The Outlaw AX-30030 has benn getting some attention on these forums and is D.O.T.

 

Very well said.

 

i hate that saying. i couldn't afford a helmet for what i feel my head is worth, however, that doesn't mean i wear a helmet every time (most times, most of my time is in a helmet state, but not all), or that i have to wear the 10 bazillion dollar full face.

fact of the matter is you don't have to spend a lot to get a dot compliant (dot doesn't approve) helmet. and you can spend a buttload and still die getting out of bed in the morning. when it's your time, it's your time. (doesn't mean i take unnecessary risks to try and hasten it though)

but, the biggest thing is, the op didn't ask for opinions on dots vs beanies, etc. he wanted to know where a good place to get one was. and to that, i don't know, i can't afford the ticket so i don't take the chance (friggin govt.....)

 

Not trying to preach, but thee are a lot of helmets out there that are both comfortable and offer protection in the event of a mishap. Let's face it, nothing is perfect, but the odds that a novelty helmet will do anything is hit or miss. I've seen some very good novelty helmets, and some really bad ones. Do you really think ordering one over the inet is going to be the best approach for getting a helmet which has no standard applied?

The reason helmets get mushroomy is because of the material that goes into making the shell. If the shell is cheap, then in order to get DOT cert, the liner must be larger. Because most of the non dot stuff is made from cheap, and has nothing in the way of a liner, it's not going to do much. You can get something really good in the way of a DOT helmet, that approaches the novelty helmets in size, but they are going to be a bit more pricey.

Some of the best helmets out there are as good as some of the most expensive ones for around 50 beans. Daytona, Skid Lid, Nov Dot, XTS naked, Outlaw, and the list goes on. If you pay in the price range for a DOT what you pay for a novelty bucket, the helmet will be larger. Depending on the maker, not by much in a lot of cases. A lot depends on YOUR criteria for a helmet, but for a decent one, DOT or non DOT, you're going to pay about the same.

The Outlaw 30010-30 series is supposed to be the lightest, smallest DOT bucket available, and only about 70 dollars. They say it's DOT approved, but then, so did ACC a few years ago, and their helmets were something in the 200 dollar range. Then they lost their DOT approval. Seems that fiber, regardless of the manufacturer, has issues when it comes to penetration, that some of the other materials don't have. Impossible to say what the future will hold as far as helmets are concerned, but you can get a decent DOT helmet in the sub 50 dollar range that won't be that heavy, or uncomfortable, and give you decent protection based on years worth of testing and retesting.

IF you still have your heart set on a novelty bucket, I'd still check out some of the better known manufacturers, because, at least in my book, even though it isn't DOT, it's still going to be built with at least some kind of quality standard. Plus, if you have issues with it, you can always return it to the manufacturer for refund/replacement. Lots of people have gone down with helmets that are non DOT and said that they did the tirck. The trick is, even though they were non DOT, they were still quality.

So, if you're going to go through the hassle of wearing a bucket, DOT or not, at least make sure that's it's worth wearing.