Open face or closed faced helmet?

[white79bu]

I am in the market for a good helmet. The one I have is about five years old and is a closed face. The problem that I have with it is that I were glasses and it's hard to put on and take off with them. I am planning on autocrossing alot next year and maybe an open track event if I am lucky. So do I need a closed face helmet or can I go with an open face? Also does anybody have any certian helmet the recommend? I am leaning towards Impact Racing. What do you guys think? Thanks Andy

[ProStreet R/T]

I prefer closed face helmets for the extra safety factor. Have you checked out Bell? I know they have some very nice stuff that will work with your glasses.

[vintageracer]

You only have one head so take good car of it! There are LOTS of new closed face helmet designs that work great with glasses. You can crack your head just as good at 30MPH as you can at 100MPH. "I" would not consider anything but a full face helment.

Buy a "SNELL 2005" rated helmet, carbon kevlar helmet. Simpson, Bell or Impact make fine products. Expect to pay at least $300 for a good entry level, Snell rated helmet.

Any and all automobile racing associations require a "Snell" rated helmet. Motorcycle helmets are NOT "Snell" rated.

I personally have a Simpson and a Bell helmet. Both are Carbon Kevlar and closed face. The Simpson is the newer of the helmets and has a better front opening than the older Bell helmet. Styles and features change a lot in helmets as newer models become available. Remember that helmets become obsolete after 10 years as you must has at least a "Snell 2000" on your helmet. So buy a "Snell 2005" rated helmet to get the best bang for the buck.

Do not go cheap on safety equipment.

[MrQuick]

Closed, due to steering wheels tasting so bad. Some of the Simpson ones do a great job of cooling your head & face.

[Jagarang]

My story goes like this, truncated for brevity....

My 1987 Honda CB750 cycle...
My best buddy on the back....
Beautiful day in the Ozarks Mountains in NW Arkansas....
Going to play pool in Berryville.....
Guy in a 2nd gen Camaro going lolly lolly la la through the mountains...
We come to a well knows straight stretch on these two lanes of blacktop, which is a double yellow no pass, but were on a bike and can get past him quick...RIGHT?
Pull out downshift and get on it and I'm surprised to see that the nice gentleman who had previously been admiring the chipmunks now doesn't find them so fascinating and doesn't want to let me pass him...
I figure there’s no way he can keep up with the bike so I crank back the throttle wide open and up shift...
Much to my dismay he manages to stay along side of me long enough for another car to show up around the bend at the end of the straight..
As I glance at the speedo it reads 115 and we are squarely beside assmunch #2(since first place has deftly been filled by me)....
There's just not enough space to get around or back behind 2nd gen nature lover....
My friend the ditch gleefully calls our names and asks us to please stop in for a visit...
The surreal, slow motion movie real starts as I begin braking and start to lay the bike down, I can see the sparks fly from the pavement as the pegs make take their first bites of pavement...
We let the bike go, desperately trying to get away from it, and I watch as it leaves the paved shoulder, bridges the boulder strewn ditch, and strikes the hillside with a violent shudder...
I begin the roll, over, and over, and over again, with each turn I catch glimpses of the bike as it somersaults forcefully through the air..
Somehow I manage to roll onto my feet in a jog, as the bike grinds to a stop in a squealing tortured mess back in travel lanes headed towards Berryville....
In my dazed, adrenaline fueled haze I manage to haul it off of the highway before someone hits it and gets hurt again by my stupidity...
I rush back to my buddy who hasn't gotten up and find him conscious and coherent, but his right arm looks.....cartoonish.......
His right arm is crushed to this day and nearly useless, but we both agree that if we hadn't been wearing all the proper attire (gloves, boots, full riding suits, and FULL FACED HELMETS), we may not have gotten off so "lucky"...
Somewhere in the ditch as we bounced along like billiard balls on God's bumper pool table, a rock smashed my visor, my face, and crushed the face extension on my Bell helmet to the point that it looked like a Corvette at a driving school....
His helmet was nearly split in two, but neither of us suffered any serious head injury...

Truncated...maybe not so much..It's kinda fun to type this stuff once you’re on a roll..

FULL FACED FOREVER, FOR SURE!!

[Rick Dorion]

I'm able to respond here thanks to my Bell full face, leather jacket, boots, gloves, etc in ana ccident 20 years ago that gave me 6 months off from work. Never compromise your safety.

[scogin918]

Sorry, thought you guys were talking about sandwiches.

[wick]

Bell had an ad many years ago that went like this, "If you have a ten dollar head buy a ten dollar helmet".

[sinned]

Any and all automobile racing associations require a "Snell" rated helmet. Motorcycle helmets are NOT "Snell" rated.

I agree that full face helmets are better but please check your information before posting your opinion as facts. Snell "M" is a Snell rated helmet, just "M" vs. "SA", and they are accepted at most motorsports venues.

[vintageracer]

I stand corrected on the motorcycle helmets not being "snell" rated. I was confused with sporting helments such as football, hockey etc. The Snell Foundation's current work serves the automobile racing, bicycle, motorcycle, smowmobiling, skiing, skateboarding, karting and equestrian markets. Snell does not test sporting helmets.

"Snell SA certification testing requires the helmet to manage the energy of three consecutive impacts against a rollbar-type structure. These helmets may also have a restricted perripheral field of vision. This allowance makes some SA helmets unsuitable for motorcycle use." The Snell SA certification (special application) helmets are certified for automobile racing.

