There's a universal rule (I don't know the name) that states; "If you are prepared for the worst case scenario it rarely happens. If you're unprepared, you'll likely run into the worst case". My own experience; If I carry snow chains for my truck I rarely need them. As soon as they're sitting in the garage, I find myself stuck in a drift.
I was buying a helmet to race carts, went to the local motorcycle shop to try them on, I asked the salesman which he recommends, he said "Do you have a $600 head or a $1200 head?" I still have the $1200 helmet and I still love it.
Two things I'd also mention: 1. A lighter helmet is a comfort thing but also will be safer in an impact, as mentioned in a collision the extra weight of a helmet puts more strain on your neck and a lighter helmet will mean less strain. The differences are small but they are amplified by increased speeds. 2. Balaclavas may also be a good idea for comfort. I am way more comfortable with a balaclava with my helmet & HANS, it's more comfortable around my neck for the HANS and when you start getting hot then the balaclava can be much better for wicking sweat away. Usually with my track days I'm doing 20-40 minute sessions with 20-40 minute breaks between, again having multiple balaclavas means I can put a fresh one on which is dry and my helmet stays much drier which is way more comfortable and also safer, sweat and fire can cause burns even if there's fire proof materials. A balaclava will also offer sacrificial protection to the padding inside your helmet if you have facial hair.
A balaclava will also prolong the lifespan of a helmet. Sweat will make the padding and inner foam lose its properties over time. Some say, at least for MC helmets, that you should replace it after five years. It of course depends on how much you sweat and us it.
I was actually buying 2 helmets in Atomic this year - very professional service. I was told everything on how to fit it correctly and now my wife and me have very comfortable helmets!
Love the quality and diversity of your content Misha. I can only applaud and encourage you to keep this constant evolution. I’ve never driven on a race track but I just love learning and you really give us a lot. Looking forward to drive on the Ring and meet you one day 🫡
Great video. One must be mindful to ensure that the certification of the helmet and the date of that certification is approved by the sanctioning body for your activity. Snell is commonly used in US and it gets updated regularly. Additionally SCCA has different requirements for each auto activity they sanction. The ECE helmets are not approved for SCCA. Motorcycle helmets do not have the same certifications as auto helmets and are generally not accepted. The Hans device will save you in a crash as this was mandated in NASCAR and other sports after Dale Earnhardt and others died. A cheap helmet is only good if you don't value your head. Fitment is also important, it shouldn't be loose. Maybe another video on proper fitment? As they said, if you drop your helmet or are in an accident with it, it should be replaced.
Great video. Weight makes such a difference. I just tried my 1.2kg helmet on back to back with my 1.7kg helmet. Huge difference when it is on your head!! The 1.7kg one used to mean I had some neck ache after a track day, no aches with the 1.2kg helmet.
my first helmet was a Full face bell.. 1978... 1980 bought my first Arai ultralight.. Been with Arai since.. Try the helmet on and get it fitted.. Safety first, comfort second.. Aeration is important.. Ohh and I still ride bikes at my old age..
HANS devices protect your neck in the event of an accident. Basal skull fractures are often fatal. Your head can fly forward with enough force to break the bones at the base of the skull where the spinal cord connects to the brain. The muscles and ligaments in your neck stretch as your head flys forward, but the spinal cord does not.
Better a cheaper good fitting helmet than an expensive bad fitting one. If it doesn't fit right it doesn't protect as well as a good fitting one. Pricing in helmet is largely determined by the extra features or weight. Great topic & vid!
Nice video Misha! Important topic and well explained. When I bought my hybrid HANS, I was also told that it provides improved protection for side impacts over traditional HANS. Since my trackday car is road legal and doesn’t have seats with “ears”, and every impact usually has some sideways component (rarely just a straight on impact) this seemed like a good benefit to me. I also heard that traditional HANS usually needs to be fitted to the specific seat back angle (so different one for Formula lie down position for example), but I’m not sure whether this is also true for Hybrid or not.
