A Ski Helmet Worth Considering

As a doctor and someone who cares deeply about injury prevention and safety, I am always interested in products that make it easier for people to protect themselves.

I recently came across the Anti Ordinary A2, a ski and snowboard helmet that looks and feels more like a toque than a traditional hard-shell helmet. What caught my attention, however, wasn’t how it looks. It was how it performed.

The A2 meets both ASTM F2040 and EN 1077 snow-sport helmet safety standards. More interestingly, it has undergone independent testing by the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab, which measures both linear acceleration and rotational velocity during impacts, two factors associated with concussion risk. The helmets undergo 12 laboratory impacts involving the front, side and rear of the helmet at different impact angles.

The A2 received Virginia Tech’s highest rating of 5 stars, with a STAR score of 0.42, placing it among the top-performing snow-sport helmets tested by Virginia Tech. With Virginia Tech’s system, a lower score represents better performance.

That is meaningful to me because simply meeting a helmet safety standard doesn’t necessarily mean that every certified helmet provides the same level of impact protection. Independent testing gives us another objective measure to consider when choosing one.

No helmet can completely prevent a concussion or head injury. But wearing a properly fitted, certified helmet and choosing one that performs well in independent impact testing is an important part of reducing risk on the mountain.

I have no financial affiliation with Anti Ordinary and receive no compensation for recommending this product. I simply came across an interesting approach to helmet design, reviewed the independent safety data behind it, and thought it was worth sharing.

As a physician and an advocate for injury prevention, this is a helmet I would recommend considering.

Further Reading

Virginia Tech Helmet Lab: Snow Sport Helmet Ratings
https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/snowsport-helmet-ratings.html

Virginia Tech: Snow Sport STAR Testing Protocol
https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/items/a3ba6dcb-6a6c-4cc5-ab36-3922e3d0093d

Anti Ordinary A2 Helmet
https://antiordinary.co/