Are full face helmets really safer than open face helmets

Dan1950 said:
Have you ever seen a motorcycle cop wearing a full face helmet? Most wear half helmets or the increased peripheral vision and hearing advantages.

I was once approaching a "T" intersection on the "through route" leg. I was contemplating turning left when I heard a car passing me on the right from the rear at speed. Wearing a half helmet, I heard the car and avoided a possible fatal accident.

On the race track or trails, full face. In traffic? Maybe not the best choice IMHO.
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I always shunned ear plugs cos it felt like I was riding with one of my senses disabled (which I was really).

I bought ear plugs that have filters in some while ago. They’re custom made things. They’re a revelation. They reduce wind noise and roar tremendously but still allow you to hear what’s going on.

I’m a convert.
 
Source for said plugs please....one reason I use the foam plugs is to preserve my fading hearing. My old lady is deaf and I don't want to get there any faster than old age requires.
 
Fast Eddie said:
I always shunned ear plugs cos it felt like I was riding with one of my senses disabled (which I was really).

I bought ear plugs that have filters in some while ago. They’re custom made things. They’re a revelation. They reduce wind noise and roar tremendously but still allow you to hear what’s going on.

I’m a convert.
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Onder said:
Source for said plugs please....one reason I use the foam plugs is to preserve my fading hearing. My old lady is deaf and I don't want to get there any faster than old age requires.
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X2
 
Onder said:
Source for said plugs please....one reason I use the foam plugs is to preserve my fading hearing. My old lady is deaf and I don't want to get there any faster than old age requires.
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I use ones similar to those that @Fast Eddie mentioned and they really work well.
They were supplied by my employer (moons ago!) and were custom fitted.
I see they are now available in a self-fit kit: http://www.sonolab.com/wp-content/u...ort-Sonomax-Self-Fit-V5-Yellow-Red-filter.pdf

Here's a few others: https://www.earplugstore.com/custom-diy-ear-plugs.html

Cheers
 
I bought 80 pair of soft foam plugs for chain saw use , down to my last 10-12 pieces … Maybe 8 yrs for less than $20 , well worth the out lay …. on another safe topic , had my 2yr eye test this morning , still legal to drive/ride without prescription glasses , still just for reading ….
 
63 and still 20/20 vison even with my lazy left eye, as for helmets wear what ever you like as we all have our own opinions, I still wear my open face like them the best, my flip top helmet makes so much wind noise have to wear plugs, open face no problems at all, hate ear plugs, I like to hear things as well they can be uncomfortable if they don't sit in the ear right, rather not use them at all, been suffering ringing in the ears most of my working life, the idea is to stay upright at all times and after wearing open face helmets for 49 years of riding I still have all my teeth and I am still good looking, have more problems on my face from some skin cancers cut off my face as I get older and I always wear sun block when out on the bike and maybe using that my face will slide on the tar better if I ever go down wearing my open face lol.

Ashley
 
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Do those 139 pound ear plugs block british bike tappet clatter along with the deafening genuine Norton exhaust at speed?
 
Onder said:
Do those 139 pound ear plugs block british bike tappet clatter along with the deafening genuine Norton exhaust at speed?
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Depends how loud your clatter is to start with !

The main thing (being serious for a mo) is they cut wind roar, whilst leaving you able to hear other things.

Like I said above… I never claimed they were cheap!

But, you only buy them once… they‘ll last a lifetime… and last time I checked, they were still somewhat cheaper than new ears…!
 
Dan1950 said:
Have you ever seen a motorcycle cop wearing a full face helmet? Most wear half helmets for the increased peripheral vision and hearing advantages........
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I thought that was so they could give you the " 'ello sonny, oo do you think you are? Barry Sheene? " lecture without taking their helmets off.
 
Onder said:
Do those 139 pound ear plugs block british bike tappet clatter along with the deafening genuine Norton exhaust at speed?
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British bike tappet clatter, to me that is music to my ears and nothing wrong with a great British twin exhaust sound, who needs friggin ear plugs.
 
who needs friggin ear plugs.

er, those of us who don't want to go deaf. Most of us of a certain age have already lost some hearing due to the usual suspects:
job site noise, loud music, earphone wearing, motorbike riding, firearms, the list is long and you may ignore it at your own risk.
Go get a hearing test, they are free and you may well be surprised to find how much hearing you have already lost. :-(
 
Onder said:
who needs friggin ear plugs.

er, those of us who don't want to go deaf. Most of us of a certain age have already lost some hearing due to the usual suspects:
job site noise, loud music, earphone wearing, motorbike riding, firearms, the list is long and you may ignore it at your own risk.
Go get a hearing test, they are free and you may well be surprised to find how much hearing you have already lost. :-(
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I have it all, have suffered tinnitus since my early years working, loud music, loud bikes at 63 now I still can hear, my wife is deaf in one ear down to 5% and her other ear suffers from her bad ear down to 40% has hearing aids, have been told hearing aids will reduce tinnitus, but I have lived with it for so long am use to it so have no problems hearing, what that honey did you say something.
 
