Petzl helmet magnetic buckle safety ?

Bought new Petzl Meteora helmet but after researching a bit some forums say magnetic buckle came undone. Any comments if this is not safe /unsafe  if you take a fall, for example? Understand they test gear but still… 

I hate the Petzl helmet buckles so much. I lost a Sirocco years ago when it unclipped itself and fell off. I swore them off for a few years, but was recently dumb enough to buy another.

The magnet attracts debris and it stops it from fully clicking closed. You can try to keep it clean, but it's ultimately futile.

You can remove the magnet (Petzl says it's ok and tells you how), but that reveals that the buckle itself is very weak (probably so the magnet can close it). The lightest brush will cause it to unbuckle halfway, and without the magnet to autoclose it you're now unknowingly wearing an unbuckeled helmet.

It currently (without the magnet) unbuckles itself about once every 10 pitches for me. You can clip it back closed with one hand, but it's definitely a shitty feeling when you're cruxing out and suddenly you have to try to buckle it one handed without accidentally knocking it off your head.

The magnet buckles suck suck suck. I've unclipped my buckle while climbing numerous times mid pitch but caught the helmet before I lost it with the critical headlamp attached.

Petzl reps have voiced this feedback for years for years and it has been ignored. But they finally they removed the shit magnets from the new Siroccos so I assume the mag buckles will be removed when they update other helmets in the future.

My magnets-removed sirocco comes unbuckled nearly every time I follow on vertical routes. The merest suggestion of a rope touching the buckle and it’s totally unclipped. Recently petzl redid the sirocco, and inexplicably, they replaced the catastrophically annoying magnetic buckled with another non standard buckle. It’s some kind of weak looking triangular buckle. Thankfully no magnet, but it’s still installed in a way that means you need to cut some of the main straps (or dremel into the buckle) to replace it with something normal. These guys kill me. So close to the perfect helmet. 

I lost my Petzl helmet and brand-new GoPro on day 4 of 7 while climbing Virginia on El Capitan. The latch failed, as described above. 

Would never buy one again. 

I got the Black Diamond MIPS one. It is killer.  

I did 36 pitches this weekend without the buckle coming undone, how is it falling off for you guys? Is it during off with pitches? I just bought the helmet 2 weeks ago and love it 

Brand new they work great. Give it 6 months and report back.

I've had a Petzl Meteor helmet with the magnetic buckle for a few years now and can think of only one time I had an issue due to a large enough rock getting stuck and preventing the buckle from fully closing. Now that I know about that issue, I just make an effort to keep the buckle out of the dirt, and feel/ensure that it's fully closed when I put it on. Haven't had any problems with it since then. It still gets really small, fine debris in there, but it's not enough to mess up the functionality.    

Brandon R wrote:

I've had a Petzl Meteor helmet with the magnetic buckle for a few years now and can think of only one time I had an issue due to a large enough rock getting stuck and preventing the buckle from fully closing. Now that I know about that issue, I just make an effort to keep the buckle out of the dirt, and feel/ensure that it's fully closed when I put it on. Haven't had any problems with it since then. It still gets really small, fine debris in there, but it's not enough to mess up the functionality.    

Same

Frank Stein wrote:

Same

Also same, but to be fair, some rock types contain more ferrous content than others, so some folks will naturally pick up more metallic debris to interfere with the buckle function. This is a legitimately flawed design, not just a matter of some users taking better care of their helmets than others.

I mountain bike too, and there's this brand named fidlock that makes metallic buckles that are fairly popular on mtb helmets. Everytime a new helmet gets released without fidlock, the comments on the articles on mtb sites are full of complaints—"No fidlock, they're not getting my money!" Apparently people just really like magnets. I don't get it. A magnet contributes literally nothing necessary to the functioning of a buckle. Just use a goddamn clicky plastic buckle, they're fine.

I have had a petzl meteora helmet for like 3 years now. Never had an issue with the buckle. I also don't have magnetic bits in the rock in my local areas.

The petzl helmet is the only one I would buy in the future. When I bought my helmet 3 years back, I was set on (I think it's called) the BD Vapor, but when I tried it on it was uncomfortable. The petzl was was very comfy, and so I got it instead. Haven't looked back

I climb in the Gunks and CT. Couldn’t understand all the complaints about the Petzl magnets. Then I went to City of Rocks. By the second climb I was cleaning the buckle. 

One of those "features" on their more expensive helmets that was a turn-off for me. I bought one of their cheapest helmets in 2018, the Boreo, with a hard plastic shell, full side and rear foam coverage, and a super basic but burly chin buckle and it's still going strong. Sometimes more / fancier isn't better. 

Another data point: I beat the heck out of my Meteor for a few years . Had plenty of iron bits stuck in there but didn't take more than a second to clear out. Never had the buckle come undone. It's a fine helmet but too small for me to be able to wear a hat underneath. I also love the Vapor, more comfortable than the meteor by far.

All this to say you can take any major product on the market and find reviews on both ends of the spectrum. Your truth is probably somewhere in the middle

acrophobe wrote:

I climb in the Gunks and CT. Couldn’t understand all the complaints about the Petzl magnets. Then I went to City of Rocks. By the second climb I was cleaning the buckle. 

Same exact shit happened to me (east coaster went to CoR). My helmet fell off mid-lead the second day. So much iron dust picked up and jammed the buckle mechanism.