You wouldn't consider biking down a busy road without a helmet, so why climb without one? Whether sport climbing at your local crag or venturing up a 15-pitch alpine route, helmets offer critical protection from falling rock or ice as well as from a blow to the head during a fall.
They're lighter than ever! Climbing magazine presents the newest and best climbing helmets of 2012.
Petzl’s ELIA helmet is female-rock-climber-specific, with a ponytail friendly, easy-to-adjust headband, and three tasteful color combinations to complement your feminine mystique.
The Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, is madness this time of year—the reason is the summer Outdoor Retailer Trade Show, a massive gathering (over 20,000 people, I've been told) of outdoor gear and apparel companies, retailers, media, and athletes.
For 2009, the venerable UK manufacturer Wild Country (wildcountry.co.uk) brings multi-functionality to the rock climbing helmet department with its new Alpine Shield. Only 9.2 oz in pared-down rock mode, this vented, EPS-shell/EVA-foam helmet wears light and cool while cragging or multi-pitch climbing.
The bike-style Simond Bumper is a good choice for the winter ice cragger. Those industrial-chic Frankenstein bolts on the exterior aren’t for show, they’re for the face shield. The Bumper fit most testers well, but the fit system is not permanently attached to the rear of the helmet, but instead is pasted on via hook-and-loop patches.
For those who can’t bear to part with their old fiberglass Joe Brown, the HB Dyneema is for you. It’s almost the same shape, but weighs significantly less than its older sibling, thanks to its unique and visually stunning Dyneema (known in the United States as Spectra) and carbon fiber construction. That construction also makes it incredibly stout; it survived 10 repetitions of the UIAA/CE penetration test.
The shop salesperson puffs up and says, “Oh, yeah, that climbing helmet’s UIAA and CE-certified.” You think, ‘That’s nice, but what does that mean? Fortunately for our skulls, the certifications involve a battery of elaborate trials that test a helmet’s impact absorption and penetration resistance.
The C.A.M.P. Silver Star rock climbing helmet was a universal test favorite for comfort and adjustability. The suspension is well padded, and treated with an anti-bacterial formula that helps keep down the skank factor. The sliding-track adjustment system has inch and centimeter scales that display the circumference of the current adjustment, so when you switch back and forth from hat to bare head, it’s easy to re-size correctly. The helmet’s headlamp clips are very secure, but still allowed for easy headlamp attachment and removal. The Silver Star’s singular drawback is its removable suspension, which sometimes can be jolted loose. Safety is not compromised as a result, but fit can be.
From trail runners and a crashpad to biners and helmets, a roundup of some of the best rock climbing and ice climbing gear.
With the bevy of stylish and functional models on the market now, you’ll be able to find a rock climbing helmet that fits well and makes you look like a superstar.
Like the Edelrid Ultralight, the Petzl Ecrin has been a staple in the suspended-shell helmet market for many years, and for good reason — it’s very durable, well ventilated, and easy to adjust.
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