Shorty helmets, a few questions

[NewGuy]

Wear what you want, I don't care. However, at least base your decisions on reality. The argument that wearing a full faced helmet has a significant affect on reacting to problems due to reduced visibility or hearing is utter and total BS.

However, don't just take my word for it, read this:
http://www.whohelmets.org/headlines/05- ... earing.htm

Again, wear what you want, but just don't lie to yourself and others about the factors affecting your choice.

[jonnythan]

I wear a half helmet most of the time. Just recently I've bought a full face helmet for long rides and cold temperatures.

The full face helmet doesn't really restrict vision enough to mess with things.

It does do two things though:

1) It really does affect hearing. I can much, much more easily hear what's going on to the sides and behind with the half helmet. Several times vehicles overtook me without me noticing them until they were in my forward field of view. That never, ever happens with the shorty.

2) In insulating me from the outside environment, it makes me want to pay less attention. It takes a lot of work to try to stay as alert to my surroundings with the full face helmet on. It feels like being in a car and encourages me to zone out a little bit and keep my eyes forward on the road. The shorty, by contrast, encourages me to be MORE alert. The full face does the opposite.


Am I safer in the full face? Almost certainly. I won't even try to argue that I'm somehow safer in the shorty helmet. I do feel that I'm more prone to get in an accident with the full face because it encourages complacency. Of course I try very hard to stay alert, but I don't like how I have to fiht it. Does the data support this? Probably not. That sort of claim would be virtually impossible to prove.

The full face really does insulate me from the environment and I don't like it.

[NewGuy]

1) It really does affect hearing.

Again, see the link above. The testing shows it does not affect your ability to hear and react to approaching traffic.

. . . and I don't like it.

Saying you don't like how it makes you feel is much different than claiming it affects your hearing in a way that prevents you from hearing and reacting to traffic. I can respect the fact that you don't like a full face helmet, but the claims about hearing and reacting to traffic are shown to be false.

[Fast Eddy B]

1) It really does affect hearing.

Again, see the link above. The testing shows it does not affect your ability to hear and react to approaching traffic.

. . . and I don't like it.

Saying you don't like how it makes you feel is much different than claiming it affects your hearing in a way that prevents you from hearing and reacting to traffic. I can respect the fact that you don't like a full face helmet, but the claims about hearing and reacting to traffic are shown to be false.

Go NewGuy!

[jonnythan]

1) It really does affect hearing.

Again, see the link above. The testing shows it does not affect your ability to hear and react to approaching traffic.

But it does. I've been wearing both types of helmets interchangably for about a month now. The difference is quite dramatic, no matter what the testing says.

. . . and I don't like it.

Saying you don't like how it makes you feel is much different than claiming it affects your hearing in a way that prevents you from hearing and reacting to traffic. I can respect the fact that you don't like a full face helmet, but the claims about hearing and reacting to traffic are shown to be false.

I don't think I said anything about "reacting to traffic." It does significantly affect my hearing. I don't like the way the helmet makes me feel. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not advocating shorty helmets or anything. Just stating my opinions and experiences.

[kennyshark]

What a crock, how many drivers give you a signal before they change lanes?

[IcyHound]

My hearing is always decreased because I wear ear plugs. Yet I can still hear that particular air displacement when cars are coming up on my sides and I can hear sirens.

With the proper ventilation its only hot when I am stopped. Then I flip up the shield. Thats normally on 95 degree days. I don't live in an area where its like that for more then 4-6 weeks.

Also my helmet isn't heavy. It fits my head and is as comfortable as my gloves.

Perhaps I am just vain about my appearance, but I don't like being hit in the face by insects, sand, rocks, trash, dirt, wood chips and the splatter from peoples windshield wipers. I don't want my face to be covered in the same layer of splattered grim that my bike is after every ride.

I don't feel that full face helmets shield me from the world. But then again, I glance down now and then and remind myself about life the universe and the pain of asphalt. If anything else, riding my bike makes me so hyper sensitive that it takes a bit of time to slow back down to normal speeds once I am home or at work.

My mortality may be quite close to me after observing the deep gouges raked across the back of my helmet from when I was hit by a deer last year and my tumble through the ditch over lots of sticks, branches, and rocks.

[green meenie]

Came off at considerable speed once; completely unexpected and after 15 years of riding without major incident - portion of the full face that covers the chin was gouged 1/4" and about 2" wide across that section. I'm pretty sure that impact would have removed a good podtion of my face from chin to nose had I been wearing any open face helmet. All the statistics and crash diagrams percentages in the world won't matter a hoot to you if you lose you face in an accident. Like others have said; wear what you want - I hope you don't regret your decision some day -I'm just glad I didn't

[ElChado87]

About the hearing, I think the difference that it makes it your perception of where the sound is coming from. Without a buffer you can hear where a sound is coming from no prob. For example, when you are in your car, say, stopped at a red light, and you hear a siren, if you open your windows it gives you a better idea as to where the sound is coming from.

When I hear a siren on my bike, I pop open the visor and look around, it gives me a better sense of "audio direction", if you will.

It's not so much that you hear less, just where the sound is coming from may be slightly skewed.

And as for not noticing a car passing you when in fullface, zoning out can affect your situational awareness. And maybe you get a slightly earlier signal with the slightly better peripheral vision an open face helmet offers.

I almost always leave me visor cracked a 1/4 inch. Lets the air flow better and lets me feel the wind on my face. I could never go back to open face. I even converted an open face diehard by letting him wear mine once.

And besides, I'd look like a goof with goggles and a shorty on my sporty lookin ride...

[pjstevens77]

About the hearing, I think the difference that it makes it your perception of where the sound is coming from. Without a buffer you can hear where a sound is coming from no prob. For example, when you are in your car, say, stopped at a red light, and you hear a siren, if you open your windows it gives you a better idea as to where the sound is coming from.

When I hear a siren on my bike, I pop open the visor and look around, it gives me a better sense of "audio direction", if you will.

It's not so much that you hear less, just where the sound is coming from may be slightly skewed.

And as for not noticing a car passing you when in fullface, zoning out can affect your situational awareness. And maybe you get a slightly earlier signal with the slightly better peripheral vision an open face helmet offers.

I almost always leave me visor cracked a 1/4 inch. Lets the air flow better and lets me feel the wind on my face. I could never go back to open face. I even converted an open face diehard by letting him wear mine once.

And besides, I'd look like a goof with goggles and a shorty on my sporty lookin ride...

I second that. I9 have both a half helemt and a full face. I LOVE my full face even though I am the only one in my area who wears on one a cruiser. I use the shorty for around town cruises and my full for cold temps and long rides. The full doesn't have an effect on my awareness, visibility or air supply. It is just something different for some and takes a mi9nor adjustment period. I actually regretted getting the shorty until I stared to get used it, so I change it up often.