I own several nice helmets, fave being a Tipperary. However,our hot steamy summers finally have me throwing in the towel. An illness (several years ago) has left me heat intolerant and I don’t want to ride without a helmet:-( A random visit to Walmart last week had me visiting the bike area. I left with a white bell helmet that is made for biking. Of course I realize that it dosen’t go down as far on the back of my head. However, I don’t feel as light-headed when I ride for a couple of hours. The other option is to not wear a helmet, which I just won’t do. My horse is a slightly silly senior Arab, worst behavior is tripping! He’s only tripped twice in 10 years, first time I bailed quickly onto a dirt ledge, second time his legs slid out from under him and I got a bone density test.What do you think of riding in a bike helmet Cothers?
Tipperary makes a white helmet, you might give that a try. I also use a frog Togg’s scarf around my neck when it’s hot. Bike helmets just don’t look like they cover enough to suit me.
I let my teen ride in a skateboarding helmet. It’s designed to protect in falls from way higher than a horse, onto concrete, so I gave in to his argument that it is good enough. The only thing a riding helmet (maybe?) would be designed for that would be different from a skating helmet, I think, would be the horse stepping on you.
Bike helmets and equestrian helmets are very different and designed to different specs. Bike helmets are designed for top of the head impact and falling five feet or less with less force.
I wouldn’t use a bike helmet. My Troxel is pretty cool in our high desert sun.
Troxel and ovation (at the very least) make ventilated helmets…
[QUOTE=Zuri;7623719]
Bike helmets and equestrian helmets are very different and designed to different specs. Bike helmets are designed for top of the head impact and falling five feet or less with less force.[/QUOTE]
I’m not sure that is correct, as bikes often impact cars I’d have to hear from a helmet designer or read the specs before buying into that rationale. We did a lot of research on the specifications of skateboarding helmets before I gave in to my teen’s argument. His (not the $9 kind - the professional kind) exceeded a riding helmet in every category.
[QUOTE=arabracer;7623562]
What do you think of riding in a bike helmet Cothers?[/QUOTE]
I think it’s a great idea. Buy a good cycling helmet (Giro) and get out there and have fun riding your horse in comfort. 
PS - cycling helmets are far better than riding helmets safety wise, much more vented, higher impact rating. They are also fun to decorate and bling out if that’s your style. 
Riding helmets are designed to protect best in sideways/backwards falls. Riding helmets cover more of the back of the head. At least that’s what I’ve read in the past…
A cycling helmet is better than nothing, but I would use a good quality vented riding helmet since that is what it is designed for.
Try the Ovation or DevonAire Aegis helmets. Very lightweight and vented.
Have a look at the Ovation Protege – very light, well vented, and comes in white.
I have the ovation helmet, and I have a variety of vented bike helmets, some higher end ones.
The ovation helmet is extremely light and cool. I can literally feel the wind in my hair when I wear it. We don’t have humidity to content with, but I wear my ovation on 100 degree days and find it comfortable. Plus it comes down far in the back offering more coverage then a bike helmet (I don’t know about you, but while I have not come off in a very long time, when I do, it’s to the shoulder/ back of the head- not forward and “over the bars” like what a bike helmet is designed for. )
[QUOTE=katyb;7624336]
I’m not sure that is correct, as bikes often impact cars I’d have to hear from a helmet designer or read the specs before buying into that rationale. We did a lot of research on the specifications of skateboarding helmets before I gave in to my teen’s argument. His (not the $9 kind - the professional kind) exceeded a riding helmet in every category.[/QUOTE]
I paraphrased the studies done. This info can be found on the Troxel website as well as Charles Owens and GPA. The goal of a helmet should be to absorb impact and minimize concussions, prevent skull fractures, and most importantly C1 fractures. There is a new technology as of 2009 called MIPS that is found in bike helmets that was developed from bike helmet safety researchers looking at equestrian helmets. Those helmets range from $120-$250 and hopefully more bike riders will buy them.
I completely understand buying the best helmet for your child that money can buy. Without a brain, everything else is moot.
The newest batch of equestrian helmets are more comfortable and cooler than ever. I would highly recommend the Ovation Schooler or the Troxel Intrepid as two I personally know to be extremely comfortable even in quite hot weather.
