I need a new Full Face helmet and I’ve been trying to work out which one (or ones) is/are “safest”. There are a fair few safety standards and it’s not at all clear which are the most rigorous (or which are part of the most realistic tests). I’ve ruled out motorbike helmets for a few reasons.

Anyone know which are the safest helmets, or which certifications I should be looking out for?

troy lee d3
specialized dissident
bell full 9

these are the new breed of super safe helmets, getting higher rated than this means going to mx helmets like the fox vr3

The most expensive one. When you’ve dropped £500 on a carbon D3 you’ll do anything to keep your head away from trees and rocks…

I go for the cheapest helmet, cause I know my heads not worth it.

Define safest? You could wear an MX helemt and suffer heatstroke, in which case an XC lid might have been safer.

You could land awkwardly and impart rotational forces on it, in which case the lowest profile would be best.

You could rag-doll down a hillside,a light lid would avoid whiplash injury.

Or you could faceplant into a very pointy rock in which case the biggest most padded helmet you can get would be nice.

Or you could accidentaly stumble into a dogging spot and need an entirely different type of helmet protection.

I’ve got a polycarbonate shelled (i.e quite cheep) 661, I didn’t die when I crashed and wrote it off so bought another.

POC MIPS

or perhaps that new one with the single piece/monocoque shell/eps…..I forget it’s name

goodgrief – Member
troy lee d3
specialized dissident
bell full 9

these are the new breed of super safe helmets, getting higher rated than this means going to mx helmets like the fox vr3

Several other brands would argue that their helmets are safer than those above due to inclusion of a MIPS type system.

I don’t believe this is a question that you can realistically get an answer too. Well, at least not without getting hold of several examples of each model and testing them to distruction

You might buy a mega expensive lid that’s supposed to be so good but if they don’t fit YOU you might as well buy a 30 quid special.

So my answer is ‘the one that actually fits properly’

The problem you face is find a shop with a range and that actually employs someone who knows how they are supposed to fit.

An interesting read about a well priced product.

Ahh yes that was the one…Kali composites

Really want to do an independent study measuring the effectiveness of various helmets myself….just don’t know how to go about sourcing them for free.

Thanks for the input guys.

Van Halen – Correct fit is an excellent point. I have found a few helmets which have fit my head less well in the past, but I’ve not tried on many that haven’t fit me at all (after fanying around with removable pads). I suppose it’s all relative.

Bwaarp – I guess that is what I was after. An independant, well designed set of tests which covered a range of realistic, likely crash scenarios (which probably don’t include dogging!). Each manufacturer seems to have their own take on how best to tackle the problem, complicated by a whole bunch of jargon – even more so than in other parts of the cycling world.

I’ve just bought one of those Kali Avatar helmets: I’ve yet to use it in anger as it’s an Xmas pressie, but it is one hell of a comfortable and light helmet.

I’m not aware of the MIPS helmets although I do know POC can’t make a helmet that fits me in any way.

I have used Kali avatar lids since 2009, mainly because I find them immensely comfy and light but also because I’ve tested how well they protect my head! I had no hesitation in getting a replacement when I totalled the first in a huge crash. I’ll be ordering the 3rd when the 2013 range is available.

I didn’t mention kali at first because it doesn’t come with all the latest safety tech and doofa’s like a d3! But I do have faith in the quality of the shell as it has saved my head.

Being used to using something, and having faith in it working based on previous experience counts for a lot. Even more so where safety kit is concerned.

The one that fits properly – END OF THREAD

I did a lot of research and found out that even though a lot of helmets have the same safety ratings, most of them only apply to the main shell.
ie the chin section is not safety rated on virtually all mtb full face helmets.
Seeing a picture of a toothless man who had lost his teeth when his full face helmet failed on impact was enough to send me straight to a Troy Lee D3, which has the chin secttion safety rated.

As above it doesn’t matter how many standards the helmet’s passed if it doesn’t fit it’s useless

Seeing a picture of a toothless man who had lost his teeth when his full face helmet failed on impact was enough to send me straight to a Troy Lee D3, which has the chin secttion safety rated.

On the other hand the chin must have absorbed a heck of an impact, imagine if that enery hadn’t been absorbed and instead transfered into a twisting motion on the neck? I’m not saying that mroe safety standards are a bad thing, but just because the helmet didn’t work how you expected it to doesn’t mean it didn’t act how the designer intended it to for all I know the D3 might be designed to protect from small impacts and fall appart too to save the wearer from more injuries in a big impact?

Believe me the D3 does not fall apart in a big impact 😆 😉

Leads onto another question though of the use of neck braces too, wrt neck injuries, (dives into bunker!!)

I’m getting the point about helmets needing to fit. It’s worth pointing out for sure, but lets assume I’m not going to buy a helmet that doesn’t fit me because it has passed more safety standards.

It still surprises and concerns me that there is no single, internationally recognised, independent set of standards for safety gear.

Chinbar safety rating is a hard one to verify… Even ASTM F1952 doesn’t actually require a helmet to have a chinbar, it has testing criteria if desired for when one is present but it appears you can still obtain an ASTM F1952 pass with a fullface that doesn’t attain that criteria. (presumably in order to avoid declaring a fullface helmet that would otherwise pass to be less safe than a pisspot that does pass despute having no chinbar)

Bell Drop and Kali Avatar do pass ATSM F1952… But I’m also not sure how well used the standard is, Giro Remedy has passed it in the past but they didn’t submit it for retesting and just chose to let the certification lapse, which considering the helmet was unchanged suggested they just don’t think it’s a valuable test for them.

chunkychew – Member

It still surprises and concerns me that there is no single, internationally recognised, independent set of standards for safety gear.

Aye… ’tis interesting though, because it’s partly because there’s disagreement in what makes a good standard. Best example I can think of is SNELL vs CEN. Arai used to make different helmets for the US market because their best and most protective helmets couldn’t pass parts of the SNELL test. SNELL put more emphasis onto penatrating damage than CEN do, Arai respond that it’s rare for that to actually be important and when it is, the forces are already huge anyway and likely to be damaging, whereas by downplaying that you can make a helmet that’s better at everything else.

And I won’t get started on the SHARP test as it was a huge bag of bollocks.

Believe me the D3 does not fall apart in a big impact

Which was my point, that force has to go somewhere. The fact a guy lost his teeth doesn’t nececeraly prove that the other helmet didn’t do it’s job.

It still surprises and concerns me that there is no single, internationally recognised, independent set of standards for safety gear.

The problem is (as this thread indicates) there are so many different types of impact you could suffer that how would you begin to define the test beyond the exiting tests which involve dropping a defined object from a defined height and looking at the results.

None of the big manufacturers want to make something dangerous, they’ll all have their own in house testing which probably goes beyond the existing standards and within that they probably try to make helmets to a set of price points which all meet similar standards with varying comprimises in weight or ventilation.

Having successfully tested a D3 several times I can conclude that they work very well. They also fit my oversized noggin very well.