Open face helmets question

[jdb]

Sorry to hear of Jethro's get off.

But really this euolgy towards open facers? In my view it is folly not to wear a good full face helmet when trajecting along at high speed. I'll say no more then...

[Furry John]

Yeah,

Perhaps it's a good idea to say no more, there are many riders on here who have been "doing it" for a long while now (personally some 50+ years) and have never found the need for a full face helmet yet. Pehaps occasionally, when it has been raining for the last 150+ miles and you are getting tired of the rain down your neck and the sting on your exposed bits of face, you think they might offer something, but nah, the rain stops, you carry on and all is well with the world again. If you set off with the aim of protecting yourself from harm in an accident and therefore need to cover up as much as possible you are only fooling yourself, your accident won't be like anyone elses, full face or not you cannot ensure that you won't get hurt, avoid, if you can, the accident, don't prepare for it as though it is inevitable. As it happens Jethro hit the back of his head when wearing a Davida open face helmet, it would have made no difference what the front of the helmet was shaped like. The old bugger was up and drinking pints some 30mins ago even though he was wearing an Open Face helmet so sweeping generalisations don't really help anyone other than give the person uttering them a false sense of security.

Fuzzy John

[robG]

 Exactly John . At the end of the day it's personal choice .

 Rob .

[beeman]

Sorry to here about jethros "incident" glad all is well.
I know this thread has gone on a bit but I can't help thinking that 25years ago it wouldn't be open or full faced helmets but more a helmet or no helmet.
Cant help thinking that without a helmet jethro might have had a bigger headache at the very least.
ride safe beeman

[guest18]

Hmmm, anyone who tries to simplify it to black and white is missing the point imho...

If a full face restricts your awareness of your surroundings or gives you the confidence to ride less cautiously and you then have a crash where the helmet saves your face was it a better choice than an open face?

Nothing is clear cut, and as was alluded (sp?) to earlier there are concerns that full face lids may be causing more serious injuries due to their design... we are unlikely to know soon (maybe ever) whether that is the case due to the thankfully relatively low numbers of fatalities, but it is food for thought isn't it.

Maybe the best option is an open face with a full face covering visor?

Also you have to consider the cost, inconvenience/convenience, comfort levels, and dare I say it, style of various designs and relate them to the potential benefits in an impact or impacts which may (hopefully) never happen... or could happen 20 yards from my front door tomorrow morning 

I *know* I have to wear one for about an hour and a half every working day, and for extended periods outside of the commute, I *know* it will be subject to temperatures from below freezing to uncomfortably hot, I *know* any lid I will buy will have passed an arbitary test to prove it reaches a minimum standard, above that? Who knows  It's all best guess.

I would far rather wear a good quality open face that a cheap s**t full face, and a rubbish helmet that fits is better imho than the best quality that doesn't fit... yet still I see people buying second hand lids (even just the hygiene issues!! (looks for Julians barf smiley)) bizarre 

Jethros' took a thump and worked, bonus, glad to hear it worked and hope he never has to test one again, Davida just came up a notch in my own personal opinions.  Still don't know what sort of lid I'm going to replace mine with though