A Comprehensive Look at Hockey Helmets

Playing sports is something exciting and a good way to spend your leisure hour. Aside from this, sports can help to keep fit. One of the very active sports that you can try out is hockey. Whether they are inline hockey or ice hockey, you will see how your body will work actively by protecting your goal and prevent them from hitting the puck being passed around by the opponent.

Although this is a good sport to play, it’s essential for you to know the best way in keeping yourself safe while playing. One of the ways to keep you safe while playing hockey is through hockey helmets. The whole hockey sport environment exposes you to a lot of things which may hit you. You will receive everything from pucks, sticks, bashings coming from your opponent who will do everything to stop you from hitting the goal, and even hitting walls and ice. These body contacts can cause you to have concussions on your head and the extent of injury can vary depending on how hard you’ve been hit. It can be as simple as a bump or as problematic as severe head injury. So if you plan to try out this sport, you may need to know the following information first in order to help you know what these hockey helmets are, what they can do for you and a lot more.

HOCKEY HELMET

Upon hearing the term helmet, the first thing that will come into your mind is a circular headgear that is typically worn in riding a motorcycle or in terrain biking. This is true but hockey helmets have a lot of difference when it comes to its overall physical features like the following:

SHAPE

If you will look at regular helmets they have perfect circular shape at the back part. Hockey helmets on the other hand have much contoured shapes at the back part of the head. It has prominent circular shape on the upper part of the back head and then it will narrow down as the shape goes down to your nape. This shape will make the helmet cup or grip your head properly. It will keep the helmet right in place so it will not immediately fall once you started to move actively on the rink. This is an additional feature to secure your helmet aside from just using the strap.

The good thing about this shape is that it will not only maintain your helmet in position but it will also give lesser space for your head to move inside it. Too much space inside the helmet will cause your head to move with sudden movement and will give more impact than those with fitted shapes. Remember that you will have extreme hits and can even cause trauma to your head even if you are wearing helmets so this is why hockey helmet designers made the designs to look like this.

STRAP

Just like the regular biking helmets, these straps will secure your helmet around your chin area. This is the main part that will prevent your helmet from falling.

VENTS

You can also play hockey even if you are not on skating rinks like regular outdoor locations. Hence, you will also experience sweating while playing so these helmets are also designed with vents so you will have proper ventilation on your head. This will prevent excessive sweating and possible heat stroke.

FACIAL PROTECTORS

Another feature that you will find in hockey helmets is the presence of visors or shields and cages. These are the attachments installed in front of the helmet to serve as protection for the facial area of the hockey player. The most common injuries that you will get on your face are flying pucks hitting your face or elbows getting in contact with it. There are a number of options on these attachments used on hockey helmets like the following:

• Visors or shields - These are the face protectors that will cover the upper half part or the entire part of the face. This will protect your eyes from being hurt from pucks, gouging, or sticks hitting the eye. These visors are typically made from durable and shock-resistant plastic.

• Face cage shields - In contrast to visors, these shields will cover the entire facial area of the player. These face cages are made from small metal pieces joined together in order to form a cage-like face protection. The square spaces within the cage are made smaller so the stick handles will not fit and hit your face while playing.

• Combination of cages and shields - This design is starting to be popular in the market. Basically, you place the two protectors together. The upper part will contain the visor while the lower part will have the cage shield.

By knowing these features you will know the different features that will protect you while engaging in this type of sport.

CAGES VERSUS VISORS/SHIELDS: WHICH IS BETTER?

You have already known about the above hockey helmet features that will protect you from the dangers of the sport. But aside from these features, there has been continuous comparison debate about the best helmet or facial protection to choose. Is it better to go with cages or visors as facial protection? After you learn the features of these hockey helmets, the next thing you must compare is how it will protect your face from facial injuries that you may be in danger of receiving. The following are some of the pros and cons of these facial covers so that you can see the best ones that will meet your needs.

VISORS and SHIELDS

Pros

• These are made with high quality plastic that is resistant to impacts or shock. These will be very durable even with long term usage in this sport.

• Visors and shields don’t have spaces in between. Meaning you have a full plastic cover attached on the helmet from side to side. This will ensure you that fingers will not get in contact with your eyes compared to using cages.

• Since shields and visors are made with clear plastic you will not have any problem with your vision while playing. This means that nothing will obstruct your vision from seeing how your opponents moves in the game. Aside from straight on or front vision, peripheral vision will also not be a problem.

• Finally, visors will give you protection for your eyes but with proper ventilation. Visors will just cover your eye so you will have ventilation on your chin area and feel comfortable with the airflow going to your eye area while playing.

Cons

• Choosing visors will only cover the upper half of the face. This means that the lower part of the chin area will still be exposed to potential injuries.

• There is a great possibility that your visor will produce fog while playing, especially in using shields since it will cover your entire face. Since it’s plastic, the cold environment of the rink can cause it to fog. Aside from this fog can also occur as you breathe, especially if the length of the visor will reach up to your nostril area or in front of your nose. Hence, you will also find your vision obstructed because of the fog produced in it.

• Proper ventilation is only possible in using visors. You will still not get maximum ventilation in using full face shields since they will cover your whole face. The space in between your face and the shield may not be enough to provide proper air circulation on your face. This can still lead you to discomfort while playing.

FACE CAGES

Pros

• The material used for this face cover is also durable since they are metal composite. This will also assure you of good protection against flying pucks and injuries caused by body contact.

• Proper ventilation is not a problem with this type of facial protection since it has spaces in between pieces of metal parts. The holes will allow proper airflow but they are also spaced at the right size so stick handles will not fit in it. This is high ventilation and protection merged in one.

• Since it will cover your entire face, you will be able to protect it’s every part like nose, jaw, chin and others.

Cons

• The spaces in between the cages may be enough to protect your from pucks or sticks but they may still be large enough for fingers. There is a great possibility that an opponent may accidentally grab on the cage when the game gets a bit rough.

• These cages can be like screens placed in front of your face. This will cause visual obstruction during the game. Some players may be more focused on seeing the cage and be distracted instead of seeing how the opponents are moving.

• There are also half cages available in the market. This will help you have a visor-like facial protection that will cover your upper face part. Using this type of cage, like visors, will expose your chin or jaws to injuries.

These are some of the pros and cons that you can compare between shields and face cages. Basically, you have the option to get those with maximum protection, comfort, and visual field that will meet your needs. This will help you find the right ones for you as you will use hockey helmets throughout the duration of playing the sport.

Overall, it is important for you to get the best protection for your head, especially when playing a high contact sport like hockey. A hockey helmet will protect your head from any potential trauma that you will get from this sport. There are a number of features that contribute together to work for your head’s protection on this sport. The helmets are designed so it will fit your head snuggly to prevent excessive movements and pressure that will result to trauma. Aside from this, it also has additional features to protect your facial area with the use of face shields or cages. As long as you compare the brands you will get the best helmet that will not only protect your head but also meet your preference in terms of comfort. Review how the helmet has been designed so you will know what you will get.

In terms of style, you will also find the best hockey helmet for your needs since they come in a wide variety of colors to match your team’s overall apparel or just for your personal style. Remember all the reliable brands and compare your helmet from them so you will enjoy your game without worrying too much about possible head concussion or eye injuries because of the sport.