Climbing helmets

[Canal Navvy]

The larger peak on the forestry helmet over the climbing ones is supposed to give more protection to the face from kickback apparently. Personally I use a kask/stein for everything and stay aware of where my saw could go ?

[thetoolnut]

does anyone have two helmets then? one for up and one for down, i would not of thought so.
id say side impact protection is a good idea on the ground too, not just climbing.

I have three helmets, i'm happy enough! [emoji16] As far as I'm aware and I could be wrong but the Pfanner Protos is the only Arb helmet rated for climbing and groundwork.

[Mr. Squirrel]

1 hour ago, thetoolnut said:

I have three helmets, i'm happy enough! As far as I'm aware and I could be wrong but the Pfanner Protos is the only Arb helmet rated for climbing and groundwork.

Yeah, that is wrong... If anything the Protos is less capable as it's ear defenders aren't up to chipper spec. 

All readily available climbing helmets for arb purposes, so kask, vertex, alveo etc are rated and appropriate for ground work. I'm not sure where the idea comes from that they aren't but it's nonsense. 

[thetoolnut]

I was referring to the top and side impact ratings being compatible with groundwork and climbing on the Protos.

[MattyF]

There is two different specs of protos though ,forestry and Arb.

[Mr. Squirrel]

Yeah, but the Protos meets the same standards as any other climbing helmet in arb. Climbing helmets are totally fine to use on the ground, ground helmets aren't ok up a tree.

The only difference in forestry and arb Protos models is the chinstrap. 

 

[MattyF]

Yeah, but the Protos meets the same standards as any other climbing helmet in arb. Climbing helmets are totally fine to use on the ground, ground helmets aren't ok up a tree.
The only difference in forestry and arb Protos models is the chinstrap. 
 

Yes but climbing and ground helmets have different impact ratings... designed for different tasks , I’m not 100% on the protos though.

[Mr. Squirrel]

Crap. I've been completely wrong. My apologies everyone I've so confidently told was wrong...

 

I'm surprised though, I've seen construction workers wearing kask and petzl lids which clearly aren't actually up to spec.

 

The side protection thing is still nonsense though, it's tested as an impact 30 degrees off vertical. Hardly the side...

[Mark_Skyland]

We have had this issue a couple of times and the details are thus. Basically the main difference is the chin strap and the side impact rating the climbing helmets have. Ground (EN397) and climbing helmets (EN 12492) have the same rating for impacts to the crown of the helmet but climbing helmets are also rated for side impact therefore it offers better protection. The chin strap on climbing helmets are designed to keep the helmet on your head and not snap, the chin strap on a ground helmet must be break to prevent strangulation for cases where there is a possibility the helmet can be caught in something and possibly strangle the wearer. There are other differences like the peak on a lot of forestry helmets, whether molten metal or electrical hazards are an issue( affects vented helmets) and if there is a chance of small drop hazards piecing through the vents that most climbing helmets have. But, unless there are helmet grabbing machines on site that have a tendency to try and strangle you then the risks of wearing a climbing helmet on the ground at most arb or forestry sites of work are usually fairly low.

 

On top of that some helmets will have far better levels of protection than EN397 and EN12492 require.

 

A received the above info from Lyon equipment who are not only UK Petzl representatives ( the Petzl vertex vent being the helmet most people ask for advice on) but also specialise in safety training, product  training and they also manufacture PPE. It was taught to me and worded far better than I have just described but hopefully the important points came accross.

[Logjam]

If you're concerned about chinstrap type for ground or aerial work the new Petzl helmets have dual purpose chinstraps.

 

The DUAL chinstrap allows the worker to adjust chinstrap strength in order to adapt the helmet to different environments: work at height (EN 12492) or on the ground (EN 397).

The clip has two positions, corresponding to the following two uses:

- higher strength to limit the risk of the helmet coming off in a fall (strength greater than 50 daN)

- lower strength to limit the risk of strangulation, by releasing if snagged when user is at ground level (strength lower than 25 daN)