Helmet Suggestions

[mach1]

Fun fact, my composite stilo is lighter than a carbon black armor helmet.

[Suck fumes]

also double the price. but stilo is pretty amazing!

[blk96gt]

I've got a Black Armor helmet and really like it. Way more comfortable than the G-Force helmet I had before.

[dtanker65]

I agree with the above statement if purchasing the most expensive helmet is really safer. Can anyone tell me there is a safety difference in a $200.00 helmet and a $3500.00 helmet?


JJ

I want the helmet to crack before my noggin. Don't want people sayin, "yeah he's a mort, but the helmet held up good". I approach safety with the goal of decelerating the impact to the driver (crush zones), let the car and safety gear slow down the event. I "assume" but don't know that the SFI rating is derived from destructive G testing and light weight is in line with the Hans technology

Aviation structural composites haven't been around long enough to gather good life data yet, but it is known that UV is destructive. When the approved inspection procedure for plastic airplanes is to tap on them with a nickel looking for "dead spots" I'd rather ride on a Boeing and suffer the mileage penalty. Helmet is a disposable item. The $3500 helmet might pay off if you are really good looking though.......

[ShadowBolt]

I want the helmet to crack before my noggin. Don't want people sayin, "yeah he's a mort, but the helmet held up good". I approach safety with the goal of decelerating the impact to the driver (crush zones), let the car and safety gear slow down the event. I "assume" but don't know that the SFI rating is derived from destructive G testing and light weight is in line with the Hans technology

Aviation structural composites haven't been around long enough to gather good life data yet, but it is known that UV is destructive. When the approved inspection procedure for plastic airplanes is to tap on them with a nickel looking for "dead spots" I'd rather ride on a Boeing and suffer the mileage penalty. Helmet is a disposable item. The $3500 helmet might pay off if you are really good looking though.......

Think about the Cirrus SR22 sitting on the ramp month after month year and year. I'm sure most are in hangers since most are so new but who knows in twenty years. I used to regularly fly a 1946 Cub and a 1946 Champ almost every week. Never worried about flying a sixty five year old plane. I'm not sure about the "fast glass" units six decades from now. Guess it will not be my problem since I will not be around but......

JJ

[marshall_mosty]

Think about the Cirrus SR22 sitting on the ramp month after month year and year. I'm sure most are in hangers since most are so new but who knows in twenty years. I used to regularly fly a 1946 Cub and a 1946 Champ almost every week. Never worried about flying a sixty five year old plane. I'm not sure about the "fast glass" units six decades from now. Guess it will not be my problem since I will not be around but......
JJ

The Boeing 787 (primarily composite by weight) body modules are delivered to Boeing for final assembly pre-painted (white) and the windows are covered until they have interior panels installed to keep the UV light off the composite surfaces.

[RichardP]

I agree. You shouldn't leave your unpainted helmet outside for decades...

The interior energy absorbing foam is more sensitive to the elements than the outside shell. Storing your helmet inside your hot, enclosed trailer, for example, isn't the best idea.


Richard P.

[nasawill]

I agree with the above statement if purchasing the most expensive helmet is really safer. Can anyone tell me there is a safety difference in a $200.00 helmet and a $3500.00 helmet? If so why don't we all spend $3500.00 for a Arai? Is there anyone that test all or some of the racing helmets where we could see what the higher dollar helmets do different than the low buck units do? Unless the people that say "if you have $100.00 head put it in a $100.00 helmet" are all buying the most expensive helmet they can buy they are still making a decision on what to purchase based on price. I'm going to see if I can find anything on the web about this.


JJ

If two helmets meets a certain standard, a helmet company (or salesman for that matter) cannot legally say any one is safer than another. What you're paying for is weight savings, quality of build, and options. One could argue that lighter means less chance of a neck injury and less fatigue through a weekend.

I had a Zamp on during my crash at NOLA last year. It's basically a copy of a bell with cheaper quality finish. It did it's job. Foam dented around the hard point of impact where my head hit the top/ground in the rollover. (you read that right, I didn't have my lap belts tight enough so I actually bonked the ground, shame on me) Since it was 'totaled' from this, I opted to get a carbon Stilo and can't imagine ever using something else now. The comfort is above and beyond any other helmet I've had. Stilo will condition the removable interior so it doesn't get nasty or too tore up over the course of ~10 years. All the options are available for air, water, and coms.

The Stilo coms are one of the best selling points. The ear muffs over the ears instead of earbuds are amazing. No more nasty buds, rushing to put them in when the 5 minutes on grid comes, or comfort issues with a bud wiggling out. Just throw the helmet on and the speakers are over your ear. And the sound quality is perfect.

Definitely try on different helmets. Not all brands have the same fitment.

Stilo highly recommended. $200/year (~$2k and good for ~10 years) is cheap for something built as quality, comfortable, convenient, and as important as it is.

[dtanker65]

I did my initial spin training in a 1946 Cessna 120, but the 20 mph over Vne recovery kinda dampened my enthusiasm for that type of behavior in a 1946 Model. One of the guys asked a Bearcat driver a while ago at OSH how fast it would go and he replied "as slow as possible because, I have to fix whatever I break"

[drecords]

I've had a G-Force for years, and just bought another one to be SA2015 compliant. No complaints... I'm afraid if I try on one of the more expensive helmets I'll like it. Slippery slope this sport is...