Buying Guide for Snowboards
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Snowboard Helmet Shopping Tips
A snowboard helmet should be your go-to piece of protective gear. All it takes is one good smack to your dome to ruin your day. While snowboarding helmets won’t completely protect you against every accident, they will add to your safety. Even if it makes you 1% safer, isn’t it worth the purchase? We think so. But the fact is, a snowboard helmet will definitely improve your safety by more than 1%. That is, if you continue to ride at your normal ability/pace. Snowboard helmets should NEVER be viewed as a foolproof solution to head bangers. Putting on a snowboard helmet won’t instantly turn you into Superman.
Types of Snowboarding Helmets
Full-Shell : Full-Shell snowboard helmets offer the most protection. They are armored with coverage for your ears and jaw-line. Full-Shell helmets are best for racers or riders that get more extreme in the park or backcountry.
Half-Shell : Half-Shell snowboard helmets are the most common types of helmets. They offer protection for your skull, but leave the ear and jaw-line open. Instead of armor for these areas, half-shell helmets come with padding for comfort and warmth. Half-shells are good for riders who find full-shells too uncomfortable. Half-shell helmets also have the benefit of being able to remove the ear pads for some cool spring laps. Many half-shell snowboarding helmets also give you the option to replace the ear pads with audio pads.
Full-Face : Full-Face snowboard helmets are the ultimate in head protection. Full-face helmets are basically motocross helmets for snow. They are excellent for the backcountry enthusiast.
Snowboard Helmet Construction Types
Hard-Shell : Hard-Shell snowboard helmets are made with a durable, tough, pre-molded ABS shell that is glued to a pre-molded liner. Hard-shell construction is a feature found typically in your lower price ranges. They offer excellent protection for your money, but tend to be heavier than the higher-end helmets. Due to nature of hard-shell construction, venting capabilities is limited.
In-Mold : In-Mold snowboard helmets feature a construction process that molds the impact-absorbing EPS layer with the outer shell. This is a permanent fusion between shell and impact layer. In-mold constructed snowboarding helmets are usually lighter and offer more ventilation options. In-mold helmets are normally found in the mid to higher end of the price range.
Snowboard Helmet Certification Standards
There are two types of certifications that you’ll find on snowboarding helmets: CE EN 1077 and ASTM F 2040. Central European Norm (CE EN 1077) is the easiest for manufacturers to qualify for. So you should at minimum look for this certification in your hunt for snowboarding helmets. American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM F 2040) is a much stricter method of impact testing and is thus harder for manufacturers to qualify for. If you want the most protection, we strongly suggest you pick one of our snowboarding helmets that meets both standards. Although a helmet that only qualifies for ASTM F 2040 is perfectly fine.
Now that you have more information on snowboarding helmets, start your hunt and remember to always ride responsibly. Do not view snowboarding helmets as a preventative measure. View them as a precautionary tool.
