Thoughts: Helmets
I know this is a heated subject out there in shred land. I don’t quite understand completely why, from a safety perspective, but I respect peoples opinions and wishes. I’ve not always worn a helmet my whole snowboarding “career” if you will. When I was younger, and an avid skater, I didn’t like the clunky feeling of helmets, and always felt hot and sweaty in them. It wasn’t ever really a fashion thing for me, although there are days on the hill now that I want to just wear a beanie, with googles and be done. However, I’ve now had several friends take some serious spills, and hit their heads quite hard. Regardless of fashion sense, or obnoxiousness, I choose to wear a helmet these days, and that choice has been vindicated more than once this past season.
As I’ve gotten older my riding has toned back as far as park riding, and aggressive jumps etc. I like to spend more time riding more of the mountain, and playing on natural terrain where possible. This past season I had several instances where I had a nasty bail, and not only hit hard, but cracked two different helmets, only walking away with a slight headache, and a “bell ringer” heh. I’m almost sure I’d have cracked my head open on one of those hits, had I not had something to “break the fall.” Now, I’m not saying that a helmet is an end all be all device, that has mystical unicorn powers and cushions your head endlessly, but I am saying they do help in preventing severe head trauma. With that being said, I’ve found after reviewing helmets from Smith, R.E.D., BERN, and Pro-Tec that I’m quite the fan of the Pro-Tec Vigilante helmet. This is my second season riding a Vigilante. I’ll post an end of season review on how the helmet stood up, and my thoughts on the helmet generally, but my point is, it took me testing out multiple helmets to finally find one that I don’t mine riding with.
Bern Watts
Sandbox Brain Bucket
ProTec Vigilante
RED HiFi
Smith Holt
Cappix Monster Helmet
Part of the problem for me is my gigantic mellon. I’m rocking a 62cm helmet, which is really obnoxiously large. When you get that kind of sizing, sometimes fits can be a bit out of touch with your comfort zone. Sometimes the helmet really is too tight on the sides, or there’s an awkward section that rubs, or whatever. I guess my point in all of this is, if you’re going to go out and shred, a helmet might not be a bad idea. If it’s not for you, I understand that, and respect that. However, If you’ve thought, ” I should probably get one”, it wouldn’t hurt to go check them out. Honestly the styling has gotten much butter, and the colors, well sometimes those just get out of control, much like the outerwear category, but hey, at least they aren’t all black, and big domes anymore. I’ve posted links to several companies I think make great products, definitely check them out when you can, and see what you can find that may fit what you’re looking for.
Ze Lids!
Tags: helmets, IT Hurts, Noggins