Over a decade ago the HANS started to be mandatory in Czech Rally Championship. For some time there was an unusual increase in the amount of broken (compressed) vertebraes after accidents. Mainly when the impact was to the bottom of the car. Some of injuries happened even after hard landing from the jump or a minor accident when the car just jumped to the ditch. This was possibly due to combination of factors like limited experience with choosing the right size and angle of the HANS. But the fact is that the HANS was originally designed for the circuit racing where the bottom impact is a rare occurence. Anyway, I can see that most of the rally drivers nowadays have switched to the Simpson's device.
Thanks for the video. Excellent content as always. Would love for you continue doing some safety segments maybe to include seat options, how a seat fits, pro con for a race bucket vs oem seat, harnesses (4 vs 5 vs 6). Thanks Misha!
As a super sport race bike driver helmet is a big part of the gear, so I can only imagine in a car where your head can hit a lot of metal parts , safety weight noise swag is my priority order .
What do you wear out of interest? I always wore(don't have a bike anymore sadly) an Arai as I have a long oval shaped head and most brands never seem to cater for the shape of my head.. Did find them a bit noisy though.
@@Patriiiiick i have the CASCO X-LITE X-803 RS ULTRA CARBON HOT LAP BLACK / YELLOW, its like 650$ CA, but if i had more money i would buy the AGV Pista GP RR Iridium Carbon - Casque, witch is 2K + helmet.
great video, I'm son making a 450 mile round trip to try helmets as there is nowhere close to where I live to try any, and it will be worth it to know I have got the best fit and type for rally navigation.
Incredibly helpful video even though I probably won’t need it myself. The difference in each helmet is pretty interesting like the Schubert helmet pad thickness I didn’t even think about that kind of thing. Thanks for the diverse content Misha.
When I bought my helmet, I made sure it was FIA approved, so I know it's safe if the worst does happen. Paying lots of money for something you hope to never use sucks, but you can't put a price on safety.
meanwhile, me: "yeah I'm gonna choose one with a narrow face opening and with that horizontal visor frame usually for sponsors so I can LARP as a grand prix driver"
In my young days there was a guy that felt out of his cart on the racing track. His helmet cracked, as did his head.. He died. We were always told not to use stickers, and replace the helmet if it's dropped or damage. After that day we all toke it seriously. That's a really hard way to learn it.
For a track day, just bought a bike open face helmet from a proper establish brand… probably not good enough since I am not planning to do too many track days either. Probably one more and be done. I refused to buy the basic low price point at the dollar store.
What about open face helmets for non open wheel cars? I see all of those shown in the video are full face covered but wonder if open faced ones would be more confortable & lighter
There is one topic that was not fully covered: When it is enough to use open helmet and why eg. in rally cars open helmets are comonolly used and in racing (not open construction/single seater) full face helmets?
In the event of a crash, the full-face helmet is not recommended, or only to a limited extent, because the airbag that is triggered in the event may break your neck via the lever of the helmet on your chin - fact. This is the reason why the industry uses jet helmets OR deactivated (!) airbags. To cut a long story short: ARE YOU ALL CRAZY to ride Swedish Cross without a wrinkle-free hat?
years ago when i bought a helmet to ride my motorcycle , i remember Bill Simpson say a $50.0 helmet is for a $50.0 brain or head i cant remember which it was , in other words spend good money on a good helmet . so $ 6000.0 for a helmet if you think it will help and its a well made product buy it . remember you get what you pay for
The technology and strict regulations have increased the safety standards, while the lower cost of manufacturing dropped the price at the same time. When I started racing back in 2011, I paid around or over 2500€ for open face carbon fiber Stilo helmet that I have now (DES model). In 2018 I bought the one you see me wearing now and holding in this video, it cost 1000€ less (with better standards). So overall yes, you should not cheap out on safety, but nowadays you have really good products for affordable price.
i'm gonna need a full face helmet. i have a open one with built in headset and mic for rally driving. i might be able to test a formel car and there it dont work.
@@mgcharoudin Besides that. Very informative video. I love these info vids. The same with, how to improve the cornering capabilities of a car. Tyres, suspension, caster, camber, toe-in, toe-out, anti-roll bars, strut-bars. Understeer corner entry, understeer mid-corner, understeer corner exit. There are so many issues with different solutions and it's seems to be one off the most challening jobs out there. Every car reacting different on the mods you do. Fast in a straight line is not difficult (in the extreme everything becomes difficult), but the corners can already be a problem with a slow car.
