[robz71lm7]

After sunday's autocross a novice asked on our region's message board about getting a cheap helmet. He got replies ranging from links where you could get an M2000 helmet for $60 and one even $49!

The site we raced at sunday was a military air strip with tall grass off the sides. The dirt wasn't always flat and smooth. In fact, yesterday and S2000 went off into the grass sideways-he wasn't the only one to go off into the grass. Now is it just me or this the kind of place where a good possibility of rolling over exists?

It just kind of disturbs me that people will recommend and use such cheap helmets. Am I being a little excessive here?

What's everyone's opinion on helmets in autocross?

[sgarnett]

I will add that if it was possible for me to walk into a store stocked with "good" helmets and find one that really fit properly, cost wouldn't be a deciding factor.

However, my attempt at mail order fitting wasn't very successful. Helmet sizes, even if they were standardized, are still only based on circumference, not head shape. I tried on quite a few helmets to find one that fit right, but the available selection in this area doesn't include any motorsport helmets other than for dirt bikes and ATVs (and hundreds of DOT).

I would rather be wearing a properly fit cheap helmet (even just DOT) in a crash than a poor-fitting "good" helmet, even if the good helmet really is better. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't protect.