Climbing helmets

My wife and I are now looking into getting some helmets. We have been climbing trad a while and I'm mainly worried about rock/gear fall taking one of us out. Not overly concerned with bonking my head in a fall but a little side protection wouldn't hurt either. Any good suggestions? I have been looking at Black Diamonds helmets lately.

Super Topo has a great reviews on all kinds of helmets. I am actually ordering the Elios and Elia today for me and my girl thanks to this site/reviews

http://www.supertopo.com/reviews/gear.php?cat=1043

supertopo.com/best/Climbing…

All of the big name helmets will be about the same in terms of performance.

The best helmet for you is the one that fits you most comfortably. The best helmet for your wife is the one that fits her most comfortably.

Try some on.

After fit, then you should think about some of the other features, such as headlamp hooks, etc.

If you often wear a hat while climbing in the cold, be sure to try on the helmet both with and without your hat on.

In addition to Bobby's good advice, the best helmet is the one you actually have on your head. I've owned one of those heavy, solid plastic Ecrin Roc helmets for the 10 years I've been climbing, but never really wore it. Too heavy, too clunky. I finally bit the bullet and picked up one of the new Meteor III helmets. Super light, super ventilated. I wear it pretty much any time I climb, even on sport.

It has at least 60-70 days of climbing on it between sport, ice and trad over the past 2 years and is still in great shape with no "bruises" or soft spots, cracks in the shell cover, or anything else. Decent headlamp clips too. I've been hit in the head twice by falling ice (small pieces though, no damage to helmet) and stood up into overhangs a whole bunch of times. It's surprisingly resilient. Make sure to use gaffer tape to seal up the vents in the winter so you don't get a head full of snow.

I wore the Tracer out quick, but I sure liked the style and comfort.
Steve

Bobby Hanson wrote:All of the big name helmets will be about the same in terms of performance. The best helmet for you is the one that fits you most comfortably. The best helmet for your wife is the one that fits her most comfortably. Try some on. After fit, then you should think about some of the other features, such as headlamp hooks, etc. If you often wear a hat while climbing in the cold, be sure to try on the helmet both with and without your hat on.

+10..this thread came up recently, and again this is the best advice. I don't care if it's the Ferrari of helmets. If it doesn't fit it might as well be a Yugo. Nothing quite as fun as a pressure point on multi pitch climb.

I wear the Metor III and really don't notice that it is on after a few mins because it is so light. The good thing about foam is that it handles impact really well. The bad thing is that it does not handle multiple impacts well so if you take a big fall replace it!

I think I will try several helmets on next time I am in the market to see if any others fit my head a bit better.

that might help. I did a comparison between the Elios and Half-Dome suspension systems here.

Can anyone give me some good reasons why I shouldn't just wear my bike helmet as a climbing helmet??

I use a Petzl vertex, ANSI rated, no foam, and it's not that heavy.

Charles Vernon wrote:Can anyone give me some good reasons why I shouldn't just wear my bike helmet as a climbing helmet??

Cause you look like a dork ;)

Charles Vernon wrote:Can anyone give me some good reasons why I shouldn't just wear my bike helmet as a climbing helmet??

The old style (late '70s/early '80s hard shell bike helmets with a foam liner were probably pretty good for climbing. The hard shell could withstand a lot of abuse while being carried in a pack, etc., and it didn't matter if you knocked your head against something while climbing in tight spots. Newer bike helmets tend to be made of foam without the hard shell (maybe a thin layer of plastic), so I wouldn't expect them to withstand that kind of abuse. The relatively thick outer shell of a climbing helmet will do a better job of withstanding high impacts that are concentrated in a small area (think of big, sharp rocks landing point first on your helmet), whereas a cycle helmet will be better at dissipating impacts with relatively large, flat surfaces (windshields, asphalt, etc.). That's my guess, anybody else got any ideas?

Another helmet that looks pretty cool is the Alpine Shield from Wild Country. It has a removable hard shell, so you can decide if you want light weight for fall protection or if you want the additional shell for extended climbs. FWIW, I have the Half Dome, and it seems to work well, although it shifts around sometimes. It did a nice job of protecting my head in a fall earlier this year.

I've worn a skateboarder helmet before. It was nice bc it had a visor. Dorky?.. Maybe. Effective?.. Yup!

+1 for the visor. I ware my snowboarding helmet, plastic outer and slighty suspended inner foam very comfy and the short visor keeps my honker off the rock. I may not look as cool as ya all but it sure does the trick. If I ever find anything as cozy and solid I'll up grade till then I'm diggin it.

Daryl Allan wrote:I've worn a skateboarder helmet before. It was nice bc it had a visor. Dorky?.. Maybe. Effective?.. Yup!

Eiger Sanction....2 MX helmets and one Bob the Builder construction hardhat.

But then again, only Hemlock survived so it's tough to tell their effeciency.

whatever you do dont get a BD halfdome. they crack super super easily. There is a reason that they are so cheap

clay meier wrote:whatever you do dont get a BD halfdome. they crack super super easily. There is a reason that they are so cheap

Not sure if mine is newer or what but my halfdome has been great. BD helmets fit my head much better than Petzl (which the wife has) and I love my half dome. I don't baby mine and it's taken quite a few hits ice climbing and still going strong. I only consider adding a tracer to the line up for special purposes, the half dome is my workhorse.

I`ve been using the BD half dome for 5 years now. Holds up just fine for rock and ice climbing. I dont think I could trust a foam helmet, I would imagine one good stand up under a roof or 1 minor rock/gear fall and you`ll compress the foam.

Like I said I use the BD half dome with no problem or concerns. Can anyone chime in on the use of the foam helmets...durability protection etc