I have a question about motorcycle helmets in the tropics. How often should they be replaced when they get high intensity sunlight every day? I heard the material is not good anymore after a few years. Any ideas? Thanks
5 years is what i've seen on the internet. Some people say it's bullshit and helmets last way longer than that, but i haven't seen someone say that a helmet lasts less than 5 years. Paint protects the helmet UV light, so it should be fine.
Lifetime. Appr 5 years, but what if you buy a helmet that was in the store for a year? Is it then 4 years. Abs helmets are aging faster than polycarbonate. What about carbon? Does uv affect lifetime. In motorcycle stores lifetime is always a shady topic. Like to know more. I exchange my arai every 7 years but they still look and feel fine.
The topic of dropping the helmet, yeah ofcourse its better not to, but as long as there is no mass in it, it will protect you still fine, so yeah, many people say otherwise and its a great selling point, but Arai did that study and they are the best in the buisness and I trust their word more then any others.
Answer A: why do you unzip your hoodie indoors at some point if there is no wind? Breathing/getting rid of body heat. Answer B: imagine driving in an open seater.
Because according to the "logic" of German road&traffic law, HANS restricts visibility and you cannot look in the mirrors or next to you in the windows. To someone like me who was driving a slow Dacia among GT3 cars in N24 race, this is nonsense.
for those rich people here , 6000 euros helmet might be a bargain or cheap ,but for me it could be a year's salary. kindly reply my comment if you want to help. peace xoxo
Buy a full face race helmet that is comfortable to you. Also wear a sweat band over your forehead. Open face helmets won't protect you enough in a frontal crash and should be banned for race cars.
*for a guy like me who has 10+ helmets & doesn't hesitate to spend upwards of thousands of dollars for a Shoei or Arai, this video is so satisfying...* 🤤🫠
Thank you www.atomic-shop.eu/en/ for the explanation!
Previous video on (when) wearing a helmet: th-cam.com/video/8ubNZ-4gmsw/w-d-xo.html
There's a universal rule (I don't know the name) that states; "If you are prepared for the worst case scenario it rarely happens. If you're unprepared, you'll likely run into the worst case". My own experience; If I carry snow chains for my truck I rarely need them. As soon as they're sitting in the garage, I find myself stuck in a drift.
I was buying a helmet to race carts, went to the local motorcycle shop to try them on, I asked the salesman which he recommends, he said "Do you have a $600 head or a $1200 head?" I still have the $1200 helmet and I still love it.
Number 1 sales tactic.
man got baited
Sell me this pen
That one's been around for 50 years
Sales : 100
Two things I'd also mention:
1. A lighter helmet is a comfort thing but also will be safer in an impact, as mentioned in a collision the extra weight of a helmet puts more strain on your neck and a lighter helmet will mean less strain. The differences are small but they are amplified by increased speeds.
2. Balaclavas may also be a good idea for comfort. I am way more comfortable with a balaclava with my helmet & HANS, it's more comfortable around my neck for the HANS and when you start getting hot then the balaclava can be much better for wicking sweat away. Usually with my track days I'm doing 20-40 minute sessions with 20-40 minute breaks between, again having multiple balaclavas means I can put a fresh one on which is dry and my helmet stays much drier which is way more comfortable and also safer, sweat and fire can cause burns even if there's fire proof materials. A balaclava will also offer sacrificial protection to the padding inside your helmet if you have facial hair.
A balaclava will also prolong the lifespan of a helmet. Sweat will make the padding and inner foam lose its properties over time. Some say, at least for MC helmets, that you should replace it after five years. It of course depends on how much you sweat and us it.
I don't even race nor have I ever worn a helmet but I'm still watching this video as if I'm going to buy one lmao 😂
You'll never know! OR You can be a smart guy among your friends!
I was actually buying 2 helmets in Atomic this year - very professional service. I was told everything on how to fit it correctly and now my wife and me have very comfortable helmets!
She can try my helmet if she likes 🤣
Fled from russia for good
@@superchickensoup sorry, she is allergic for simps, so no luck for you :D
Love the quality and diversity of your content Misha. I can only applaud and encourage you to keep this constant evolution. I’ve never driven on a race track but I just love learning and you really give us a lot. Looking forward to drive on the Ring and meet you one day 🫡
Great video.
