Motorcycle Helmet Open-faced vs Full-faced

While different motorists prefer different types of helmets, most stick strictly to full-faced or open-face helmets.

When it comes down to the two, which is the best? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of helmets?

In this article, we will go over the pros and cons of both types of helmets so that you can decide for yourself which is the best one for you.

Open-faced Helmets

Open-faced helmets, also known as half-faced helmets are the most popular helmet in the market today due to the mobility, ventilation, and freedom they provide.

While it gives the user more maneuverability it has to compensate for that with a decrease in safety.

Advantages of Open-faced Helmets

Surprisingly, an open-faced helmet has quite a few advantages.

Due to not having a Chin-bar, open-faced helmets are extremely convenient when the user has to constantly take off their helmet.

An open-faced helmet provides ample airflow for ventilation. Most come with eye shields that protect the eyes from turbulent air currents while still letting the user enjoy the gushing winds.

One of the main reasons people prefer an open-faced helmet is because it leaves the wearer’s face open. This allows people to converse with others while revealing their faces or have a smoke after a long ride or even just scratch their face without having to remove their helmet.

Open-faced helmets are much lighter than full-faced ones, thus they cause less fatigue while a rider has to use them for an elongated period of time.

Some service stations require customers to show their faces before tending to their needs. Having an open-faced helmet will save you the trouble of having to open your helmet every time.

Open-faced helmets also provide better peripherals vision. This decreases the number of blind spots a user has and is a primary safety advantage while driving in heavy traffic.

Disadvantages of Open-faced Helmets

The chin bar is the first part to hit the ground in 19.4% of crashes and all open-faced helmets lack a chin bar.

Many open-faced helmets lack eye shields in which case you will need to wear glasses to protect your eyes every time you go on a ride.

Open-faced helmets leave your face exposed to the weather. This means that you will need additional precautions to protect your face from sunburns, windburns, rain, the cold, rain, and even at times bugs and highway detritus.

An open-faced helmet does not muffle out sound as well as a full-faced one thus the noise and wind of a long ride often leave you fatigued despite the low weight of the helmet.

Full-faced Helmets

Full-faced helmets are designed to cover the whole head as well as the face of the user. The main priority of these helmets is protection and these helmets are usually tested as per the SNELL M standards.

Advantages of Full-faced Helmets

The obvious advantage of a full-faced helmet is the additional protection it provides you.

Sports and entertainment stars will often use full-faced helmets due to the anonymity of the helmet paired with a tinted visor.

Riders also like the fact that these helmets oftentimes make age, looks, and gender indistinguishable.

In addition to protection during a crash, full-faced helmets also provide protection from daily inconveniences while going on a ride.

They provide insulation from the environment which makes them ideal for long trips that go through rough terrain.

Disadvantages of Full-faced Helmets

If you were to switch from an open-faced helmet to a full-faced helmet the first feeling you will have is that of isolation, stiffness, and claustrophobia.

The lack of ventilation in full-faced helmets often makes it very hot and sweaty for you when you are out riding on a hot summer day.

A full-faced helmet muffles out the sound you hear, this makes it difficult to conversate with other people with the helmet on.

Lastly, full-faced helmets provide a limited field of vision with blind spots to your rear three-quarters. This becomes an issue while driving down heavy traffic.

Module Helmet

Module helmets are helmets that have a mechanism to move a chin bar up and down to make a helmet that combines the best of both worlds. These helmets are called module helmets.

They provide more safety than open-faced helmets and provide more mobility than full-faced helmets and are perfect for people who cannot design between the two.

Final Words

We have covered both full-faced helmet and open-faced helmets, their advantages, and disadvantages. Now, some things you should keep in mind for your choice of the helmet are, when you ride( weather, month, etc), where you ride( streets, highways, etc), and what features you want in a helmet.