Every year, without fail, an article will go viral where researchers have found a cheap helmet from a department store that outperforms expensive ones in safety tests. It seems to fly in the face of the classic line used by salespeople all around the world; “how much is your head worth”?

I’m a helmet engineer, and as the founder of a helmet company, you’d probably expect me to tell you that this is nonsense, and more money = more safe.

But, I’d be lying to you. And I wouldn’t want to do that! Cost does make a better quality helmet, but that doesn’t always translate to more safe in tests. 

You see, all helmets in the same market normally conform to the same couple of standards to be certified. We won’t get into the finite details, but for each sports market there are minimum impact, penetration, rotation and retention requirements.

Side note - Anti Ordinary did some testing of competitors helmets in an independent helmet lab last year, and found one major brand’s $400 helmet actually failed the minimum impact requirements. We sent them an email to let them know, and they didn’t care. I’d tell you who it is, but their legal department eats our year's finances at long lunches.

Transparently, the base material of most helmets are cheap. EPS foam (there’s a reason they fill bean bags with them) and ABS/Polycarbonate plastics are some of the most common materials used in the world. 

The shape and thickness of the EPS and plastic frame is the essence of conventional safety standards. It’s truly a game of millimeters, and a few grams of EPS in a certain spot doesn’t drastically change the cost. Intelligent design and using the appropriate thickness and mass in a comfortable and stylish way is where the wins are made. $20 helmets just chuck it in a basic mould with little regard to ‘finesse’ - more expensive helmets tend to be more subtle, comfortable and stylish.

There are some helmets that take a plastic outer, place it inside the foam mould and mould the foam to the outer. So simple that there’s not even any glue involved. Comparatively, some helmets use different materials that are more expensive (ours do), have more parts (that’s also us), and complexity to the design (us, again). The A2 is about 85 parts + assembly, but this isn’t about our helmets. 

Well, nearly every $400 helmet will be more comfy than a $20 Target helmet. Most should have a higher build quality, although this has even gone by the wayside with some companies recently. 

Some expensive units are safer by design, and work better, this is undeniable. The costs of running a business, paying designers, etc. is real, and this isn’t to be negated. However, as a consumer, your extra dollars are often buying fit, feel and other non-safety related inclusions.

These ‘nice-to-haves’ can make a big difference in yours and your kids' willingness to wear the helmet when you need it most (ie every time you hit the snow)! They are extremely important in helmet choice!

Take us for example. Our A2's are made of 85 individual parts. They are the most expensive helmets to build (by a long way), they're also the safest all-mountain helmet as testing by the Virginia tech Helmet Lab, and (according to customers) is the most comfy helmet they've ever used.

We outperform $700USD helmets at only $229USD ($340AUD). We built our whole company and product about being the change we want to see in the world; and that brain safety is accessible for everyone.

Admittedly, the helmet industry hasn’t put much effort into making helmets safer in the last fifty years (a story for another time).  I actually wrote my engineering thesis on this, and trust me - there’s so much intricacy that 70,000 words couldn’t cover it.

So when you’re looking for a helmet, don’t get talked into the most expensive, but make sure you do look for quality and comfort. Alongside safety, fit and feel are also important - it needs to be something you or your kids will be happy to wear all the time. Just being “safe” won’t be helpful if it’s so uncomfortable you choose not to wear it!