UKC

Just realised that I have a large number of helmets in my gear pile and it got me thinking why are helmets not more multi use? If you enjoy more than one outdoor sport then you need a helmet for each one. eg Mountain biking, downhill skiing, ski-touring, Canoeing, Paragliding, climbing etc.

It would be good if they can have some multi-sport helmets. Do you think this is being looked at within the industry or do you think that helmets are too niche so require different capabilities or perhaps more cynically are they trying to sell us more than one helmet. 

Be interested to hear people's thoughts.

The original Petzl Meteor was rated for Cycling, Skiing and Climbing. They have since ditched cycling and not it is just ski-touring and climbing. I have a rather expensive helmet that I use in water rescue Manta SAR MH4, it is rated for a whole host of stuff (water, technical, quadbikes etc).

I think the differences in requirements between say a mountain biking helmet, kayaking helmet, climbing helmet, etc. compared to the relatively minor cost considering it if literally life & death mean that you'll never have an all singing, all dancing helmet for all activities (I could imagine helmets for mountain biking and skiing having some cross-over though).

A mountain biking helmet is unlikely to need to protect you against falling rocks, so will be less good at deflecting and will probably have big breathable vents that wouldn't stop pointy missiles skewering your head. They also don't need to protect the back of your head as much as a climbing helmet as they're pretty much just going to be subjected to hard & fast head-on impact vs potentially inverting and bashing the back of your head on a cliff. 

My wife was on about this.

Climbing needs the big impact resistance + protection when thutching up stuff. = hard foam + plastic

Cycling only needs the big impact = hard foam

Kayak needs some impact and some cushioning = soft foam + plastic (presumably it should be too buoyant to make rolling hard)

So, could you make a plastic shell that takes a cycling helmet to become climbing, that can take a foam insert for paddling....

I think it's actually that to work for all the compromises in design make it too much of a jack of all trades but not well suited for any of the activities. Take for example the mountain bike helmet and ski helmet I own which are both designed for similar levels of protection but both have features that would be totally unnecessary on the other, closeable vents on the ski helmet, huge vents with insect mesh on the bike helmet, ear muff bits on ski helmet, usually totally unnecessary on a bike helmet, visor on bike helmet, would probably just get in the way of your goggles on a ski helmet etc etc.

Sorry I thought this was a thread about Boris Johnson.

He said ‘rule’; Boris is there to draw attention away from those whom make the decisions, not to wield power himself.  
As such he has been spectacularly successful!

Something based on the Sutton Hoo design'd be very fetching, particularly for munro bagging in darkness

An good question to pose. I can see were a climbing helmet would be perfectly good and safe to wear as a helmet for cycling and as a broad example.  Helmets are not a legal requirement in the UK, for participation in many sports activities.  We wear them for our own protection as advised by various codes and were they are a requirement to cover insurance.  The thing is most of us have the expendable income to buy specialized kit. Manufactures know this so they provide it and we do indeed buy it.  May be just simply wear your climbing helmet next time your out on your bike and see how it goes.