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RockGardn Warbird

Chin Strap Clip	Visor Adjust Screw/ Vents	h Inside Chin Strap
Padded Liner Out	Padded Liner	A lot of vents in EPS

Description:

The Rockgardn Warbird helmet is a strange bread in the mountain bike world, it is a great bike product that also teaches some history.  The Warbird helmet’s paint job is themed off the two most famous fighter planes in WWII.  The American P-51 Mustang and the Messerschmitt ME-109.  There is a great amount of history in the tales of these famous fighters and Rockgardn has done a great job in bringing a bit of that tale to life in the graphics on the Warbird Series.  The helmets themselves are DOT certified and have a nice large round shape.  The Warbird series is a bit heavier a helmet then the Blacklite and does give a bit more of a Jack-in-the-Box appearance because of the thick protective EPS shell on the sides.  Which is ideal for impacts.  The graphic quality is great and the helmet is sure to attract positive comments.

The outer hard shell of the helmet has four screen covered vents in the shell and three in the chin guard.  The shell vents have two inlets on the forehead and two exit vents near the lower rear.

The visor adjust screw is easy to access and held the visor in place while testing the helmet. The side screws of the visor are low profile phillips head screws which I am sure are on the very inexpensive side but do their job very well. I never had a problem with the visor loosening up or tightening it back down.  Most importantly the visor is of normal size and can get up and out of peripheral vision and never slides down while riding or on a hard impact.

The care put into the making of the helmet is very good for the price. The materials, especially the inner padded liner held together well through the abuse of the washing machine.  Actually I like the Warbird inner padded liner much more than the Blacklite.  It is fully removable and does not have any glued in parts.  This means when removing the liner you wont rip any of the foam off.  The cheek pads are held in by Velcro that is stitched in, and the padded liner uses plastic snaps.  Good clean design that works, easy to remove and reinsert and should last over time.

The inner padded liner is soft and thick in some parts but does have mesh to allow for better heat lose.

The EPS shell is very well vented for a DOT helmet.  There are 11 vents in the EPS shell to help release heat and move air around the head while riding.  Most DOT helmets have 2 or 4 small holes drilled into the EPS shell for venting, but the Warbird has 11.  Almost as good at the Kali Aatma at less than half the price.

There are really only two things I’d like to see improved on this helmet, and they are the inner padding in the chin guard and the plastic rim around the bottom of the helmet.  The inside of the chin guard is a flexable hard plastic that looks less than inviting to smash your face into and the plastic rim around at the very bottom of the helmet around he outer shell is a bit sharp.  While putting the helmet on I sometimes felt like I was getting a shave.  You can file it rounder to soften it up but it should already be done for you.

With Helmet On:

The size I wore was a large and it fit well. My head measures 59cm round, and I found that with most of the helmets I wore a 60-62cm helmet was required for a good fit.

The helmet was most snug around the top of the head and a good fit on the cheeks but not too snug.  There is a bit of left to right play because the helmet is a bit more round.  The fit is different from the Blacklite.  The Blacklite was tight on my fore and back of the upper head, it didn’t fit my oval shape too well.  The Warbird is a much closer fit for my oval head but still a bit round.

There is plenty of room for the ears even though there is no specific cut out for them like some helmets have.

When riding the helmet actually vents very well.  I was surprised because I was told it is the hotter of the two Rockgardn helmets but that wasn’t what I experienced.  I think all the well placed vents in the EPS shell really help.  Of course if you are sitting around and here is not air being forced through the vents than it does get a bit warm.

One of the things I like most about this helmet is the fact that the cheek pads and outer shell come below my chin line.  The helmet feels secure and solid.  The thick EPS shell around the sides means and even along the cheeks means a good hit from any direction and it should do the job intended.  Keeping your brian safe.

Seeing out the helmet is no problem, it meets the 105 degrees of visibility required by the CPSC and fitting large goggles isn’t an issue either.

The chin guard is a good distance from the face but not so much so to seem pointy.  As well the chin guard doesn’t have a break like shape and is more inline with mountain bike only helmets and less moto helmets.

The inner padded liner does a good job of soaking up sweat and wicking it away. Even if the helmet is hotter than say a TLD, there was never a lot of sweat running down my face while using the helmet, as is the case with a TLD.

