Spin ANSI Helmet by Kong

We sent out a a sample of this helmet to a climber we knew who had trouble finding a good-fitting helmet.

Customer Review by: Jaeden Siler

“There are a couple interesting things about this helmet. First, it has quite a shallow lid, so doesn't come down as far in the front or back as any of the other helmets I've tried. This can pose a bit of an issue because it is harder to get it to grip your head in the same way because less of your head is inside. Fortunately the adjustment dial on the back also extends downward to compensate for this.

A positive thing about this helmet is that the earmuffs actually form a pretty good seal around my ears, which none of my other helmets do, so it must also fit closer than other helmets. I've still got to tighten up the chinstrap nearly all the way though

For the sake of comparison, I tried this helmet with and without the earmuffs because they do have enough extra weight to pull the helmet around on the head of smaller people. I also attached the earmuffs to my kask to see what it felt like, and that helmet felt even bulkier than the Kong with them on, so I think it is an upgrade for small headed people.

I had a crewmate with a normal sized head try it on, and he didn't like how little of his head it seemed to cover. I had a similar reaction from other guys on the crew. They felt that it offered a lot less protection because it is so shallow. However, none of our helmets are rated for side impact protection anyhow, except the planner protos.

Overall, it worked better for me with earmuffs than other helmets, but it seemed to slip around on my head just as much. Interestingly, it seems to be most annoying in the beginning of the day, but somehow finds a good balance by the end. I will keep wearing this helmet because it allows me to have better ear protection than trying to deal with earplugs in the rain, and also to keep up with adjustments to see if I can find an even better fit with it. Thank you for this opportunity! ”