gordo993

I am planning on doing my first DE @ Gateway International Raceway in St. Louuis this fall and I need to buy a helmet. I would prefer an open faced for comfort. Opinions/ideas/thoughts?

Wreck Me Otter

I vote for safety first over the minor difference in comfort. If you buy a full face helmet and really don't like the shield down, you still have the option of raising the visor anyway.

Bill L Seifert

I would get a SA2000 Full Face helmet. You don't really nead one for DE, but a lot of people get excited after doing a DE, and decide to race. If you get a race helmet first, that is one less thing you will need to buy, to race. Have fun.

Bill Seifert

1987 944S Race Car

RJay

Ditto. And if your planning on driving your 993, then possibly doubly so. I recall havng heard second hand of airbag deployments with drivers having open helmets who suffered broken jaws with an open helmet. Dunno if its true, but why bother testing the theory?

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Full face all the way. Don't get an SA2000 if the SA 2005's are available. IIRC, my PCA region is retiring SA95's now because the SA05s are available. You get ten years of service then throw away a perfectly good helmet.

I have heard folks print out updated decals and "update" their helmet. At first I thought this was the pinnacle of cheapness, then I realized the helmet has not "decayed" since last year and the difference is $350 with little to no gain. I've always said not to skimp on your headgear, but this latest requirement seems excessive. To each his own, I suppose.

Geo

This is utterly insane (forget cheapness). It's also quite illegal in any organization. In any racing organization I'd be quite surprised if someone didn't get a HUGE suspension and fine for getting caught doing something so stupid.

As to the decay, I always thought replacing a helmet every 5 years was silly until I replaced my slightly used 7 year old helmet with another of the same brand and model. When I got the new one I realized just how bloody dangerous the old one was. Pretty much sent a shiver down my spine.

Oh, and Snell 05 ratings don't come out until October.

Doug Donsbach

I see dead people.

Geo

Gordo, if you value your face, get a full-face helmet. Just watch some sled testing videos and that should convince you. Even drivers strapped TIGHTLY into race cars have done face plants on the steering wheel such is the stretch of the human body and the safety belts. It truly surprises me that Snell even still certifies "smushed-face" helmets. I understand the temptations for many reasons, but they are not worth it.

Geo

We have a winner folks!

Doug Donsbach

Thanks. George. Seriously, only idiots wear open-faced helmets.

Don't be an idiot.

944Fest (aka Dan P)

Call it stupid if you want. I don't agree. I know folks who bought $400 SA95s in 2000, just before the new ones came out. They did one DE a year for 4 years, the helmet is like new, and yet they are looking at $400 bill to stay current. It is NOT utterly insane. Many track events (Trackquest for one) are fine with M buckets. How safe is that? Are you saying this SA95 was perfectly safe last October but is "utterly insane" to go out with this Febuary? No, I don't falsify helmet documents and it is cheating in an area not worthy of cutting corners, but "Insane"? No, it think not. Even if there is a negative impact, who is the victim? darwinsim at work.

I'll agree a 10 year old well worn brain bucket should be shelved. There is no real good way to document use and decay in the lining, and PCA has developed a system to control this. I understand the means to the end. But telling someone with an "as-new" 5 year old lid to retire it is extreme, and I wouldn't blame them for fudging the labels to get the designed life out of the DE accessory. Club Racers use them a lot more, and are probably more likely to "need" the protection, I can see investing in a new one every 5 years if not 10. I'm talking about the other extreme.

Also, the PCA rule book for 05 still requires a SA95 lid, So I'm guessing the DE requirements will be the same.

Anir

Gordo,

I'm a Mohs (skin cancer) surgeon, but did spend a year in trauma surgery. Please trust me when I suggest that you want as much protection as you can get - i.e. a full-faced helmet is the way to go. Also, give some serious consideration to a Hans device, or something similar.

You can never spend too much money on good safety equipment, including IMHO proper brake pads and tires.

vegasgolf98

I suggest the Stand 21 Double Duty, It is a closed face helmet, but with large eye openings. and converts to a full face rather easily. Most of the ALMS drivers use them. Very comfortable and much safer than an open face.

sweanders

It is interesting to read such strong recommendations for full face helmets to save your face when noboby has adressed the extra weight in a full face helmet. The extra weight might be the extra help to snap your neck if not using a Hans device.

In Sweden it is not allowed to use a full face helmet unless you have a car without a roof, there is a weight limitation of 800 grams for an open face helmet. I use a Peltor G6 open face that weighs 800 gram, there is a full face version called G10 which weighs 1100 grams which is quite a difference.

I would prefer a Hans device and a full face helmet but when picking the lesser of two evils I'll go with the lighter open face helmet. I'd rather have a busted face than a broken neck..

seege

RJay
I think you might have it backwards. The closed face helmets can break a jaw on airbag deployment.

I myself use a full face helmet with the airbag because it just seems like it would be safer.