For Full Face, and the "Harley Look" take a look at the "Biltwell Gringo"

Half Helmet, just look for a good DOT that looks good on you & fits.

A trick I use from the paintball world are the protective hard 1/2 face masks. Better for summer of course, but it's a hard plastic or metal screen that protects well from road debris and bugs hitting you at 70 MPH, as opposed to just a bandanna covering your face.

 

Every accident is different Annie. Just the beginning of last year I was splayed out on the road, bike destroyed, broken foot and hand, and my brand new cheap Gringo FF didn't have a single scratch. My head never hit the ground. But I still wear a helmet. (Usually) The older you get I think, heck, the more you actually want to wear one. It's pretty clear though, a good FF helmet protects the best, if protection is what you are looking for. Another thing I think about, is hearing. Dang wearing no helmet at all is really taxing on the ears, vs the little hearing protection that a FF has. Still, when I just want to ride, I grab my skid lid.

 

I use all 3. Full face, 1/2 & 3/4. Winter I use the full face. Rest of year I use the other 2 depending on how I feel.

 

Risk Vs reward. You want look or function.

During the summer in town I wear a 1/2 helmet. If I go on a run I'll wear a 3/4 (with or without a bubble shield). If it's really cold. Wet. Or windy then it's the full face.

 

I recommend at least a 3/4. You can't even use half helmets in MSF courses anymore because of a fatality in a BRC. If you're not familiar, you don't go above about 20 mph in that course.

I used to ride a Bell Star...my compromise between form and function now is a Bell Bullitt which is a more expensive variant of the Biltwell Gringo mentioned above.

I've been down twice and I won't ride anything but a FF.

 

Personal preference and I wear both but have been wearing FF more and more over the years. I still like the 1/2 when it's very hot though. These are my current, and favorites...

FF: Biltwell Gringo.

1/2: Akoury AK88.

 

From Cali - sensitive to cold. I have had full faces in over 7 years of riding but got a 3/4 recently. I will be going back to a FF sooner than later.

1. Protection from cold.
2. Protection from bugs (force = mass * acceleration)
3. Protection from rain (feels like thousands of needles)
4. Protection from more types of impacts
5. More functional with four eyes like me who wear glasses - eyes protected at night without sunglasses.

 

Do you like your face? Do you like having your face more than 38.6% of the time? You have a 61.4% chance of striking and damaging your head or face in a motorcycle accident when wearing a half helmet. A worse chance than flipping a coin. Even wearing a 3/4 helmet you're just slightly on the positive side of a coin toss for sustaining an unprotected head injury.



Also, it's just my opinion, but I think mushroom head half helmets look stupid and those wearing them generally look like tools with the rest of their getup. If I'm going to be wearing a helmet, I'm wearing the whole damn thing.

Those german soldier helmets do look cool.... however, not worth it to me. Some people keep a half helmet around for when they just need to shoot down to the store, but statistics show that a large % of vehicle accidents happen in close proximity to your home, in slower traffic. So that seems counter-intuitive. It takes me just a long to put on a half helmet as it does to put on a full-face helmet and I am perfectly comfortable in full-face helmets.

Full-face helmets will catch more wind, and if you wear mx style helmets with goggles, it's going to push your head back more and tire your neck out. Now with a face shield I have no issue with neck fatigue.

I wear concealed body armor most of the time too when I ride. It's come a long way, I don't even feel it in my gear. Even if it's just going to protect me a little bit more on the initial impact, why not?

The only pro I can see to wearing a half helmet is if you really like wind screaming past your ear at 80mph. Maybe some people like that, if you're already deaf I could see how that would be an enjoyable feeling.

Some halfy nitwit fanboys will tell you that full face helmets hinder your peripheral vision and that you're somehow less safe while wearing a full face helmet. Or that it somehow hinders your ability to hear and interpret sound. That's a load of bullshit coming from some wannabe macho limp dicks. I ride around in a full face with earplugs in and I still accurately track where sounds are coming from. Being observant while riding is where that safety comes from, that's not controlled by your helmet design. I have a full peripheral window that extends to the far edges of my vision (where you don't even perceive actual color by the way, look it up). You will lose a sliver of vision down below. So if a road gremelin starts crawling up the side of my leg to steal my wallet... yeah I won't see it. But I think most people wouldn't see that even with their half helmet. It's not like there's anything to see down there while riding. You want to look at your crotch or something? Weird.

But it's your freedom and your safety. If you choose to wear a half helmet and accept the risks, that is your choice and I could care less. I'm not going to go around telling people who wear half helmets that they should reconsider their choices. What I do have a problem with is the spreading of false information and putting the uninformed in unnecessary danger because someone told them full-face helmets aren't safe. A full-face helmet of good design will always and forever be safer than an equal quality half or three quarter helmet.

Don't assume you are going to crash. Assume someone else is going to MAKE you crash.

Retro full face helmets ftw.

/opinions

EDIT: Oh yeah, and don't forget golf ball sized pieces of gravel traveling at your teeth at 75mph. Or a 2x4.

I think most of the half-helmet junkies just putt putt around small towns at 25mph with no traffic to worry about and never feel they have need for a full-face. Which makes sense I guess.

Also yes, FF is a bit warmer, because you're retaining warmer air inside your helmet. Depending on the helmet design though, it might not be that much of a difference. If you've been anywhere that it's cold, you know that there isn't much difference between low temperatures unless you have some exposed skin. This effect is only increased while in motion with air moving warmth away from your skin even quicker. So if you say... wear sunglasses in a full-face helmet, you're going to circulate air through the front of the helmet, but a face shield will help prevent some of that.

 

Man, your mind would be blown down here in FL. Helmets are not mandated and people just don't care. Picture a guy on rice doing 120 with sunglasses... Or old dudes with bandannas (and applicable pirate attire and sleeveless t-shirts) on cruisers. Lets not forget shorts and sandels/flip flops crew. Stunning.



Being from Maryland, this stuff blows my mind every time I see it. But i violate ATGATT too.

 

I know someone who just went down recently...broken ribs and shoulder, and bad road rash. I know he never wears a helmet, but no injuries to his head or face....go figure. I always wear a helment...1/2 helmet on short runs to the store so I can lock it up in my saddlebag (3/4 does not fit in my bags). On runs to work and crusing, wear a Shoei J-cruise...safe, quiet, light, cool, and comfortable, but also pricey as are all Shoei helmets.