Are full face helmets really safer than open face helmets

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One of my machine shop customers makes aluminum molds, from a 3D laser scan of (if there still is a) good side of your face, mirror images it, and then creates the Mr. Potato Head plastic piece that will go on your face.
If there is no "good side" left, they use a picture, supplied by a friend or family member.
Oh, and this all happens in a couple hours while you lay there all effed up.
I had committed to full face all the time before visiting this customer, but, now I preach to people I care about.
JMWO
Sobering…
 
I came too late to this thread so I'll just say - let's see you try to get on a race track WITHOUT a full-face helmet. You would be laughed out of the place before getting through tech.

There's a reason for that.
 
For years I commuted by Norton, part in city traffic and part on expressway. At 38deg. F and rain I was thankful for a FF helmet. Fast forward a few years to riding further on expressway on a GW behind a windshield. Open face was so much quieter I wore that until one morning I got to work with frost bitten cheeks. Lap apron and electric vest did not save my face. Back to full-face lid. No lasting damage though.
 
I came too late to this thread so I'll just say - let's see you try to get on a race track WITHOUT a full-face helmet. You would be laughed out of the place before getting through tech.

There's a reason for that.
Most riders don't race , as for helmets there are good and bad points for both, riders still get killed or banged up using both styles of helmet, I have both the full face/flip top helmet for traveling and bad weather, but I prefer the open face for better head turning, better vison and less noise as well comfort with a good pair of sunnies, after near 50 years of riding I still have my teeth, my good looks and my face is still in one piece and yes I have been down a few times in my life and had my share of injuries from accidents both riding dirt and road bikes and my plan when out riding is to come home safe and in one piece, its hard sometimes with so many distracted people on our roads.
I started this thread a while back and I still ride more with the open face helmet, I never going to change, its what I feel best in and I do take the risks, its all part of riding life and coming up to 50 years of riding and 47 years on the Norton, I think I have done good in what ever helmet I wear, its watching what the others on the road are doing around us and I find the open face to be best for looking all around me while on the road.
We all have our choices and ideas about safety, me I am old school and will never change, its the same with leather over light protection, what boots are best we all make our own decisions on what's best for us but I see so many young ones riding with just a singlet, board shorts and thongs (flip flop to non Aussies) or those annoying stylish sports shoes with no socks or ankle socks riding their flash sports bike or Harley's and riding at sub sonic speed around suburban streets letting everyone know they are out on their bikes.
I will never change the way I ride I still ride hard with what ever bike I am on, I am just older and more wiser where I decide to do my hard riding out and away from home and not in the suburbs and with my open face helmet.

Ashley
 
Well, the title of the thread asks if full face is really safer than open face; so the answer is YES.

All the rest is opinion, commentary and storytelling.

(just sayin')
Well a full face didn't save my best friend, snapped his neck from the chin guard hitting his chest, was the only injury he had, whether wearing his normal open face would have saved him we will never know and as I say we can debate it forever which is best, I wear what I like best for me and if doctors had their way they have motorcycles band, as I said to a nurse friend once bikes aren't dangerous its the person who rides them and other road users and a lot of time road conditions don't help.
There are more injuries from broken bones, legs, arms, shoulders etc etc than most head injuries from going down.
I am not going to change as I wear for what bike I ride full face motocross helmet for the dirt bike, flip top/full face for traveling and bad weather, open face for most of my days out on the bikes and we can still get hurt which ever helmet we choose to wear, its the risk we take.
To me the full face vs open face which is safer, non really we can still get hurt which ever one we wear.

Ashley
 
I agree GP ! …. no matter if a rider never roasts a track , statistics have proven time and again for many years now that the FF helmet is safer in all situations …. I might suggest if a rider finds it difficult to move their head side to side , that rider should be doing exercise to improve his range of motion , however if a person decides something doesn’t work for them , no amount of common sense will change their mind ….. for any new riders reading this please buy yourself a FF and know you have provided yourself best chance of saving your head , if things go wrong …
 
A open face helmet has more side vision than a full face helmet and you can turn your head further around than a FF helmet, you might dis agree with me but I do have 4 helmets, 2 full face, one flip top and one open I wear and for vision wise the open face is the best to see what is happening all around me and it don't worry me what other people opinions are which is safer or not and as I say I been riding now just on 50 years and I feel safe in myself in what ever helmet I wear, but I prefer my open face to the rest, for comfort, vision and quietness, but the hardest thing is finding a helmet that is quiet without wind noise without wearing ear plugs and really you don't know what effect that will have trying on in a shop and long term fitting, my motocross FF helmet and OF helmets are so quiet but my FF and flip top helmets make so much wind noise and they weren't cheap helmets and fit nice and snug, I hate wearing ear plugs as I like hearing what going on around me.
Most helmet producers will have data statistics saying which is best but really I have never seen any medical or GOV statistics to prove other wise what is safer or not, anyone can make a opinion but facts as they are just not out there to prove how many lost their lives from wearing a open face to a full face its just not there or how many died from head injuries, as I say we all have our own opinions and choices and if one helmet to another helmet will save our lives and then years ago that Moto1 rider had a accident his helmet rolled away from the crash to find his head still in it, it happens and is out of our hands, its the risk we all take when on our bikes.
It won't stop me wearing any of my helmets from one to the other each one has its prepose and use, one better than the other and is a $800 helmet going to be better than say a $400 helmet its getting the right one that fits as everyone is different in head shape and size.
Remember the old days of heavy helmets, the old Bell full face helmets for one, but then only us old buggers will remember them.