Cleaning:

Cleaning the helmet is easy to clean and the liner is fully removable.  Nice and simple to get out, a little bit of a pain to get part of it back in but no more than 5 min of messing around.

Fits Similar To:

O’Neal Series 9, Rockgardn Warbird

Goggles:

No problems fitting large goggles.

Leatte Brace:

Because the helmet fits low around the chin line and back of the head the helmet doesn’t have the greatest mobility in the Leatte brace.  Of course that is what you want in a crash, but while riding it would take some getting used to.

Value Rating:

For the money this is a great helmet. It isn’t too heavy, is comfortable, well made, and does what it is supposed to do at a good price.

Overall Rating:

Lets face it, it isn’t a $300 helmet and as such it isn’t as light weight or as well vented as pricier helmets. But overall it does a great job and is better vented while riding then other DOT helmets I’ve tested.  It is comfortable and does fit my not so round head very well. The only reason I can see not getting this helmet would be if it didn’t fit, or you didn’t like the graphics.  But for the DOT safety rating, the great venting while riding and quality it stands out in it’s class and price range.

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Rockgardn Blacklite

D-Ring and Chin Strap	Visor Adjust	Vents above forehead	Inside Chin Guard
EPS Vent	Inside Helmet	Removable Padded Liner	Extra Mesh Cloth

(Click on Thumbnails to Enlarge)

Description:

The Rockgardn Blacklite helmet strikes me as a mature helmet with its simple but good looking black and white coloring and sleek chin guard design.  It also has a fairly small profile for a DOT certified helmet. Looking at it straight on it isn’t as wide as some others, which will help reduce the Jack-in-the-Box head effect.  It is fairly light weight as well.  The XL ranges in weight from 1350-1450 grams which is only slightly lighter than  XL Kali Aatma, 1278 gram at double the price.

The quality of the helmet is very good.  The stitching  and quality of the padding very nice and the outer Thermoplastic shell with it’s screen covered vents and molding are all inline with what you would expect from a more expensive helmet.  The molding around the bottom of the helmet is white, so it tends to show dirt and abuse more, but it cleans up fairly easily.

The padded liner on the inside is on par with other most other helmet, not as soft as the Kali Aatma nor as plush as the Azonic Fury.  Which is fine, because the softness will fad at some point and the plushness restricts airflow.  So this is a good middle ground.

The padded liner is semi removable.  The cheeks pads are held in with a well stitched Velcro, something I would have liked to have seen on $375 TLD, which just uses Velcro stickers.  The padded liner around the head comes out but it doesn’t remove all the fabric and liner from the helmet.  There is still a bit of light weight mesh that is clued in.  My one complaint on this test helmet is that it appears that in the construction process there was too much clue used and it clued the removable liner to the EPS shell and ripped it when removing. This would obviously only happen the 1st time the liner is removed, but it is a bit irritating.

The Blacklite appears to only have four vents in the EPS shell and three in the chin bar.  There are two above the forehead with the ability to be closed and two near the back of the head that vent out of rear.  The EPS shell is rippled similar to the Kali Aatma, but less so.  This creates some space for air to flow over the scalp cool the rider down.  For me, the helmet didn’t get that hot, but I talked to another rider who just switched to a Blacklite off a Remedy and he said his one complaint was that it gets hot.  Otherwise he loved the helmet and the DOT level of safety it provides.  This is in a way not a fair comparison because the Remedy isn’t a DOT certified helmet, so doesn’t surfer from the less vented EPS shell that the Blacklite and other DOT helmets have. But it is a fact, it is a less vented helmet.

The visor adjust screws on the Blacklite are more in line with the O’Neil Series 9 helmet, moto style and you need a flat head screw driver to adjust the visor.  There are two adjust screws located at the back of the visor near the peak of the helmet instead of located below the visor with a thumb adjust screw.  The range of the visor has been increase this year over last years but it is still a narrow range compared to some other helmets.  Mark from Rockgardn said a couple guys had issue with the visor being in their peripheral field of vision.  That has been resolved in the ‘09 model.  The visor itself is of a nice sturdy build and fairly wide.  The visor pivot screws on the side of the helmet have a smooth and low profile and shouldn’t get snagged on anything in a crash.

