Helmet Choices w/visor or without

[piperpilotduane]

I am going to buy a full face helmet this week for Drivers Ed. I have two models in mind.
One has the built in face shield (G-Force 950) the other does not have one at all, but has a tinted visor above your eyes (Simpson LX Plus).
I will be driving a closed car. Any Suggestions?

[JoeF]

Piper,
The advice that I was given was to buy a full face helmet. If this full face helmet had a face shield, I probably would not use the shield and leave it up or end up removing it. The person I got the advice from told me he uses a full face helmet with sunglasses because it allows for better ventilation. He told me that a face shield was too hot.
I have not bought a helmet yet but will do so soon. Let me know what helmets you are considering.

[magilla]

I bought a full face helmet with just the tinted visor. I am only using it for AutoX right now (in a Coupe), so it is great. It isn't too hot, and I can always use glasses or goggles if I need it for DE or other events.

I have no regrets about my choice.

magilla

[jluetjen]

I've driven both open and closed cars and I used the same full face helmet. In a closed car I'll generally crack open visor during race situations. I figure having a visor in front of my eyes is a good thing if a piece of debris hits or goes through the windshield. It's one of those things where you'll never know that you needed it until its too late. If my memory is correct, in both the cases of Ayrton Senna and Mark Donohue, the intrusion of some debris through the eye hole of their helmet contributed to their deaths. While having a visor is not 100 percent effective (as these two cases show), not having a visor is 100 percent ineffective.

Some people like the open helmets because they feel that they are cooler in a hot car. The last car that I raced was a front engine sedan with the exhaust routed through the tunnel and to be perfectly honest I never noticed the heat when I was driving. I've found that 911's are much cooler since all of the heat generating apparatus (such as the engine) are behind the driver.

So I subscribe to the rule that says "Buy the most protection that you can afford."

[racemor]

The best thing to do is try them on first if possible. Helmets fit differently based on manufacturer. And as usual, you get what you pay for. My OPM is much more comfortable than the Simpson I used to wear. Also make sure that you really want to be stuck with the semi-open face helmet. I love my OPM (touring model with chin bar but not a full visor) for SCCA enduros in an enclosed car. But when I go to the kart track I have to break out old full face motorcycle helmet.

If you are worried about tinted vs. clear, most good full face helmets are made with replaceable shields so that you can use tinted or clear.

tm

[addictionMS]

one other thing to consider, if you really get into racing, most races require a full face with shield closed for the refueler, so if you are into enduros where refueling is needed you need to be in full nomex and full face and shield.

[Superman]

Even in my motorcycle days, I hated the face shields. They do not enhance visibility, they fog up easily and they make me feel separated from my environment. I have always used a visor though. They shade my eyes, provide just a tiny bit more protection and do not get in the way. I wear glasses. Eye protecton is important, particularly on a MC or in an open car.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Whilst riding a motorcycle I've been nailed in the face, forehead, chin, etc. regions by pebbles, road trash, nuts, bolts, and large arthropods (that lobster was a doozy) more times than I can count.

If I didn't wear a full-face with a shield I'd look like the lunar surface by now, and probably be completely blind to boot.

Did I mention I wear a full-face helmet even when it's 115 degrees in the shade? In the desert?

I haven't tracked the 911 yet, but when I do, rest assured it will be after I buy a full-face auto helmet with a shield. In good conscience I can only recommend that you do the same.

You have the added benefit of not needing sunglasses and a reduced risk of getting dirt/crud/dust/cathair blown into your eyes.

Just MHO, which I will continue to shout from the hilltops.

[Z-man]

For autox and DE, I have a Shoei RJ-Air, which is an open faced helmet. I prefer the open face helmet for ease of putting on, since I do wear glasses. It's M-95 rated, so I'll need an SA-2000 replacment soon...thinking the G-Force ones Racerwholesale sells for around $150.00.

I've been a part of the full face vs. open face helmet debates from the past. I like the open face ones, (as long as I'm not in an open car or motorcycle), and hopefully the rest of my safety gear will keep me in place if there is an accident.

Plus with an open face helmet, I can look like those cool rally guys. (As seen in the WRC video that was circulating on the web a couple of weeks ago...)

Just my $0.42.
-Zoltan.

