You don’t need us to tell you that protecting your bonce is pretty important, but it’s amazing how many snowboarders don’t. However, a recent spate of high-profile injuries has seen helmets growing in popularity.
All World Snowboard Tour events now require riders to wear helmets. The market for body armour has also grown massively in recent years. Perhaps that’s because it’s getting lighter and more comfortable. Or maybe it’s just that more and more people are realising that hurting yourself isn’t much fun. Here are a few features to look out for in your next helmet – many of them apply to body armour too.
1. Protection standard stickers
These show that your helmet or body armour has been tested and meets certain product standards. A CE logo means it meets certain European Union safety requirements, which are expressed as EN numbers. A helmet might say CE EN 1077:2007 for example, which means it’s been rated to withstand impacts of a certain force (in this case 89 joules). You can get super geeky and look up what all the ratings mean (check satrappeguide.com) but essentially, if you can see a CE sticker with an EN number, it’s probably OK.
7. Easy adjusting clips and clasps