Source, Snell Memorial Foundation, 888 SNELL99 or www.smf.org.

All the racing websites, professional and amature, "I" found today required the "SA" certification, NOT the "M" certification!

[BonzoHansen]

Full face.

[nancejd]

Depends where and what you race. Our local track let's most of the sportsman classes run with an "M" helmet, local autocross does too. Why not step up and buy something that will protect you in a crash in a car though Personally, I like my open face helmet, all the full face helmets I looked at restricted my peripheral vision too much for my taste, of course that was about 5 years ago.

[vanzuuk1]

I used to race bikes a little and ride fast on the street. I have walked away from about ten tumbles, the only time I hurt my face was the one time i had an open face helmet. It was the first and last time i wore one.

Get a nice full face that fits properly and strap it firmly. If it fits correctly your cheeks and skin should move a little if you rock it, not so tight that you can feel your pulse against the helmet. They give a little after you wear them a few times. Dont try on an arai helmet unless you can afford them, they fit so nice you wont like any others and you will be spoiled.

Dont lend or borrow helmets.

Dont throw your helmet around (unless you are in nascar), take care of it.

As far as periphiral vision, you get used to the full face quick and nothing restricts vision as bad as a rearranged face.(just my opinion)

A little long winded but I really feel strong about the helmet thing.

[vanzuuk1]

One more thing. Every time I ride my streetbike in 90 degree weather in a full face, jacket and gloves someone asks me if I am hot. Of course I am hot you morons.

Sorry.

[Rick Dorion]

One more thing. Every time I ride my streetbike in 90 degree weather in a full face, jacket and gloves someone asks me if I am hot. Of course I am hot you morons.

Sorry.

I took a 3 week tour through the Carolinas in August with full riding protection

[MarkM66]

My story goes like this, truncated for brevity....

My 1987 Honda CB750 cycle...
My best buddy on the back....
Beautiful day in the Ozarks Mountains in NW Arkansas....
Going to play pool in Berryville.....
Guy in a 2nd gen Camaro going lolly lolly la la through the mountains...
We come to a well knows straight stretch on these two lanes of blacktop, which is a double yellow no pass, but were on a bike and can get past him quick...RIGHT?
Pull out downshift and get on it and I'm surprised to see that the nice gentleman who had previously been admiring the chipmunks now doesn't find them so fascinating and doesn't want to let me pass him...
I figure there’s no way he can keep up with the bike so I crank back the throttle wide open and up shift...
Much to my dismay he manages to stay along side of me long enough for another car to show up around the bend at the end of the straight..
As I glance at the speedo it reads 115 and we are squarely beside assmunch #2(since first place has deftly been filled by me)....
There's just not enough space to get around or back behind 2nd gen nature lover....
My friend the ditch gleefully calls our names and asks us to please stop in for a visit...
The surreal, slow motion movie real starts as I begin braking and start to lay the bike down, I can see the sparks fly from the pavement as the pegs make take their first bites of pavement...
We let the bike go, desperately trying to get away from it, and I watch as it leaves the paved shoulder, bridges the boulder strewn ditch, and strikes the hillside with a violent shudder...
I begin the roll, over, and over, and over again, with each turn I catch glimpses of the bike as it somersaults forcefully through the air..
Somehow I manage to roll onto my feet in a jog, as the bike grinds to a stop in a squealing tortured mess back in travel lanes headed towards Berryville....
In my dazed, adrenaline fueled haze I manage to haul it off of the highway before someone hits it and gets hurt again by my stupidity...
I rush back to my buddy who hasn't gotten up and find him conscious and coherent, but his right arm looks.....cartoonish.......
His right arm is crushed to this day and nearly useless, but we both agree that if we hadn't been wearing all the proper attire (gloves, boots, full riding suits, and FULL FACED HELMETS), we may not have gotten off so "lucky"...
Somewhere in the ditch as we bounced along like billiard balls on God's bumper pool table, a rock smashed my visor, my face, and crushed the face extension on my Bell helmet to the point that it looked like a Corvette at a driving school....
His helmet was nearly split in two, but neither of us suffered any serious head injury...

Truncated...maybe not so much..It's kinda fun to type this stuff once you’re on a roll..

FULL FACED FOREVER, FOR SURE!!

Glad you made it out alive.

Did you ever find the kind fellow in the 2nd gen Camaro?

[MarkM66]

Sorry, thought you guys were talking about sandwiches.

LOL!!

[David Pozzi]

Ive autocrossed a lot with a full-face helmet. After a while you get used to the full-face and it doesn't limit you at all. I leave the visor up when I run.
The newer helmets have Nomex inside and the local vendor fits them darn tight these days. If you will drive with a drivers suit then wear a balaclava (headsock) when you try the helmet, it should move with your head when you shake it. It will get a little tighter feeling on a hot day, so don't get one that is painfully tight.

I will have to make some mods to get my glasses to slip on better, right now it's very hard to get them on.
David

[white79bu]

I think I have found a solution to my problem. G Force makes a helmet called the Hybrid. It's a based on an open face helmet that has a chin bar on it like and full face. It's got great reviews from guys who us it to autocross and do open track days. Plus they claim it's perfect for people with galsses. It comes SA2000 approved and is only around $200. I think I will order one Monday morning. Thanks for all the replys.

[Lowend]

I'm with Pozzi - closed face is the only option as far as I'm concerned. The face piece does not effect my visability at all, and I too wear glasses.
Its worth a little discomfort (I don't really even consider it that) to prvent a broken jaw in an accident