In general, I would tend to stick with the equestrian helmet but if you go with the bike helmet, to really think about the design and fit. For example, some of the ultraventilated bike helmets are probably great for a fall onto asphalt but not so much onto a rocky or uneven surface, and large, uncovered vents can be undesirable if you ride in an area where your head might be near tree branches.
First, THANK YOU for keeping a helmet on! And those who love you thank you as well.
Second, anecdotes aside, bike helmets and riding helmets ARE designed differently to meet different types of impacts and force vectors. So, no, a bike helmet, while better than NO helmet, is not an appropriate choice for riding.
I used to ride in the Tipps, great helmet. But recently decided to try something new with my next purchase and have a Troxel Intrepid – significantly cooler!!
Also (and yes there is data), helmet colour does not affect the temperature of your head, due to the insulating foam.
If you are light-headed after riding, you are dehydrated. From long experience (I dehydrate in about 4 seconds due to crazy sweating), I have learned that you HAVE to manage your hydration and fluid loss. My job is outdoors in the summer too, working hard. Pre-hydrate, drink a bottle of water before you ride. Keep drinking WHILE you ride. If you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated.
If you click the link in my sig, it’s actually the topic of my latest post!
I would look for a vented riding helmet first, but if I couldn’t find one that worked I would wear a bike helmet before going without.
To the person who mentioned the cooling scarf, make sure it is the type that fastens with velcro or you keep it unfastened. I am a paramedic and I recently went on a call where a rider fell while wearing a tied scarf and it had become hung up in the saddle and the lady was dragged by her neck briefly, her well behaved horse stopped but she was still hanging and unable to free herself, luckily her husband saw her and was able to free her just after she passed out.
I’d stick with a well ventilated riding helmet.
One thing that helps me is to wear a bandanna under my helmet and get it soaking wet, then keep it wet with a spare water bottle/creeks. Really helps keep the heat down. A lightweight button up shirt is also great to dunk in creeks if you can keep it wet for the majority of your ride.
Arabracer is from Florida, so the last thing she’d want is a “cooling scarf” in that Florida humidity! Those scarves only work in the arid (hot, dry) climates (think desert, West, and Southwest), not the shirt drenching, sweat-pouring-down soupy hot, humid clims found in the south or Mid-Atlantic. The very LAST thing a Floridian would want is something pre-wet under their helmet or around their neck. Those devices give zero cooling capability when the air is humid.
I did a quick eye-over of my bike helmets and my various riding helmets, and found no discernable differences. A bike helmet is designed for the ENTIRE head, not just the front or the back. A fall from a bike can be done at any angle - just like falling from a horse - so the protection has to be the same all around the cranium.
Whatever helmet you use that gives the best comfort level and allows you to ride with a clear mind and a calm stomach - use it. Better than none at all - which most of us old timers did all the time in the past - I always rode with just a bandana pulling my hair back on my head - because the racing Calientes were the ONLY helmet on the market with a safety chinstrap, and they were hotter than a bucket of live coals on the 4th of July - hence the Spanish name (“hot”). There was no such thing as a vented helmet back then.
[QUOTE=Zuri;7624730]
I paraphrased the studies done. This info can be found on the Troxel website as well as Charles Owens and GPA. The goal of a helmet should be to absorb impact and minimize concussions, prevent skull fractures, and most importantly C1 fractures. There is a new technology as of 2009 called MIPS that is found in bike helmets that was developed from bike helmet safety researchers looking at equestrian helmets. Those helmets range from $120-$250 and hopefully more bike riders will buy them.
I completely understand buying the best helmet for your child that money can buy. Without a brain, everything else is moot.[/QUOTE]
So a company that has a vested interest in you buying their product over a competitors’s is the best place to go for information?
[QUOTE=tinah;7636557]
So a company that has a vested interest in you buying their product over a competitors’s is the best place to go for information?[/QUOTE]
Who else is going to pay for a study comparing products?
I, personally, have enough faith in such companies that they’re not going to outright lie about results. What they might do is manipulate the study conditions so their product looks best, which is why its important to read the fine print of the study design.
I’ll stick with my equestrian helmet. I can’t see a difference from the outside but just looking at the outside tells you virtually nothing about the shock-absorbing contents.
