I’ve been riding with MET Helmet’s Parachute full face helmet for a long old time now and I’m always being asked about it, so I thought it about time I gave it a little love here on Bikes n’ Stuff. As I used to be Global Marketing and Communications coordinator at Met Helmets and I’m currently sponsored by them, I know an awful lot about this lid, hell, I even wrote the press release back in the day.
So what makes it different to other full faces? Well, the idea with the Parachute was always to offer the maximum level of safety and conform to stringent international certification standards but to do that without the resulting product being hot, clumsy and heavy. In order to do that, MET designed something radically different to a traditional full face lid.
The Parachute feels more like a trail lid than a full face when it’s on your head – it’s super light and airy and rather than being stuffed full of padding that muffles your hearing, it’s held in place with a retention system with an adjustment dial at the back, much like your XC or road helmet. But of course it’s much more than that as it has a built-in fixed chin guard to protect your face, jaw and teeth. I find it great for Enduro, where you’re pedalling as well as pinning it down steep stuff.
The adjustment dial can be turned using one hand for on the go fine-tuning. There are a cheek pads that keep things snug; these come in two sizes so the helmet fits more than one head size. The fastening system uses a double D ring and popper.
At the front, there’s gel padding across the brow which feels cool and comfortable. It’s removable, washable and doesn’t fill up with sweat like normal padding. Round the back, a goggle clip keeps your goggle strap in place and prevents them pinging off. And speaking of goggles, I’ve tried it with quite a few different styles and it’s fitted all of them.
At 700grams, it’s the lightest fully certified (according to ASTM F1952-2032) full face helmet on the market and with huge air flow inlets, it’s surely the best ventilated.
www.met-helmets.com
