[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 won't scrimp on safety, period.  I would rather have as much safety equipment as possible.  It's tough sometimes, to decide on what to buy - better performance-related parts, or ensuring you as the driver are wearing quality safety equipment.

We're really mixing two entirely different questions together as if they were the same thing.

1) Should we cut corners on safety equipment? Clearly the answer is no.

2) Does paying more for a helmet (or other safety equipment) make it safer? That's not so clear (assuming everything considered meets the latest Snell standards and is an appropraite design for the application).

It's also important to remember that a lot of things affect safety, and sometimes the best of intentions makes things WORSE. For example:

a) using a harness without a rollcage, or even with a rollcage if the helmet protrudes above the cage,

b ) as already mentioned, using a great helmet that doesn't fit properly

c) using a large heavy helmet without a HANS devive or something similiar,

etc.

I cringe everytime I see a harness that's mounted below the shoulders. It's a spinal fracture begging to happen. No doubt the owner feels much safer, though.