[makaio]

I just recieved a G-force 950 for an early X-mas present, from my mother & father. Very nice helmet! Very light too!

I used it this last Sunday for a time trial. Vast improvemnet over my old Bell Moto-6 (motocross style helmet)

[old_skul]

I have a Simpson Super Voyager SA. I keep the visor wide open when I wear it, for ventilation. Unless I'm in an open car, of course - then it was mandatory down!

But the thing I was told is that you want to leave that visor attached, even if you leave it up all the time. In the event of a accident, you want to be able to put that puppy DOWN in case there's a fire. I can deal with burns on my bod, but I'd prefer to keep my gorgeous looks, if you know what I mean.

[Superman]

Yes indeed, I have killed many flying creatures with my face. A bumble bee at 70 mph feels like a Randy Johnson fastball. and I'd agree that the shields are safer. I still hate them.

[Efrain68912]

I use a Bell Sport II - my vintage racecar is a roadster with now windshield, so a full face helmet is mandatory. The nice thing about my Sport II is that it has vents in the helmet that allow air to circulate. The guys that race 911s in my club generally have full face helmets, they just leave the visors up. One other thing I would definetely recommend is a neck brace - I use one religiously. Makes things much safer.

Efrain
68 912 Coupe

[campbellcj]

I have a Bell full-face helmet that is visorless. I like it. When I used to ride motorcycles, having the visor down always made me feel like I had a plastic bag over my head (not far from the truth).

I don't drive an open-top car so the helmet + sunglasses/goggles is fine in terms of wind & bug protection.

The main reason to use a visor in a closed car is that it does give you some tiny degree of additional fire protection & keeps the smoke out of your eyes a tad longer so you have clearer vision. Of course wearing a nomex balacava helps too.

Not that I actually plan to be in a fire, or to stay in the car for long if I am, but it does happen...

[tmctguer]

i have a bell full face helmet with a non-tinted shield and no visor.

i used to race with the shield open, until my windshield got splashed with gasoline from my own car (i overfilled the tank.......duh !). however, the lesson to me was that you never know when debri will come flying. if that would have been my shattering windshield, i would have have a face full of glass. since that incident, i close my face shield ALMOST all the way. i leave a small gap for air circulation. it is a ***** at willow springs when it is 110 degrees outside, but i choose to keep things closed.

i don't use a tinted face shield for personal reasons. i never have worn sunglasses and probaby never will. my face shield feels more natural to me in a non-tinted mode.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Super--

You're right, they are a pain, but I've learned to live with it. I also happen to suffer from Dry Eye Syndrome (notice how everything the MDs can't figure out is a syndrome, these days?) so the less wind in my eyes the better off I am. Also, the chief landscaping technique out here is to cover your yard with lots of little pebbles, which always seem to end up in the street.

Even a full face with a shield won't do it all--I was once doing about 65 on my scoot (in heavy traffic) and nailed a bee with my sternum. The thing shot straight up, inside my helmet, and came to a (very) dead stop right on top of my chinbar. It stayed there, leaning against the shield. Chances are he was dead but I couldn't see him very well and I wasn't going to ask. With visions of repeated facial stinging (most bees are Africanized out here) I quickly pulled over and dropped him out, but I don't mind telling you I was quite perturbed. Never mind the bruise on my sternum!

Of course, with my luck I'm surprised he didn't rebound off my chest and straight up my nose.

[jluetjen]

Just to revisit something that Efrain68912 said about using a neck brace. I don't disagree that a neck brace is most likely better then nothing. I've used one myself. Since this spring I've started to rethink the safety investment in neck protection, especially for track use and all-out racing. The Hans people have made great progress in improving the price and availability of their product.

http://www.hansdevice.com/index.htm

Given the $1300 price versus $1300 spent in other areas of the car, I'm starting to think that it is not a bad investment given the protection that it provides.

Just food for thought. I hate to hear about race drivers dying.

[Z-man]

Regarding the neck brace/collar: If I wore one with an open face helment, will it function properly? Probably not as much stability as if it were mated to a full-face helmet, but would it work?

Thanks,
-Zoltan.

[jluetjen]

Neck brace with an open helmet?

Hmmmm, I haven't tested it personally but I could just picture getting choked by the thing in a front end collision when the head snaps forward.