Replacing your snowmobile helmet is vital, not only to keep you looking fresh on the snow, but also to protect that precious cargo on top of your body referred to as your brain in most cases.
When it comes down to it, safety is the main priority. While we would all love to throw more money at better sled mods like an upgraded exhaust system, protecting your brain is of the utmost importance. Choosing one of the best snowmobile helmets you can afford is truly an investment you’ll never regret. Like any good insurance policy, you’ll wish you had a better one when you need it.
If you’ve owned your current helmet for many years you may want to consider upgrading. Throughout this article we will explain why replacing your snowmobile helmet may be a good idea.
When You Should Think About Replacing Your Snowmobile Helmet
As previously mentioned, safety is a huge concern in the sport of snowmobiling. All too often snowmobilers are ejected from their sleds into things such as rocks, trees and other various objects, in some cases causing great bodily harm. Having the best helmet on your head can save your life. It is really as simple as that. It is very important to keep this in mind when considering whether or not you need to replace your snowmobile helmet.
Extreme wear or previous use to your current helmet is a more than adequate reason to replace your snowmobile helmet. If you’re wondering what exactly is extreme wear, look no further. Extreme wear to your current helmet could include, but not limited to, cracks or even stress marks anywhere within the helmet. This happens more than you would think. Smacking a branch too hard or even tossing your helmet around while not wearing it could result in cracks in the shell. With that said it is important to handle your helmet with care at all times. Cracks and stress marks can be found by carefully inspecting your helmet before each use. If one is identified we highly suggest considering using a different helmet or replacing your helmet before going out to ride. The presence of cracks or stress marks indicates a weak spot within the structure of your helmet and therefore makes that helmet unsafe for use.
Another result of extreme wear on your current helmet could include broken or missing pieces. This typically occurs with the chin straps on snowmobile helmets and in some cases missing rivets or bolts which help hold certain helmets together. We have seen so many riders with broken chin straps that either do not strap their helmet or attempt to strap it in some sort of shotty manner. The point here is that neither of these ways are appropriate according to the way these helmets were designed to be used and ultimately makes it very unsafe. If your helmet does not stay on your head it serves no purpose. Replace your snowmobile helmet if it has broken or missing parts that make it impossible for you to use the helmet the way it was designed to be used.
Loss of cushion or foam inside the helmet is another result of extreme wear and may require you to replace your snowmobile helmet. This not only makes your helmet very uncomfortable to wear, but also makes it less likely to protect your head the way it was designed to. If your helmet is losing it’s interior cushioning we would strongly recommend replacing your helmet. Plus, if you are comfortable you will spend more time on the snow and that is what it is all about!
Now these are just a few of the most common defects your current helmet may be experiencing and all of which are reasons to replace your snowmobile helmet. With all that said, let’s get real for a second, there are two other reasons most riders choose to replace their snowmobile helmet before their current helmet experiences extreme wear to the point of needing replacing. We get it, everyone wants their gear setup to look fresh out there on the snow. Look good, feel good, ride good right? We are guilty ourselves, when the latest and greatest color schemes come out on the newest products we automatically want them. There’s nothing wrong with this. Replacing your snowmobile helmet is never a bad idea as the technology that goes into making these helmets is constantly evolving and improving.
The final reason we can think of for replacing your snowmobile helmet is if it does not fit your head properly. Size matters! You need to wear a helmet that fits your head properly. If your helmet is too loose there is a higher chance of it falling off in an accident resulting in it not protecting your head and defeating the entire purpose of wearing a helmet in the first place. On the other hand a helmet that is too small is not comfortable and may cause pain to your head which is exactly the opposite purpose of a helmet. If your snowmobile helmet does not fit properly it is time to replace it.
Related: Heated Snowmobile Helmets, Finding Your Helmet Size
