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People say safety lies in your own hands but destiny is in no one’s hands. Yet, to be prepared for the time is in your hands. That is why it is better to fight against destiny. Yes, I am talking about accidents and mishaps. If you are a motorcyclist, you must be well equipped with safety gears. Among the motorcycle safety gears helmet comes first. Here, I will talk mainly about open face vs full face helmets.
It’s all about safety of your head. Everyone wants to be safe while driving a motorcycle. So, you have to take care of yourself. Choosing an open face or full face helmet is totally your own decision. But to I can certainly help you to make the decision by telling pros and cons of open face vs full face helmet.
Before seeing pros and corns, let’s know what actually mean an open face and a full face helmet?
Open face helmet
Open face helmets are actually 3/4 helmets. They cover almost all parts your body except chin. Some open face helmets have face shield and inner sun visor too. They are popular among common motorcyclists, scooter drivers and also among some cruisers.
Full face helmets
As the name itself shows it cover all parts of your face including chin. It also have face shield and inner sun visor. The people who are much cautious about their safety tends to go for this helmet. As this is famous for safety it is popular among all types of motorcyclists.
There are such helmets you can use them as open face as well as full face just removing its chin bar, but thats the other case.
Open Face vs Full Face Helmets According to Pros and Cons
After reading the merits and demerits of both types of helmets we will able to take your own decision. We will start with open face helmets.
Pros and Cons of Open Face Helmets:
Pros
Open face helmets are in trends because of their amazing look. These helmets adds an extra beauty to the riders. Therefore many riders want this helmet for smart look so that they can show off their positive attitude while riding.
In case of an open face helmet, there is no need to take off helmet often. That is why handling and portability of this helmet is super easy. For example, if you go to market on motorcycle and want to purchase some stuff. Here, you just keep the helmet where it is. That is on your head itself. So there is no need to worry about any theft or forgetting the helmet.
It is an effortless work to communicate on mobile or on Bluetooth with this helmet. Just insert your mobile phone in helmet near your ear and you are ready to talk on mobile. Not only this, it is too easy to talk with your co-rider while driving.
The vision range of an open helmet is wide. You can keep an eye on every single object that comes across on the road. You are also able to hear sounds of other vehicles that comes near you. In short, you can make a strategy immediately in case of any mishap.
With an open face helmet there is a lot of ventilation. It helps to minimize the fatigue of driving in a long distance. It keeps you cool and free from sweating.
Generally, the weight of an open face helmet is less. So, with these helmets you are free from a heavy load on your head. Hence, you are not tired throughout your journey.
A report strongly recommends to use this types of helmets.
Cons
The first disadvantage of an open helmet is it is not safe for all parts of your face. As there is no chin bar the chin and area around chin is open. Therefore chin is vulnerable to injury at the most when accident happens. It is important to tell you that chin is highest vulnerable part to impact with 34.6%.
Though, this helmet has maximum ventilation, it can not fully protect you from dust, bugs and debris. Many of the open face helmets have a face shield. Yet, it is impossible that dusty air won’t affect you.
These helmets are not suitable for extreme weather conditions. Think about severe winter and very hot summer days. The frosty cold wind can freeze your face in winter. And in summer, the harsh and hot blow of wind can burn the face.
Pros and Cons of Full Face Helmets:
Pros
The first and most advantageous feature of a full face helmet is it covers all parts of your face and neck. This helmet is popular for its safety. It comes with chin bar which enhances the safety feature of this helmet. With chin bar it offers maximum protection to chin area which is most likely affected area. When you start your journey with this helmet, you are confident about your safety.
This helmet keeps unaffected from the harsh noise of the traffic. If you don’t like the loud noise of the traffic while driving, this helmet is for you. The sound insulation work better in this helmet.
Full face helmet also offers full protection from dust, insects, debris and other flying objects in the air. You can not even imagine this type of protection in other types of helmets. Just pull down the outer face shield up to the chin bar and whoa! Your face is dust free.
This helmet is weather friendly. Specifically for winter. It helps to keep you warm when there is chilly cold weather outside. It is useful in rainy season too. There is a little chance that rain water affect your face with this helmet.
Now these days full face helmets are well built with communication and music system. There is no need to take off the whole helmet to talk on mobile. The Bluetooth system will do this work for you. Listening music while riding without outside noise is only possible in a full face helmet.
With this type of helmet, there is no need to wear sunglasses. Such helmets are already provided with face shield and tinted visor.
The funny yet important benefit of this helmet is identity hiding. Couple of times you have to hide your face from your wife, husband, boyfriend or girlfriend, friends and other people. In such scenario, full face helmet comes to your help.
Cons
The most common disadvantage of full face helmet is its weight. This helmet is surely heavier than any other kind of helmets. You may feel like carrying a burden of weight while driving. This may result in fatigue and tiredness before you reach to your destination.
The ventilation is good but not as fresh and free as you get in open face helmets. In summer days you may feel hot inside this helmet because of limited airflow. As full face helmet is full packed, you are unable to hear traffic sounds. This sound may include a whistle by police, blowing horns or sound of a vehicle rushing towards you fast from behind. This inability to hear may drag you into an unwanted situation.
Wearing this helmet you can not with your co-rider properly. Though you are very close to each other while driving, may have to talk on mobile phone using Bluetooth system.
Itching and scratching phenomenon may become troublesome in case you have an itchy feeling on your face or nose. It looks funny but you may feel annoying to open and close the visor too often for scratching.
This helmet also limits your area of vision. Of course some full face helmets are exceptions. But generally, field of vision of full face helmet is less. It is because of its inbuilt design as a full face helmet.
Conclusion
It is always you who decide which type of helmet is suitable for you. It is not a fight show like open face vs full face helmets motorcyclists. And who will win. Of course, full face helmet is more safe. Saying that, each types of helmets have their own merits and demerits. You have to choose a helmet according to your own physics and safety needs.