one combines the two to create a robust but very comfortable helmet.

The last two has the Wavecell technology which I understand is like MIPS.

The price difference is quite stark - £81 v £181 v £309 !!

So am I right in saying the step ups are in terms of comfort and safety. And no doubt I will have to shell out for the most expensive?

Any counters, things I've missed?

A snowHead

I, like you, know nothing about helmets, and am interested in buying a new one (mine is several/10 years old). I followed your link, and it's a climbing site. I suspect climbers criteria are quite different to skiers. I'd worry about anything below £100, but wonder whether anything over £250 was worth it. Of course, inflation has been high recently and I may not have accommodated for this.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

https://www.salomon.com/en-gb/alpine/alpine-advice/how-choose-your-ski-or-snowboard-helmet
https://www.snowandrock.com/expert-advice-and-inspiration/buying-guides/ski-helmet-buying-guide.html

Goggles play a big part in right choice as well. Or maybe he wants to go integrated? Salomon Driver is around £125 on amazon atm

You need to Login to know who's really who.

@Layne,

I kind of go with the idea that he kids need just as good helmets as the grown ups - in fact since both of mine are crazy skiers, and better than me - then much better helmets needed! On that basis I've always got the best helmet I could get for them as the difference in cost is not really a big deal in the scheme of things
Son uses Sweet Protection Trooper 2, and daughter has the fancy smith Vantage one with all the honeycomb stuff. Both seem really good helmets.
I have a Sweet Protection Grimnir which was so crazy expensive that the cost itself is a safety feature as I never want to hit it on anything!

The thing I think the extra cash that the Grimnir and Trooper buy you is that they are both carbon fibre, so I guess that gives the designer more control and flexibility in the design, where to put the weight, strength, etc...

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Any helmet from a reputable manufacturer will meet the minimum safety standards, but that doesn’t mean the manufacturer can’t make helmets which exceed those safety standards. Race helmets typically have to met higher standards that the normal models, because one they will be used at much higher speeds (and hence be subject to higher impact forces and potentially multiple impacts in the same crash), and two the user will typically crash more frequently as they are on the limit most of the time.

Unless it’s a fashion brand, higher price usually buys higher quality, so if you can afford it there is no reason not to go for high end models.

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Tested a smith summit to destruction back in July. Couldn’t see properly out of one eye for a couple of days, and still got dizzy spells and ringing ears but it worked.

Smith also do a surviving customer discount on destroyed helmets and gave me 30% off a replacement.

After all it is free

£450 it must have been one budget models for the hoi polloi rolling eyes

When you combine Swarovski, Studded and Bognor in a product name, you know you are getting somewhere………

http://www.extravaganzi.com/2010/12/20/swarovski-studded-crystograph-bogner-ski-helmet-titan-edition/

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Nothing beats getting up close and personal with the kit itself. Personally, as I tend to 'run hot' Good quality ventilation is prime for me and that doesn't always mean 'lots of holes' - I like POC helmets as they use an air flow through the helmet, but it's horses for courses.

snow reports

@Richard_Sideways, fair point on the ventilation although laddo seems to like running hot so probably not an issue.

So I have now purchased an Anon Merak from Alpinetrek for £248.16 for him. It has a 100 day return costing £3.99 in worst case.

I did buy some Oakley Flight Deck goggles to go with them from Sportpursuit, which was a great price (£89.99) but didn't notice the stupid lead time (delivery 05/01/2024) so cancelled and now looking elsewhere.

You know it makes sense.

@Layne, if you are after goggles I've used RXSport before and found them to be very competitive on price, plus they have a Black Friday thing on at the moment.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

As said above any helmet has to meet the necessary standards (EN 1077:2007). So you are unlikely to get anything completely c**p from a reputable company. Even the cheap decathlon/Lidl options with meet this. Although you might have to be a bit careful on some hybrid style helmets, from what I remember some helmets meeting the ski mountaineering standard do not necessary meet the pure ski standards.

While many go well above meeting the minimum standards this is never really reported. Not like jackets for instance where you don't just get told waterproof or not waterproof, but also a mm rating). Which is unfortunate as you don't really have any idea which helmet is better than others.

From my experience* there was zero correlation between price of helmet and protection. In fact, often the more expensive helmets sacrificed protection for weight and ventilation (while still meeting the minimum standards). I'd go as far as to say some of the ultralight helmets (tend to be more expensive) were actively gaming the testing. The companies know what the tests are, and how and where they will be conducted, so it's easy to remove some protection in areas that won't be tested to save weight.

Now there's also MIPs to consider. It probably helps compared to the same helmet with no MIPs, but how much really varies on the type of impact. Also worth remembering that a helmet that doesn't have MIPs but is very good at dissipating rotational forces may be better than a less well designed helmet with MIPs. Given the choice between the same helmet with and without I'd always take MIPs, it's not much more expensive, and at worst it's no better. However, I wouldn't lose sleep over not having it.

Assuming any helmet is going to pass the minimum standards, my suggestion would be go and try as many on as possible (important to try with goggles too) and find what is most comfortable. For a teenager, probably also what they think is cool, as trying to get them to wear something they don't like the look of is probably not worth the hassle. Unless they run particularly hot/cold I wouldn't worry about ventilation. Wouldn't worry about weight, if anything I'd avoid the ultralight stuff, it's just not a big deal for downhill skiing.

*I spent a day in a helmet testing lab, watching the testing procedures and chatting with the engineers. Although it was 10 years ago, and they only tested climbing/mountaineering helmets in that lab so feel free to take it with a pinch of salt.

Help!!

Helmet Construction?

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions