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Climbing equipment review: Mammut Skywalker climbing helmet

Climbing equipment | | June 21, 2010 5:00 pm

I hate this climbing helmet! Sorry Mammut, please don’t take it personally, I would probably hate any climbing helmet. I am completely committed to the idea of wearing a helmet for climbing, I’ve just never quite got along with actually doing it.

Mammut SkywalkerI bought the Mammut Skywalker climbing helmet about a year ago. Brother David and I found ourselves primarily climbing multi-pitch routes where rock-fall is a real possibility, so we thought it high time we invested in helmets.

I don’t recall hating mine too much to start with, I think it might have been a bit of a novelty. I probably fell out with the helmet when I saw our first pictures with them on; David and I with our helmets at jaunty angles, both looking like we’re a few sandwiches short of an picnic.

I later started to notice that the helmet kept slipping backwards whilst I was climbing. I have tried adjusting it but it either slips to the back of my head every time I look up, or the chin strap cuts into my windpipe! I have also noticed recently that the lining velcro keeps coming undone, so the lining keeps slipping about, making things matters worse.

To be fair to Mammut, I think that the majority of problems that I have had with their climbing helmet are down to fit. I should have taken more time to try different helmets, rather than just picking the first one I saw. Everyone has a different shaped head; a helmet that fits one person’s head beautifully will slip backwards and annoy the hell out of another.

I won’t point you to an online link to buy a helmet. If you’re going to buy one, go to a shop and try a bunch of them on. Move your head about, look up and down, make sure it doesn’t move. It will drive you crazy later if it does. A mate of mine has a Petzl Altios, which fits me like a glove (for the head) and doesn’t slip around.

If you have a helmet or any other piece of kit you would like to review, please send it to me, gareth(at)rockclimbinguk.co.uk

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Gareth Hanson is a hugely enthusiastic climber and the editor of Rock Climbing UK (this very website!), an online rock climbing magazine for UK climbers. Check out RCUK's Twitter account here.

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  • john robertson

    Hi gareth i own this helmet too i love it i have tried others namely the rockstar and wild country 360. The mammut has its faults agreed but you could do far worse. The design in my opinion is modern and a welcome break from the usual bowl type helmets on the market. I have climbed with it many times and found it to be a cool helmet and the padding inside the helmet helps soak up any perspiration that might be there after the crux move.

    Many thanks
    John.

  • http://rockclimbinguk.co.uk Gareth Hanson

    Hi John,

    Thanks for the comment. Glad the Mammut Skywalker is working out for you. I completely agree on the aesthetics – it’s a cool looking lid. Unfortunately for me, it wouldn’t seat properly on my noggin at all, so I ended up looking pretty far from cool.

    Last weekend I caved in and bought a Petzl Altios (full review to follow). It fits my head perfectly, and is a joy to use.

    It just goes to show what a personal thing a climbing helmet is, and it makes a very strong case for trying it on in the shop. I did try the Mammut when I bought it but I didn’t fasten it up and I didn’t try tilting my head back, a mistake I was keen not to repeat when I bought the Altios.

    Thanks for reading.
    Gareth

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