Ashley
 
What's a good full suit to buy? Any recommendations that happen to also be all black and leather I'm keen to own/use one.

This guys leathers are cool:

Personally, I’d recommend made to measure. People think they’re expensive. And of course made to measure costs more than a cheap off the shelf suit. But thats not comparing apples with apples.

Many cheap off the shelf suits are pretty shit. The price difference between a good quality branded off the shelf suit and made to measure is usually far less than people expect. In fact, made to measure can often be cheaper.
For a suit to offer proper protection, all armour needs to be in the right place, all of the time, even as you’re cartwheeling down the road! That’s where made to measure really pays off.
 
Writing the above reply made me realise something…
Racetracks (here in the U.K. at least) demand full leathers, no textiles, and full back protectors.
I think it’s fair to assume that those who argue that “race tracks demand full face helmets, therefore that’s what should be worn at all times” do NOT always wear full one piece leathers with full back protection when nipping out to the shops!
My point being, although I’ve not studied all the data, I do believe it when folk say full face helmets are statistically safer than open facers.
But I don’t accept that’s an argument that EVERYONE MUST wear them ALL of the time.
If we think that then we’d also have to argue that we should all always wear full leathers. Or even better, all always take the car…
 
Modern open face helmets are very thick and catch a lot of wind.

I find that full face helmets strain my neck less at speed and keep the weather off my face better.
Yups, these are some of the perks but if you went down on road you really have no idea how you gonna hit your head so I prefer to have a full-face helmet over an open-face each day.
 
A open face helmet has more side vision than a full face helmet and you can turn your head further around than a FF helmet, you might dis agree with me but I do have 4 helmets, 2 full face, one flip top and one open I wear and for vision wise the open face is the best to see what is happening all around me and it don't worry me what other people opinions are which is safer or not and as I say I been riding now just on 50 years and I feel safe in myself in what ever helmet I wear, but I prefer my open face to the rest, for comfort, vision and quietness, but the hardest thing is finding a helmet that is quiet without wind noise without wearing ear plugs and really you don't know what effect that will have trying on in a shop and long term fitting, my motocross FF helmet and OF helmets are so quiet but my FF and flip top helmets make so much wind noise and they weren't cheap helmets and fit nice and snug, I hate wearing ear plugs as I like hearing what going on around me.
Most helmet producers will have data statistics saying which is best but really I have never seen any medical or GOV statistics to prove other wise what is safer or not, anyone can make a opinion but facts as they are just not out there to prove how many lost their lives from wearing a open face to a full face its just not there or how many died from head injuries, as I say we all have our own opinions and choices and if one helmet to another helmet will save our lives and then years ago that Moto1 rider had a accident his helmet rolled away from the crash to find his head still in it, it happens and is out of our hands, its the risk we all take when on our bikes.
It won't stop me wearing any of my helmets from one to the other each one has its prepose and use, one better than the other and is a $800 helmet going to be better than say a $400 helmet its getting the right one that fits as everyone is different in head shape and size.
Remember the old days of heavy helmets, the old Bell full face helmets for one, but then only us old buggers will remember them.

Ashley
Ashman, got your point but the thing is how will you know which part of your head is gone hit the road first? but I think it really depends upon your riding style and your daily route. I will prefer to have a full-face helmet if my daily route has highways or other high-speed traffic roads. Open-face helmets will be more suitable for some intra-city riding and full-face helmets are for long rides with heavy traffic routes. If you are like on a long ride then you can always carry both and use them as per the conditions.
 
Ashman, got your point but the thing is how will you know which part of your head is gone hit the road first? but I think it really depends upon your riding style and your daily route. I will prefer to have a full-face helmet if my daily route has highways or other high-speed traffic roads. Open-face helmets will be more suitable for some intra-city riding and full-face helmets are for long rides with heavy traffic routes. If you are like on a long ride then you can always carry both and use them as per the conditions.
Well that's the risk I take even on our full Sunday rides where we do between 400 and 550kms I still wear my open face helmet everyone else wear their FF helmets I have good eye protection and feel more comfortable with my OF helmet, when I wear a FF helmet I feel crossafobic having my face completely enclosed, I don't plan on going down but I have gone down a few times with my OF helmet and came out un touched on the face, as I say its the risk I take and I have a few battle scars from going down, lucky nothing serous.

Ashley
 
There's always the bus :) :

'Although motorcycle travel has improved in overall safety dramatically along with all other modes of transportation in the last 50 years, motorcycles are still the most dangerous mode of transport by a substantial margin. Savage’s transportation report documents a shocking 212.57 deaths for every million miles traveled by motorcycle, compared to the vanishingly small figure of 0.11 deaths for every million miles traveled by bus. '
 
There's always the bus :) :

'Although motorcycle travel has improved in overall safety dramatically along with all other modes of transportation in the last 50 years, motorcycles are still the most dangerous mode of transport by a substantial margin. Savage’s transportation report documents a shocking 212.57 deaths for every million miles traveled by motorcycle, compared to the vanishingly small figure of 0.11 deaths for every million miles traveled by bus. '
Google horse riding
It's 20 times more dangerous than motorcycling
 
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