OUTDOORMASTER KELVIN SKI HELMET

TESTED BY JONAH ROBINSON – AGE 13

Comfort or safety? Probably not a choice you want to made with headwear. Well, this OutdoorMaster helmet fits nicely into both categories.

My son had the honour of testing it. He’s a teenager whose enthusiasm hasn’t completely drained away yet so I managed to get some words out of him like, “it’s actually really comfy”.

Now my son isn’t one for being interested in mirrors (or bathrooms) but he did glance at his reflection on the way out and muttered “it looks OK doesn’t it?”. High praise.

With its matt black colour it looks seriously stylish. And quite serious too. Like it means business. Protecting your noddle is an important job after all. There are 13 colours in all to choose from so good luck with that.

I’m told it has an American safety certification (ASTM) and has a reinforced ABS shell. Now ABS to me means anti-lock braking system but apparently it can also mean Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene which is what a lot of helmets are made out of – it’s very hard and scratch resistant. Now you know.

The helmet is easily adjustable using the dial at the back. The air vents keep your head cool and the ear pads are removable so it’s suitable for hot heads as well as cold. The triumphant tester returned from his excursion with “yeah, it’s a good helmet” and was then more interested in feeding his face than feeding me any more lines I could use in the review.

He’s a keen skateboarder and biker as well as skier and says he’d be happy wearing it for any of those sports. Maybe I’ll suggest he wears it next time he scrambles up a tree way too fast and way too high.

We obviously haven’t tested it under crash conditions (thankfully) and I didn’t suggest to my son that he put it to that sort of test (he might have agreed, he doesn’t always use his head) but for comfort, aesthetics and value this ticks all the boxes.

And for £45 you can’t go wrong. Well, with helmets and the important role they play, you obviously can go wrong (particularly at the lower priced end of the market) but I’m confident we’re in safe hands with this one.