One must be mindful to ensure that the certification of the helmet and the date of that certification is approved by the sanctioning body for your activity. Snell is commonly used in US and it gets updated regularly. Additionally SCCA has different requirements for each auto activity they sanction. The ECE helmets are not approved for SCCA. Motorcycle helmets do not have the same certifications as auto helmets and are generally not accepted. The Hans device will save you in a crash as this was mandated in NASCAR and other sports after Dale Earnhardt and others died. A cheap helmet is only good if you don't value your head.
Fitment is also important, it shouldn't be loose. Maybe another video on proper fitment?
As they said, if you drop your helmet or are in an accident with it, it should be replaced.
Great video. Weight makes such a difference. I just tried my 1.2kg helmet on back to back with my 1.7kg helmet. Huge difference when it is on your head!! The 1.7kg one used to mean I had some neck ache after a track day, no aches with the 1.2kg helmet.
my first helmet was a Full face bell.. 1978... 1980 bought my first Arai ultralight.. Been with Arai since.. Try the helmet on and get it fitted.. Safety first, comfort second.. Aeration is important..
Ohh and I still ride bikes at my old age..
HANS devices protect your neck in the event of an accident. Basal skull fractures are often fatal. Your head can fly forward with enough force to break the bones at the base of the skull where the spinal cord connects to the brain. The muscles and ligaments in your neck stretch as your head flys forward, but the spinal cord does not.
Better a cheaper good fitting helmet than an expensive bad fitting one. If it doesn't fit right it doesn't protect as well as a good fitting one. Pricing in helmet is largely determined by the extra features or weight. Great topic & vid!
Great info about HANS devices. I wasn't aware that any product would have been classified for standard/basic 3 point harness in normal cars.
Nice video Misha! Important topic and well explained. When I bought my hybrid HANS, I was also told that it provides improved protection for side impacts over traditional HANS. Since my trackday car is road legal and doesn’t have seats with “ears”, and every impact usually has some sideways component (rarely just a straight on impact) this seemed like a good benefit to me. I also heard that traditional HANS usually needs to be fitted to the specific seat back angle (so different one for Formula lie down position for example), but I’m not sure whether this is also true for Hybrid or not.
Over a decade ago the HANS started to be mandatory in Czech Rally Championship. For some time there was an unusual increase in the amount of broken (compressed) vertebraes after accidents. Mainly when the impact was to the bottom of the car. Some of injuries happened even after hard landing from the jump or a minor accident when the car just jumped to the ditch. This was possibly due to combination of factors like limited experience with choosing the right size and angle of the HANS. But the fact is that the HANS was originally designed for the circuit racing where the bottom impact is a rare occurence. Anyway, I can see that most of the rally drivers nowadays have switched to the Simpson's device.
Awesome segment! Thanks Misha
Thanks for the video. Excellent content as always.
Would love for you continue doing some safety segments maybe to include seat options, how a seat fits, pro con for a race bucket vs oem seat, harnesses (4 vs 5 vs 6). Thanks Misha!
As a super sport race bike driver helmet is a big part of the gear, so I can only imagine in a car where your head can hit a lot of metal parts , safety weight noise swag is my priority order .
What do you wear out of interest? I always wore(don't have a bike anymore sadly) an Arai as I have a long oval shaped head and most brands never seem to cater for the shape of my head.. Did find them a bit noisy though.
@@Patriiiiick i have the CASCO X-LITE X-803 RS ULTRA CARBON HOT LAP BLACK / YELLOW, its like 650$ CA, but if i had more money i would buy the AGV Pista GP RR Iridium Carbon - Casque, witch is 2K + helmet.
The Schuberth SP1 is such a beauty.
great video, I'm son making a 450 mile round trip to try helmets as there is nowhere close to where I live to try any, and it will be worth it to know I have got the best fit and type for rally navigation.
I was literally asking myself "how do I buy the right helmet?" the other day and then THIS video drops. Perfect timing! And a little freaky! 🤣
Incredibly helpful video even though I probably won’t need it myself. The difference in each helmet is pretty interesting like the Schubert helmet pad thickness I didn’t even think about that kind of thing. Thanks for the diverse content Misha.
