Things are getting pretty congested in my crash hat cupboard and due to an upcoming via feratta trip I’m making the jump from borrowing a climbing helmet when I need to buying one of my own.

Have been looking at the Petzl Meteor iii as it is also certified for bike use and as I’ll be staying in the Dolomites very close to bike hire/uplift I’ll definitely be doing some riding at some point.

Question is whether I should go for something like the petzl, which will work for both actives (and is also whitewater certified) or get something climbing specific and a bit more robust like the Black Diamond half dome below and take a bike helmet out with me too.

I already have one multi use bike/snow helmet which works quite well for Scotland in winter when conditions on the day dictate whether I’m riding on board or bike, but I know that some hats are more of a compromise and end up not doing either job very well and I’d like to avoid that.

Any advice or recommendations?

Petzl Meteor will be fine for VF, IMO.

How are snow conditions in the Dollies ATM? I’d heard things were still pretty stacked up.

Still quite a lot of snow for this late in the year I think, but haven’t checked for a wee while. Hopefully it’s busily melting off the higher VF routes as I type.

Have no doubt the Meteor will be fine for VF, just wonder if its decent on the bike too.

I have used the meteor for climbing quite a bit and really like it. It is very light which does make a difference. From memory, the hard shell helmets deal better with multiple impacts which may be important where there is the possibility of rock fall and no quick way to retreat. For that reason, I use a hard shell helmet for multi-pitching. This is probably being overly precautious, but does make sense.

For climbing, there are 2 sorts of impacts to protect against. Banging your head against the cliff and falling stones etc. Cycle helmets are only really designed for banging your head against large things. For protection from falling objects, you really want a shell helmet, as falling stones may pass through the ventilation holes. I’d say that for via feratta you want a shell helmet as there is a high risk of falling objects.

Thanks for the advice folks.

Went for the hybrid half dome in the end. Partly due to the hardshell being better for rocks/multiple impacts, but mainly because I reckon I would wreck the rather delicate Meteor pretty quickly.

I like the Meteor for big days in the mountains (interestingly, the opposite of donal), because it’s light and comfortable. On those sorts of days my helmet goes on in the morning and comes off when I’m down.

I tend to use my Elios for everything else because I can knock it about and drop it without too much concern (e.g. climbing days where my helmet comes off and on more, or is strapped to a pack at times etc).