If you have ever been hit in the face with a small pebble or large insect "at speed", especially at night, dumping the open face for close face is simple logic, and safer.
Nostalgia and antiquated affection for older technology are fine for appearances I suppose...but helmets progressed from open face to closed face for a reason...no matter how one chooses to pick the statistics apart.
 
When I was in my early twenties I got a little too ambitious piloting my ‘72 T100R Daytona on a windy country road in Utah lined on either side with gravel. Sure enough I caught an edge, the bike went out from under me and I sailed through a barbed wire fence then hit a post with my arm. After assessing the situation I was sure glad I have a full faced helmet with a face shield. The barbed wire scratched the hell out of it (the Triumph only suffered a bent foot rest and a few scuffs).
Although I wear a full faced Arai most of the time, I have a sweet open face Davida for those short neighborhood jaunts.
 
Well when traveling long distant or bad weather the flip top helmet is my choice best of both worlds, but for comfort, better vision, more head turning the open face is what I wear most, in my younger days I been down a few time doing silly things or pushing the bike to hard, its only the last 5 or 6 years I had a flip top helmet, I have a full face off road helmet when on the dirt bike, but most of my 49 years of hard riding its been the open face even in the early years of riding dirt bikes, yes helmet have come a long way in the later years but I feel so trapped when I wear a full face helmet, a helmet that fully in closed my head and face I just don't feel comfortable at all and be real about things is any helmet going to save you in a serious accident.
We all have our likes and opinions on what helmet to wear and we all think one is safer than the other, my mate got killed in a accident with a broken neck the only injury he always rode with a open face helmet but he decided to take a ride on someone else bike and wore the full face helmet of the owner of the bike, the front chin guard was the cause of the broken neck, if he was wearing his open face helmet at the time would he have survived, we will never know, so is one helmet safer than the other will always be a unanswered question, for myself I will be always a open face helmet rider have been for most of my 49 years on bikes, but when someone tells me a full face helmet is safer over a open face, well I am still here have all my teeth and good looks, the thing is ride to the conditions, keep your eyes open in what's happening around you and don't do silly things without thinking about it first and accidents will always happens most of the time its out of our hands and in some cases a helmet not going to help, as well I don't wear gloves only in winter when its cold, but that's me and I still have all my fingers, grinders are more dangerous for the fingers lol.
So ride with what ever you feel comfortable with but don't tell me if one is safer than the other as there are good as well bad points with both styles and getting the right one is so hard to know what I helmet is going to be like un till it worn in for a few weeks, can't judge that in a shop, even expensive helmets can have their failures when out on the road and one brand might fit one person but not the other everyone has a different shaped head and finding that one helmet that feels so right will always be the hardest thing to find.


Ashley
 
Dan1950 said:
Have you ever seen a motorcycle cop wearing a full face helmet? Most wear half helmets for the increased peripheral vision and hearing advantages.

I was once approaching a "T" intersection on the "through route" leg. I was contemplating turning right when I heard a car passing me on the right from the rear at speed. Wearing a half helmet, I heard the car and avoided a possible fatal accident.

On the race track or trails, full face. In traffic? Maybe not the best choice IMHO.
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All the NZ cops wear modular helmets.

I think US mc cops like open face helmets so they can be seen and heard. I grew up in Seattle and mc cops were the worst for harassing you.

I wear a full face Arai Rx-7v with foam ear plugs, and I can hear plenty.

Saved my ass...err... head in a 25kph low side.

IMG_20220430_190400.jpg
 
I normally wear an open face mainly because as a tinnitus sufferer there seems to be less wind noise with open helmets. The chin bar on full face seems to generate a lot of turbulence, especially on sports bike where the screen tends to greatly add to the issue. Whatever lid you choose NEVER ride with the visor open or some form of protective eyewear on. My Arai open lid has a built in half visor. Out riding yesterday a pretty large bug hit the visor in front of my left eye so hard I felt the impact in my neck. I was probably doing around 50kph. Last summer another big bug struck my cheek below the visor. It felt like I'd been shot and had to pull over. A full face lid would have avoided that pain.
 
Search "maxillofacial implants"
One of my machine shop customers makes aluminum molds, from a 3D laser scan of (if there still is a) good side of your face, mirror images it, and then creates the Mr. Potato Head plastic piece that will go on your face.
If there is no "good side" left, they use a picture, supplied by a friend or family member.
Oh, and this all happens in a couple hours while you lay there all effed up.
I had committed to full face all the time before visiting this customer, but, now I preach to people I care about.
JMWO
 
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