When I bought my helmet, I made sure it was FIA approved, so I know it's safe if the worst does happen.
Paying lots of money for something you hope to never use sucks, but you can't put a price on safety.
meanwhile, me: "yeah I'm gonna choose one with a narrow face opening and with that horizontal visor frame usually for sponsors so I can LARP as a grand prix driver"
Yes you need its your head, and as much time as you spend on a very fast track why take chances. BTW your driving has been spot in this last season.
I saw the helmet, when I met you.
It suits him perfectly.
Misha great guy!!
It was a pleasure to drive kart with you ;)
money in safety items is always worth it, never cheap out on safety.
In my young days there was a guy that felt out of his cart on the racing track. His helmet cracked, as did his head.. He died. We were always told not to use stickers, and replace the helmet if it's dropped or damage. After that day we all toke it seriously.
That's a really hard way to learn it.
Stickers?
For a track day, just bought a bike open face helmet from a proper establish brand… probably not good enough since I am not planning to do too many track days either. Probably one more and be done. I refused to buy the basic low price point at the dollar store.
Great video! I expect for more videos regarding safety topics!
best bang for buck helmet is probally the arai gp6-s with a hans adapter
thanks Misha - important topic for everyone who wants to track and have some protection.
What about open face helmets for non open wheel cars? I see all of those shown in the video are full face covered but wonder if open faced ones would be more confortable & lighter
Nice video, i think you should make one for gloves and shoes too. Thank you
He did 😉
Edit: For shoes.
Thanks Misha Charoudin ,for that information, very good video. Will be nice to see opinion video about the bucket seats,.
There is one topic that was not fully covered:
When it is enough to use open helmet and why eg. in rally cars open helmets are comonolly used and in racing (not open construction/single seater) full face helmets?
My only guess is that rally uses navigators and it's important to communicate & read pace notes. Full face helmet makes it more difficult.
In the event of a crash, the full-face helmet is not recommended, or only to a limited extent, because the airbag that is triggered in the event may break your neck via the lever of the helmet on your chin - fact. This is the reason why the industry uses jet helmets OR deactivated (!) airbags. To cut a long story short: ARE YOU ALL CRAZY to ride Swedish Cross without a wrinkle-free hat?
You should definitely do a corporation series with 55 parts about winter maintenance with some sale codes. Or either go into sim racing finally 😂
Racing suits, please.
This is great educational content! Thank you!
Love the safety related content.
Thanks for making this
Thank you for this video 😊 Good to see what types of Helmets you can buy and the difference☺️
@mishacharoudin thanks again great video love all the info on the HANS device with the 4 and standard 3point belts
years ago when i bought a helmet to ride my motorcycle , i remember Bill Simpson say a $50.0 helmet is for a $50.0 brain or head i cant remember which it was , in other words spend good money on a good helmet . so $ 6000.0 for a helmet if you think it will help and its a well made product buy it . remember you get what you pay for
The technology and strict regulations have increased the safety standards, while the lower cost of manufacturing dropped the price at the same time. When I started racing back in 2011, I paid around or over 2500€ for open face carbon fiber Stilo helmet that I have now (DES model). In 2018 I bought the one you see me wearing now and holding in this video, it cost 1000€ less (with better standards). So overall yes, you should not cheap out on safety, but nowadays you have really good products for affordable price.
i'm gonna need a full face helmet. i have a open one with built in headset and mic for rally driving. i might be able to test a formel car and there it dont work.
Thanks for that, do you know when Nurburgring is open for tourist drives from next year?
Information packed, thanks. I wondered if you'd mention not to carry a helmet using the chin-strap. I still see this quite often. (Don't.)
Very helpful! Thanks guys
i dont even have a race car.. but i still watch this video because i love you Misha 😂
I find this information very useful although I'm not into having helmet yet. I'm learning a lot 😊 Thanks Misha!
Dit was handige informatie.
Off topic, but have you heard about Lucid Air Sapphire? I wonder if there is a chance they go for a ev lap record...
Do I need a €6000,- helmet? No, because I drive never on track and I have a slow car with more airbags then wheels.
