Quite obviously, your helmet is your most important piece of safety equipment. As with all safety equipment, you should buy the best that you can afford…and look after it! There are many Regulations for Trackday and Racing helmets and here I’ll try and answer the most important.

TVRmonster endorse the range of Hedtec helmets on sale here.

Types.

Open Face. As the name suggests, the face is open to the elements, so this is not good for open cars (and illegal when racing and open car). Fairly obviously there is a risk from debris thrown up from other cars and your own tyres. Favoured by Rally guys as it helps with communication.
Full Face. A totally enclosed helmet with a chin section with visor over the face. This is a requirement for open cars. Open means radical or Caterham not Sports like TVR.

Materials - External

Polycarbonate. Entry-level type. £200+
Fibreglass. Stronger and around the same weight. £300+

Composites

Glass/Kevlar. Cheapest composite, very strong and reasonably light. £350+
Carbon/Kevlar or Glass. A good mix of strength, weight and price. £800?

Carbon Fibre. As you can imagine, the lightest/strongest and therefore the most expensive. A top line CF helmet starts at £2k + vat and keeps on going!

Materials – Internal/Linings

Blue. Standard lining for a BS Helmets, A BLUE label is required on UK Trackdays.
Red. Superior fire proof lining as required for Racing.

Helmet approved Standards

FIA 8858-2002 & FIA 8860-2004	International racing standard. Minimum and current standards for racing in Europe respectively.
Type A (BS Red label)	UK Racing standard. Minimum for UK racing.
Snell SA2000	USA Racing standard. Minimum for USA (OK for UK). Now superseded by SN2005 and SN2010. All will be approved for Motorsport for sometime.
Type B (BS blue label)	UK Trackday standard.
BS	UK Road spec. Not enough for Track or Race no matter how good or expensive it was. Bike helmets often fail. Now super-ceded by BS A/B
MSA Label	If it has an appropriate level for racing (either FIA/A/Snell) a scrutineer will apply an indexed blue sticker to your helmet on its first race meeting. They will still check it at each meeting though.

Aero and Ducting

Aero. In an open car, the benefit of an aerodynamic helmet is obvious. Less friction means less drag and less effort to control your head.
Ducting. On a hot track or race day, a clever helmet that vents hot air and draws in cold is well worth the fag. Both of these are now standard on good helmets.

Neck Braces are a minimum really. The added weight of a helmet massively increases the effect of whiplash in an incident. A brace may save you serious damage for as little as £30 - a must for the serious track go-er. They are essentially a fireproof foam collar about 2” thick that stops extreme head movement. Fixes in seconds via a Velcro strap.
Hans Device. The Head And Neck device was developed by Charlie Whiting for F1 and has now been adopted by most top end Motor Sport. The helmet as tethering straps that attach to a solid neck yoke that is secured to the drivers shoulders via the shoulder straps of his race harness. This allows only an inch or so of forward movement when secured eliminating whiplash almost entirely.
Hans Posts. When a helmet is advertised with these, it means that it carries the securing studs (or is drilled to take the studs) enabling it to take a HANS at a latter date.

Finally Paint jobs.                           

Many drivers consider these as Talismans and can be as wild as the custom car paint jobs of the 70s, with multi-layer paints and flakes etc. These are legal everywhere so long as they do not obscure stickers or damage. Due to this, most painters prefer a brand new lid and will return any they aren’t happy with. Scrutineers will fail any with the labels damaged or not fully visible. Ultra cool when done well.
TVRmonster endorse the range of Hedtec helmets as the best / most cost effective range of helmets suitable for Track and Race days. Approved to SN2005 they are available in our shop now