I’m buying a new helmet and my head measures at 56 3/8 cm. Should I look at helmets at size 57cm? Or crush my skull into a smaller one? I have an IRH in a 6 7/8 - for 56 cm that gives me a wicked headache after riding one horse. I’ve had it for four years. I’m looking at Kask’s but am stuck between ordering their 7-56 cm or 7 1/8- 57 cm due to my dilemma. Anyone else have this issue?
Kask’s and IRH’s fit entirely differently so it’s not just a size issue. Kask fits VERY round. IRH is more oval. Buy from someplace that allows returns!
3 Likes
I had this problem, and recently got a OneK Air. Most comfortable helmet ever! The liner has a discreet air pump system, so you can adjust the fit until it is just right.
You have headaches because the shape of the helmet doesn’t fit you and creates pressure points.
Don’t buy online or from places you cannot return the helmet.
At the store, try many helmets on right away and keep the one you think fits the best for at least 1/2hr while you do the rest of your shopping.
If you can return it, do the same but at home. Not at the barn!
Don’t ride with it - Stores won’t take it back if you have truly worn it I worked in a tack shop, some people were outraged we would not take back their dusty smelly scratched helmet because it didn’t fit…
Like really?
So keep it for at least 1/2hr.
Don’t suffer no more.
What Alibi said. x10. All of it from headaches/pressure points to returns. I also worked at a tack shop.
Alibi’s advice to wander around the store for a while with the helmet on is brilliant.
Helmets are like swim suits; there is no substitute for trying them on. I think heads are like feet – size can vary depending on hydration, temperature, weather outside, etc.
I’m running into a similar sizing issue where I used to have very short hair and now that I have more hair, all my helmets are slightly snug. So personally, that is something else I would factor in–how do you wear your hair, and are you planning any drastic changes to the length or thickness in the near future? If you are truly on the cusp, you can size up or down accordingly.
Every comment on the different fit, of different helmets is spot on.
DO NOT BUY BEFORE YOU TRY!
Some helmet brands have both shapes - regular and long oval. I always thought I had a round head, so tried on the regular OneK. Just standing there, I could feel the pressure on my forehead. Luckily, they make long oval shapes in many of their models, and when I tried on the long oval version of the same model (it is clearly marked on the box with both a check box and a large sticker, as well as a tag in the liner), no pressure!
So check both the boxes and the display models. I had tried the display model which was the regular fit, but they didn’t have the long oval on display, so I had to open a box off the shelf to try it on. Didn’t even know they made a long oval version of that model until I saw the big sticker on the boxes.
All excellent advice! Try it on!
I work at a tack shop and one other thing that really irks us is people who come in and spend an hour trying on every single helmet that we carry, occasionally dropping them on the floor. Eek!
Then they leave us with a big mess and order their helmet on line. Sigh.
Adding just a little tidbit from my personal experience… I have found that if the basic shape seems to work but the helmet is just a little snug in a uniform way, it becomes more comfortable as you continue to wear it and would err towards slightly snug rather than decidedly roomy if everything else seemed to work for me.
1 Like
Well not everyone has access to a tack shop that offers any of these higher-end helmets. Around here, I think you can choose between an Ovation and a Troxel.
In that case, I’d order a few from SmartPak so you can return what doesn’t fit. There’s no need to have a raging headache from a helmet.
I have been wearing OneK’s lately and they are super comfy. I just ordered a TraumaVoid since it’s helmet awareness weekend and there’s 20% off. Hoping it’s as comfy as the OneK, or it’s going back.
1 Like
When I was personally fit by a Charles Owen rep at the grand opening of a Dover, she told me that a properly fitted helmet “should fit just shy of a headache,” as it will loosen up a bit with wear. I found that, with the CO GR8 I purchased, she was correct – it only took a few weeks.
Of course, she was referring to the CO helmets, and the basic helmet shape must fit the head shape.
2 Likes
I posted this on the Eventing Forum: the CO GR8 and the One K fit me absolutely great, while the Trauma Void is workable but not ideal. I have an ovalish head, but probably not as long an oval as some. I think that a really long oval head might not fit the TV. They do come with a couple sets of pads to adjust the fit.
I bought one anyway, as it is not actually uncomfortable (doesn’t press on my forehead, but there’s a slight gap at the sides; doesn’t wobble) and I want the latest technology to protect my noggin.
On Charles Owen helmets specifically: If you know the shape of a model is right for your head, would you order a full 1/4 too small? I know their padding compresses and my current one seems a tad loose (if I have the wrong hair cuts and jumping)…but I’m not sure I can go down that much in size and be cool.
Thoughts? Thanks
Oh, yeah, she wanted me to go down two sizes (as compared to a competing brand I’d been wearing), but I was afraid to do so. We compromised on one size down and, guess what, it did fit fine in a few weeks, then eventually loosened to the point where I added a layer between the helmet’s liner and the inside of the shell. So, at least in my specific case, with the GR8, she was correct.
Also she put some serious body english on the padding in spots where she thought it necessary to better fit the shape of my skull (was surprised about that, but it worked, not that I’d do that my own self, but she’d seen a lot of heads and fit a lot of helmets). Side bar: last year, at World Cup in Omaha, I wanted a newer CO model, and the (major tack store, not official CO) experienced rep at a booth also basically crammed a smaller size on my head as the proper fit. It’s not as though she was trying sell me one she had right there, either, as the color I wanted was a special order.
By the way, I have long hair which I do not wear tucked into my helmet (still rocking a scrunchie bun on the nape of my neck when riding), and I live in a warm climate where perspiring in the GR8 was a definite thing.
Well, hopefully it will work. I think my head is more round. I’ll be riding a 17H 3 year old next year, so the safest helmet possible seems like a good idea. I might be in the market for an eventing vest too. 
I work at a tack store and we sold 3 or 4 of the TraumaVoid helmets yesterday due to helmet awareness weekend. That being said, like you, I ride in a round One K, which fits me like a glove. I’ve tried on the TraumaVoid a few times and to me, it just feels weird and seems to be a very specific fit. It doesn’t have the cushion that the One K has and I feel like the profile is low enough that the top of my skull is almost hitting the inside top of the helmet. Now, it IS supposed to come with two different helmet liners and I believe one is cushier than the other, so it’s possible that would make up for the cushy feeling I was missing from my current helmet. Unfortunately, for some reason, the shipment of TraumaVoids we got in was missing that extra liner, so I can’t speak to how that feels. I’m very curious as to what you’ll think of yours, so please come back and post your thoughts! 
I am going to send the Traumavoid back. 
The size I ordered is correct, but it sits up above my ears and kind of looks perched on top of my head, yet I can feel the liner touching the top of my skull. I tried it on right next to my OneK Defender, and the OneK definitely comes down farther around my head. I’d be afraid the TraumaVoid would pop off in a wreck if the harness was even a little loose. The overall fit wasn’t too different than the OneK in terms of oval/roundness. Hopefully this technology will expand into more helmet design choices in the future.
1 Like