Agree :)
@@mgcharoudin Besides that. Very informative video. I love these info vids. The same with, how to improve the cornering capabilities of a car. Tyres, suspension, caster, camber, toe-in, toe-out, anti-roll bars, strut-bars.
Understeer corner entry, understeer mid-corner, understeer corner exit. There are so many issues with different solutions and it's seems to be one off the most challening jobs out there. Every car reacting different on the mods you do.
Fast in a straight line is not difficult (in the extreme everything becomes difficult), but the corners can already be a problem with a slow car.
I should really buy my own helmet.
Borrowing a friends motorcycle helmet when im invited to trackdays is a bit of a faff 😂
Me i don't have 6000 to bay one another car
I have a question about motorcycle helmets in the tropics. How often should they be replaced when they get high intensity sunlight every day? I heard the material is not good anymore after a few years. Any ideas? Thanks
5 years is what i've seen on the internet. Some people say it's bullshit and helmets last way longer than that, but i haven't seen someone say that a helmet lasts less than 5 years. Paint protects the helmet UV light, so it should be fine.
Lifetime. Appr 5 years, but what if you buy a helmet that was in the store for a year? Is it then 4 years. Abs helmets are aging faster than polycarbonate. What about carbon? Does uv affect lifetime. In motorcycle stores lifetime is always a shady topic. Like to know more. I exchange my arai every 7 years but they still look and feel fine.
The topic of dropping the helmet, yeah ofcourse its better not to, but as long as there is no mass in it, it will protect you still fine, so yeah, many people say otherwise and its a great selling point, but Arai did that study and they are the best in the buisness and I trust their word more then any others.
There is dropping and there is dropping :)
Why this helmets have vents if there is no wind inside the car ?
Answer A: why do you unzip your hoodie indoors at some point if there is no wind? Breathing/getting rid of body heat.
Answer B: imagine driving in an open seater.
Awesome video idea
What color is your visors?
Very interesting. Lot of money. But life is priceless. ✌
I was just about to buy an helmet and i see your video
I recently bought a Stilo helmet for auto track days.
I haven't worn it yet but I'm looking forward to it.
Thank you Misha🙏
Does Atomic has all this variants on stock?
Hi!
Yes, we have all this helmets in stock.
@@olegalex78 That‘s impressive - and a challenge for you to finance…👍
So Please Explain why cant people use HANS in TF ?
Because according to the "logic" of German road&traffic law, HANS restricts visibility and you cannot look in the mirrors or next to you in the windows. To someone like me who was driving a slow Dacia among GT3 cars in N24 race, this is nonsense.
@@mgcharoudin Bruh "German road&traffic law" should get mandatory glasses so they could see that you can turn your head and see mirrors...
Where did you get that T-shirt? 👌👌👌🤣
IN their shop just before the shoot!
If you have the funds to buy what you want and it is functional and protects the jelly bowl why not 🤔👌🤘👍🤙
Very interesting 👌
for those rich people here , 6000 euros helmet might be a bargain or cheap ,but for me it could be a year's salary. kindly reply my comment if you want to help. peace xoxo
6000€ for a HELMET? OH YEAH, I'm planning to buy a car for half of that. 😕
Buy a full face race helmet that is comfortable to you. Also wear a sweat band over your forehead. Open face helmets won't protect you enough in a frontal crash and should be banned for race cars.
Open face helmets are good for rally racing. I don’t know if a closed one would be as effective for the co driver.
You ARE a €6000 helmet 😉
I'd say a bicycle helmet should do it
Good video
SAMMIT x-mas t-shirt ? 🤔
Yeah!!!
@sammit
A baseball cap will do
You have to first ask yourself how much is your head worth, then there's your answer....
Very interesting ……
Better get a good helmet to protect your phone 😂
I feel attacked!
no
awesome
can you really spend to much on safety?
Yes, but no
@@mgcharoudin noted
A helmet is only as good as it’s fit.
I have a purple helmet
Can't put a price on your head 🤣
You you want to stay alive? Then yes
Ff
Foodshot 0/10
*for a guy like me who has 10+ helmets & doesn't hesitate to spend upwards of thousands of dollars for a Shoei or Arai, this video is so satisfying...* 🤤🫠