Let's talk helmets.

[KrAsH]

Originally Posted by wes

The airbag is a good point but with a harness and proper position you are not likely to hit it anyway. My car does not have airbags so that is not a worry for me, but certainly relevant to the discussion.

I want my face protected period. Lets face it, you wear a helmet in the event that you crash, but the reality is that a full face helmet will protect you from much more than that. At speed many things enter the car. Bugs, road debris, not to mention the possibility of glass if you do get in a wreck. I want a full face with a shield to protect from all of that. ALso if you have ever gone off track or been in a car that has gone off track without a shield you will get a face full of crap. I do not want to be temporarily blinded while trying to control a car. If you wear an open face at least wear a pair of goggles.... Again this is just my opinion and why I wear a full face with a shield.

Wes, I just reread this and I think it makes sense. I would also add that a closed helmet also provides better fire protection, should an issue occur. I've seen people with nomex suits, boots and gloves (even socks and underwear!) and an open face helmet. Beats the purpose IMO. I mean, what good is it if you get burns nowhere, except on the face...

[Calum]

Originally Posted by VVLtrain

Anyone got a fat noggin?

Yep, I do. I use a Bieffe GR.1500 XLarge (its an older model). It fits my large head just fine, and I wear glasses too (its a full face helmet). Bieffe seems to do a good job with the larger head sizes. They've got an XXL if your head is freak of nature huge too.

[SE-R_TECH]

Bieffe FTW. I have a rather large head and my Bieffe was by far the most comfortable. Not to expensive i think i paid around $500

[Cliff]

EDIT:

Nevermind, picture was too big

[BenFenner]

I'm bring this one back from the dead.

While driving around on the track with my full faced helmet I found the gauges extremely hard to read. I had to actually move my head down to look at the tach, and then move it back up to look at the track. Normally I'll just move my eyes down to glance quickly at the gauges.
This was not something I'd expected. Thinking about it now, moving my seat-back might have helped some but as it stood the chin protection was directly blocking my factory gauges.

I'll be heavily considering an open face helmet for the future.

[wes]

Originally Posted by BenFenner

I'm bring this one back from the dead.

While driving around on the track with my full faced helmet I found the gauges extremely hard to read. I had to actually move my head down to look at the tach, and then move it back up to look at the track. Normally I'll just move my eyes down to glance quickly at the gauges.
This was not something I'd expected. Thinking about it now, moving my seat-back might have helped some but as it stood the chin protection was directly blocking my factory gauges.

I'll be heavily considering an open face helmet for the future.

What helmet are you using? Consider the size of the eyeport. Many helmets have notoriously narrower eyeports than others, this will likely solve your problem. I am currently using an Impact Super Sport and have not had that issue, granted it also depends on driving position.

I just am not a fan of open faced helmets at track days. Autocross sure, no problem at most venue's, but track days too much can go wrong to not have that protection.

[BenFenner]

I'll find out what type of helmet I have. I'm pretty it's mainly the sitting position though. I'm short/compact and with the seat very close and seat back up quite a bit my chest is still an easy 10" away from the steering wheel however the angle to the dash in pretty extreme.

[SoloSol]

I use a gforce open face for autox and HPDE instructing. I have the chatterbox communicator in mine. For that it great. Easy to use and if I am a little hard on it getting in and out of students cars thats okay with me. As soon as the SA2010 helmets come out I am goin go to pick up an ARAI Gp5-w. This has the wide eye port. I tried the regular Gp5 and I have trouble seeing my guages as well. Big eyeport solved that Still cant see nearly as well at my open face. Im going to keep it for autoxes.