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I wear a pisspot sometimes, but mine (Bell Faction) is too hot for summer, makes a good winter hat though.
Oh, Met Parachute- if you treat it like a full facer, it fails, if you treat it like an XC helmet with a bit of face protection, it doesn't. The jawbone isn't intended to survive huge blows, but whenever you see a picture "Look, my parachute broke and cut my face" take a look at the person's jaw- a blow to the jawbone of the helmet which was enough to break it, would probably have also broken his face if the helmet hadn't taken the hit.
MisterGnar - MemberPoc? Bloody expensive. TSG are nice and light but for my shape of head bell fit better and are more robust (well they feel it anyway). I like the disposable aspect of potties so until the day when I become very wealthy I'll not be buying a poc.
You're protecting your head and you question the price!!!
twohatsYou're protecting your head and you question the price!!!
Yes actually. Bell faction are popular among BMXers - ie they've been well documented surviving impacts on concrete. On the trail if you bin it at moderate speeds and the helmet sustains the brunt of the impact it's for the skip. IMO the difference in protection between a £15 or £20 bell and a £60 poc pottie is going to be marginal. Anything that is going to render a cheapo bell helmet as scrap will do the same to a poc.
An impact which would split or destroy a bell, I'd imagine would do the same to a poc, but lets just hope I'm wearing my full facer if that happens.
At any rate, I wear a potty as my minimum lid, regardless of weather unless I'm riding the big bike on big trails. Many people dismiss potties in favour of more xc lids because they are too hot - surely that's even more reckless?
A potty gives way more protection than an £80 or £90 xen, so I'd be questioning the logic of putting head ventilation over head protection rather than scrutinizing my economizing.
I have a protec ace sxp which i wear for night rides simply because my headlight is a bit of a faff to get on and off, and 'normal' helmet for commuting/daytime xc.
It is much warmer in the winter and the pads are definitely above average for a 'potty'. AFAIK the only reason to wear an xc helmet over a good potty is the heat/sweat/ventilation issue. A good one will even 'venturi' air onto your head at slower speeds if you believe the blurb. Otherwise there are plenty of other less 'hot' action sports that all use their own minor variations on the potty. They must have their reasons to do so. So it depends if you rate protection over a boiling head.
what it looks like is irrelevant: you can avoid daft colours a bit, but basically we all look silly whatever we wear for riding.
And get whichever fits best, as potties don't have the slight fit compromise you get from the head cradle thingy.
Me, in a piss pot.
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Core to the max. Erm, dude.
I'd forgotten my helmet, so borrowed my brother's, which meant he had to ride in his full face. It wasn't as comfy as the Giro Hex I normally wear, and I didn't feel like it covered my head as well, but I didn't mess about with the pads or anything.
It's Calderdale New School
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Nial
My 2 p worth
Pisspots I find too warm to ride uphill in. I have one that I tend to use in winter or for dicking about on jumps. I am sure they offer more protection than the basic XC style one but I think it is only a marginal difference.
Met parachute - dangerous flawed design. It will keep branches out of your face but in impact that would do real damage to your face wiull do little as there is nothing to absorb the impact in the chinbar
Casco viper looks the best of the half and half helmets to me
Above all else
ITS THE FIT THAT COUNTS. LOOKS ARE IRRELEVANT
mikeatually, "core to the max erm dude" classic mate made me laugh 🙂 but on a serious note pretty much everyone is saying the same thing that pisspots may not look like catwalk add ons but they protect your head better than an xc lid so end of debate.
Now I just need to pick the right style/colour pink or grey 🙂
I like wearing a 661 Mullet at Haldon forest. The trails are fast and close to the trees, a crash usually involves hitting them. I like the idea of all round protection. Heat isn't an issue as most of the climbing is on fire roads, so I just take it off and strap it on my pack whilst climbing.
I wear a normal XC lid on Dartmoor though.
pisspots are designed to spread the impact rather than absorb it. Think of them like shin pads where normal XC lids are bouncy castles.
So good for falling into skateparks but crashing them (IME) gives a horrendous headache where (IME) XC lids even after writing them off into several pices you barely feel like you've crashed, apart from the rest of your body not working and the bits of olystyreen tha used to be your helmet hanging around your ears.
XC lid for XC, piss pot for skateparks, why mess arroud with anything but the best tool for the job?
this is not a spoon - not my pisspot - it has the polystyrene liner which deforms to absorb impact. Works in the same way more or less as any onteh polystyrene helmet.
Yeah, likewise my Faction is built exactly like any other helmet, foam core and hard shell. It's probably got more absorption layer than my Hex. I've never seen any helmet that isn't built on these lines. TBH I'd be amazed if you could get one through CE testing, which actually specifically targets transmission of impact.