Full Faced Helmet?

[Sombeech]

It's time to buy a new helmet for my GoPro helmet cam, I'm wondering if I should go Full Faced or not. Other than the visor maybe getting in the way of some footage, I could remove that, but how many of you guys wear them?

I've held off on getting one but this one on Amazon is under $50
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000BPD9KC

[cachehiker]

Any trail that requires body armor or a full faced helmet involves too great of a risk for my all too rapidly aging bones.

[fourtycal]

I don't wear full face for most trails but for some select trails for sure. Deer valley definitely, Wasatch crest 50/50, Mueller no way, the three fingers of death... from now on

[Deathcricket]

I voted no. The chance of you getting road rash on your face is minimal. A crash that bad and you got way worse problems. A full face mask wouldn't have helped Mark much right? And it would be so uncomfortable in warmer weather. You'd literally bake in that thing. Now if you were using it for a motorcycle, speedbike, a snowmobile, or whatever, then heck ya. My bro was driving his snowmobile last weekend and tore up his face pretty good on a little branch overhanging the trail that snagged the exposed part of his face. but in biking the risk vs uncomfort is not worth it IMO. I would go full body armor before I went full face mask.

[accadacca]

Only on bikes where I twist the throttle...

[Sombeech]

I'm basically trying to build up some armor. After Mark's crash I had a little ultimatum. Either settle down or start buying armor. I went with the latter.

I'll be looking for some chest, shoulder and arm stuff too.

[greyhair biker]

Always good to have some body armor I've had a full face helmet for years but the last two years I havent used it, mainly because I've been working back up to needing it. full chest & spine protectors are great and really, knee/shin and arm/elbow guards are a must. They've saved my bacon on many occasions.

[REDFOX]

Fullface if you are going to do downhill racing. The helmet that you have been using offers very good protection. The only drawback is that they don't offer as many vents for cooling in comparison to some of the more traditional bike helmets. Shin/knee pads and arm/elbow pads will make a huge difference. I got out of control during a race at Brianhead. I hit one of the pvc pipes that were part of a boundry fence. I hit the pipe so hard with my shin, that I thought I had broken it. There was rebar inside of the pvc. If I didn't have the pads on, I surely would have needed medical attention. If you ever require stitches one time, that would pay for the pads. I wore a chest protecter once. They are too bulky and hot unless you are only riding downhill. My camelbak is specifically designed for carrying pads uphill, just so that I can bomb the downhills. Most of the bike rides that I do now, I don't even bring the pads. As for myself, I seem to have incredible courage when I am wearing some or all of this gear. You almost feel invincible, especially after you crash and realize that you are just fine. I feel like I have become a better rider now for not wearing pads. I am so afraid of crashing that, I make sure that I am fully committed and more precise with how I ride always looking to where I want to be, rather than what is right in front of my tire. I am very picky about tires and pressure along with shoes and pedals. These things can really affect the outcome of a ride.

[asdf]

beech... I have an extra pair of impact shorts with removable pads I am willing to part with.
brand new - never used - size 40 / XL
http://www.eternalsnow.com/2008-red-...rce=googlebase

I only use my full face when doing DH .. lift accessed for shuttle, for anything else I use my pro-tec and mouth guard.

A few years ago my buddy (who is anything but a noob) took at 2mph spill over his bars. It was no big deal, just a little roll and he sat up immediately but the bike was still in motion and the tail end spun around and he took a derailleur right in the teeth. Full face would of saved his a trip to the hospital, stitches in this lip, and some serious dental bills.

[live2ride]

as long as you don't plan on doing any climbing with a full face and all that body armour on I say go for it for the down hill, better to be safe than sorry. I have a buddy that I ride with get all paranoid because a co-worker of his crashed on his bike and lost a tooth so he went out and bought a full face helmet to wear on every ride? All he does is bitch about the heat and looks like a dumb ass when climbing an all day trip with a super light bike he had to have and a big heavy helmet to weigh him down. make sure you hit up http://chainlove.com and bonktown.com, they always have killer deals on armour and full face helmets.

[accadacca]

All he does is bitch about the heat and looks like a dumb ass when climbing

[greyhair biker]

Agreed about wearing it full time. I never wear it while climbing uphill but it does make you feel somewhat invincible downhill. The only thing I don't like about it is that space you can't see below your direct line-of-site ie; the bike. you just have to concentrate on the trail and be able to see your front tire from time to time.

[MtnBkr]

Get a helmet with a chicken perch then mount the GoPro on the chicken for the steadycam effect the chicken's head will bring

[live2ride]

pretty sweet video, I had no ideas chickens noggins were like that.

[SprungShoulders]

Prioritize your protection based on what's most important to living a "normal" (whatever that is) life post-crash, and then purchase accordingly. Don't skimp.

IMHO, there are two things that you should protect before anything else: your head, and your neck.

When riding lift-served - in or out of a race environment - I always wear a FF and Leatt. Trail riding, if I know I'm going to be going fast, jumping, and/or dropping, I wear an open-faced XC lid on the pedal to the top, packing the Leatt and FF (I've found Dakine packs are very well suited to carrying a FF and brace easily). Before heading down, I put on the Leatt and FF, stow the XC lid, and have fun.

Leatt's take a couple rides to get optimally setup and used to but, after that, they're practically invisible.

Cervical and thoracic spinal protection is largely unnecessary if you're wearing a water pack with the Leatt/FF combo. Lumbar and tail-bone protection can be beneficial, accomplished by one of the several "bomber shorts" made by various companies.

I tend to always wear protection for the knee and elbow joints, as well. Though not as critical as head/neck/spine, a nasty knee or elbow hit can be painful, as well as cause long-term mobility and/or activity-related problems. There are a number of unobtrusive "soft" or semi-soft knee and elbow guards available these days. If you don't like full hard shells, you can skip shin and forearm protection and go with a knee and/or elbow gasket.

Torso vests aren't critical, IMHO. If you do run one, look for good ribcage (front and back) and sternum protection (below the Leatt chest plate), and make sure it's configurable enough to allow proper setup of the Leatt.

Chances are you won't need the protection 99% of the time. The 1% you DO need it, you and your medical insurance provider will both be very glad you had it on.

If I could choose only two pieces of protection to wear while riding fast it would be the Leatt and FF. A couple years ago while DH'ing I speared a tree at extremely (for a 40+ oldster, at least) high speed, knocking myself out for 30+ minutes, leaving a (to this day) 3+ hour gap in my memory, and causing ~8 months worth of constant pain from cervical spinal damage...the kind a Leatt most likely would have prevented. Total medical cost including several MRI's, meds, rehab, etc: $4K+. $500 for a Leatt and good (minimum ASTM F1952-10 "DH Standard" spec) FF is cheap insurance IMHO.

Expect to have to do a little trial-and-error to find protection that fits you, and is comfortable. If it's not comfortable you won't wear it, and if you aren't wearing it, then it's of little good. Also note that FF helmets worn alone can increase the potential for neck injury in OTB-type, auger-in crashes, especially as speeds increase. The chinbar can catch or dig in, torquing your neck violently.

YMMV. But when it comes to doing all you can to NOT end up in a wheelchair and/or coloring by numbers for the rest of your life, don't screw around. "Coulda", "shoulda", and/or "woulda" will be ring very hollow while staring out a window, watching your buddies ride by....

Good luck.