 Poster: A snowHead
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looking to buy my 4yr old a helmet because the ones you get form the hire shops are always a poor fit and sometime smelly and often the one piece "pudding bowl" design with no air vents (he sweats a lot). also they charge £11 a time and you can but one for £15-£20 !! kids heads dont grow much in their early years so we reckon it will fit him for the next couple of years.
problem is deciding if the soft ears design like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trespass-Burlin-Kids-Snowsport-Helmet/dp/B0030BERIW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298979324&sr=8-1&tag=amz07b-21
is any better / worse than the more traditional , rounded helemt with solid ears. struggling to find one in the corect size with the solid ear pieces so tempted to go for this - especialyl as the fit is adjustable thus ensuring a better fit
opinions / advice please
thanks
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Hi backhojo, This is the the 'more traditional, rounded style with solid ears' that you mention that I bought for my eldest which lasted for 3 trips, and has now been handed down to my youngest for his first trip last week so it has done 4 trips now in total. I can thoroughly recommend it.
To try and answer your question, the eldest had his helmet upgraded to this one which seems to be the 'soft ears' style that you refer to - and I honestly don't think there was any difference other than personal taste.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Okay this is a short summary of a rather technical area - one of the worst kinds of head injury which you can get is a rotational brain injury (where the brain rotates in the skull) - this is because brain structure is tough in compression but poor in shear - imagine a deck of cards held upright in your hand, bang it down on the table hard and nothing much happens - it stays as a solid pack. Now do the same but holding the same pack at 46 degrees - the whole lot shears. This is what happens in a rotational injury. It the helmet grabs in any way - eg a solid cheek piece catches hard snow and twists the head - you'll wind up with muscle trauma and rotational brain injury. There are quite a few good papers on this eg
http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1182.html
http://www.phillipshelmets.com/ROTATIONAL_HEAD_INJURY.htm
http://www.access-legal.co.uk/legal-news/new-cycle-helmet-could-protect-against-rotational-injuries-lu-2694.htm
Essentially you want excellent absorption - thick expanded polystyrene foam inner - and very smooth outer which will skip and slide if a child is unfortunate enough to go down at speed and drag their head. You really want to avoid the helmet catching and twisting. Upshot: I avoid any helmet with solid cheek pieces (the older style skiing competition helmets), and for my 5 and 7 year old, I have bought burton R.E.D hard shell snowboard style helmets, which have good protection and less chance of grabbing on anything. They must fit well - there's an excellent market in second hand lids so buy new and the exact size, and then sell it on.
I wear a GIRO fuse and shiv helmet. If you wear a hood or hat to keep warm, why not wear a helmet? (BTW get one which does not attenuate hearing too much, the old Boeri's were terrible in that respect).
This is all based on a lot of research - all following the rotational injury I received after a serious MTB accident - seven hours of total amnesia. A cycling helmet has saved my life twice (the second time I was hit by a motorbike coming through a red light - my head was fine despite impact but it broke my back and gave me a grade III shoulder separation with total ACL rupture).
I hope this helps - any further questions don't hesitate to ask.
tim
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Our son has a Poc Pocito, which is bright orange and a work of helmet art, but cost considerably more than £15-£20! He's got the version without the solid ears as that version squeezed the sides of his head too much and wasn't comfortable.
Saying that a friend I was skiing with this weekend smashed a big hole in her Giro one, she was a bit shaken but no major damage, so clearly that style of helmet seems to work too (if you go head first into a tree at some speed  ) and not as expensive as a Poc one.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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valais2, thanks for the scientific answer. very helpful. I like to study detail and make reasoned choices so this really helps 
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glad to help - the more research we apply to our choices the better and safer the equipment will become.
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backhojo, Have got an unused helmet bought for my 6 year old at the end of last season but grown out of by the start of this, a few small scuff and a bit dusty from storage but otherwise perfect, you are welcome to it for the postage cost. Soft ears, black and shiny, vents front and back.
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