Types Of Helmets Explained: Which One Should You Buy? Answers Here!

Helmets are a must, especially on our roads. There are no two ways about it. Be it the traffic or the road conditions, things are extremely unpredictable out on our roads. And if you’re on a two-wheeler, you’re right at the bottom of the food chain, leaving you very vulnerable to everything that goes on around you. So be it long rides or even a short trip to the grocery store, you need to wear a helmet all the time. 

And if you’ve been thinking about getting one, save this story asap because we’ve made a concise buying guide for you right here. Let’s get started right away: 

As the name suggests, open face helmets only cover the top part of your head, leaving your face…open. You have protection on the top and side of your head, while leaving your face bare and vulnerable. There are some benefits to open face helmets, for they provide much better peripheral vision, ensuring you’d see jaywalking pedestrians much quicker. Another thing is that in our hot conditions, things can get quite hot inside full face helmets and open face helmets definitely keep you a lot cooler underneath. 

Another thing is that with your face out on display, it betters communication. We’re not necessarily talking about you talking to someone as you ride, but more about other drivers and pedestrians out on the road being able to see your expressions. When you want to signal to someone, asking them to either stop and let you go, or signalling them to go first, both things are definitely easier when people around you can see your face. 

These things said, open face helmets obviously compromise on your safety. Your face is quite vulnerable to debris that often flies at you from under car tyres and in case of a fall, your jaw and face will bear the brunt of it. So safety is their biggest downside. 

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Modular Helmets 

Modular helmets are essentially full face helmets but with a hinge mechanism, which on pressing, you can lift the chinbar up and convert it into an open face helmet. These helmets aim to provide the best of both worlds: the conveniences of an open face helmet along with the safety of a full face one. And upto a certain extent they do that. Lifting the chinbar up when riding at low speeds can give you better ventilation and quick adjustability makes it more versatile. Another nice thing is on long rides when you want a quick sip of water, getting your helmet off and on can be a hassle. With modular helmets, you can quickly lift the chinbar up and take a sip. 

The downside is again safety. Of course modular helmets are a lot safer than open face helmets and if you buy one with proper certification, they’re still pretty good. But at the end of the day, they’re still not as safe as proper full face helmets. The hinge that we talked about earlier could be a potential weak point as the unified construction of a full face helmet makes them inherently stronger than a modular helmet.  

Off-road helmets are quite popular as first helmets among enthusiasts and a lot of that has to do with the fact that they look mighty cool. With the big beak on top and less bodywork, these kinds of helmets look properly rugged and frankly very cool. So what makes them different? For starters, the beak is there to protect your eyes from dust, glare and even flying things coming your way. They also have more visibility for better peripheral vision since while off-roading, you have to keep glancing down as well. And finally, these helmets have a bigger chinbar for better protection and have larger vents for better ventilation and to manage the heat. 

The downside is that these tend to be quite loud because of the lesser bodywork. If you’re someone who spends long hours out on the highway, you’d want to have a pair of ear plugs. These aren’t the best for high speed riding as well since the big beak makes it quite non-aerodynamic. It catches air and high speeds and your head will be pulled backwards due to that. Finally, these might not be the best during the rains, again because they have less cladding. And the final downside, again, is safety. These aren’t unsafe at all, but they’re made with off-road riding in mind so for some particular on-road scenarios and crashes, these might not be the safest. That said, they’re still uber cool looking helmets and can be a good place to start. 

And we finally come to the most standard type: full face helmets. These cover everything: your entire face, chin and head and that makes these hands down the safest among the lot. Enhanced safety is the number one USP, since these have a strong outer shell and the liner inside the helmet is made to absorb the impact when you inevitably fall over. Because they’re so snug, they also provide much better sound insulation at high speeds. Full face helmets are also the most aerodynamic of the lot, making long days out on the highways cruising at high speeds quite easy. 

The downsides? Well, these often don’t have the best peripheral vision, given their bulk. That also means they’re heavier than the other 3 types of helmets mentioned above. With them being sturdier and better, it also means that they’re usually also the most expensive of the lot. Another issue that we’re sure many of you face is in wearing glasses. These helmets are often quite tight, meaning sliding the specs inside and having them sit on your nose at a good angle can be quite a task.  

These things said, the amount of additional safety that these helmets bring makes up for all of its downsides. If you’re looking for a helmet to get started with, full face helmets are the easiest to recommend.