The chinguard on the Blacklite is a bit sleeker and doesn’t have the birds beak at the end like the Aatma and Series 9 do.  This is nice, it keeps the design in line with downhill helmets as opposed to moto helmets.

With Helmet On:

The fit of the Blacklite is like no other helmet I’ve tried on.  Which is great. It means for riders with heads radically different than mine there is a helmet that will feel comfortable.  The Blacklite was tight against the front and back of my head. It has a more round feel and the chin pads were and loose.  I’ve got a more narrow and long face, especially as I’ve lost some weight over the past year, and the Blacklite is better for a rounder face with a larger profile jaw.  If a Remedy fits you well the Blacklite will probably as be a good fit as well. If a TLD doesn’t fit you well, you might want to look into the fit of the Blacklite.

Do to the fact the helmet fits my narrow and long head so tightly around the top of my scalp there is very little side to side play when I push side to side near the temples.  But conversely when I push side to side down near my jaw there is a large amount of side to side play which did rattle a bit when riding.  So, know your face, if it is longer and narrow the Blacklite is probably not your choose.  If you have a rounder face with a larger jaw the Blacklite is probably going to be a good fit.

There is plenty of room for my ears in the helmet and the chin guard is spaced at a normal and good length away from the face.  The inside of the chin guard has a medium soft feeling foam.  It wouldn’t be too unpleasant a feeling to have the jaw smashed up against it in a crash.

The cheek pads on the Blacklite start at the temples and come to about half way down my cheeks.  The pads themselves are pretty thin and soft but they do their jobs.  One interesting thing about the Blacklite is the EPS shell come down and out to where the cheek pads are.  Comparing it to the Kali Aatma which has no EPS liner along the cheeks, and the O’Neil Series 9 which has thicker cheek pads hide the EPS liner that comes down along the cheeks.  The Blacklite is a good in between.

The helmet meets and/or exceeds the 105 degrees of peripheral vision standard laid out in the CSPC standard and the helmet handles large goggles just fine.

Cleaning:

The cheek pads and liner are easy to remove, though with it not being a fully removable liner my suggestion would be to just soak the full helmet in a bucket rather than removing the liner and having to re-insert it.  Which is a bit tricky.  The cheeks pads are easy to remove and re-insert.

Fits Similar To:

This helmet fits completely differently than any of the helmets this remove.  My only suggest from another rider is that if a Remedy fit you well than the Blacklite probably fit fine as well.

Goggles:

I had no problems with the bigger Blur B-1 goggles on this helmet. There appears to be enough space for large goggles with out smashing the nose.

Leatte Brace:

coming soon….

Value Rating:

This helmet is a very good value. It is well made and can obviously take a beating. For $149 it is obvious that Rockgardn didn’t cut any corners in design and manufacturering.

Overall Rating:

Overall this helmet is great.  The only complaint I had is the extra glue which ripped a bit of the removable liner.  Otherwise, for $149, DOT certified with a low profile and sleek DH designed chin guard, fair weight, you can’t go wrong.  Seriously this is a great deal if you are looking for a DOT helmet.

www.rockgardn.com

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Body armor and off-road outerwear company Rockgardn Sports Inc. of Camarillo, California announced that they have completed the establishment of their new Canadian distribution and order processing facility in Delta, BC.

“We know that we’ve had demand in Canada for some time now, but faced a problem. The larger Canadian distributors already represented competitive brands, and the smaller distributors didn’t have the resources to carry our entire line. It got to the point where we realized that the best way to service our Canadian customers was to just go ahead and establish our own presence.” said Mark Carlton, Rockgardn’s president.

“We’ll now be in a much better position to broaden our customer base, and keep our current Canadian customers happy. Consumers can purchase directly online at www.rockgardn.ca, and we’ll be able to service and grown our brick-and-mortar dealer base as well. We’re really excited about getting more of our products out in the field, and really ready to go toe-to-toe with the other brands out there.”

For more information about Rockgardn’s Canadian operations, contact:

RockGardn Sports Inc.

www.rockgardn.ca

604-628-0399

source: Mark Carlton