Lightweight hiking helmet rankings: 6 models160–330g by official weight

No. 1 lightweight hiking helmet is the Petzl Sirocco. In head sizes 48–58cm it's 160g and ¥21,120, the lightest of the six. It's ¥1,870 cheaper than the next-lightest, the Black Diamond Vapor (170g).

Lightweight hiking helmets start at 160g. The gap to heavy ones is 170g

The Petzl Sirocco is 160g and the Black Diamond Half Dome is 330g. Both are made for hiking, yet the weight on your head differs by a factor of two.

Of the 6 ranked, 3 weigh 200g or less. No. 1 is the Sirocco, the lightest of them.

How I chose

The first thing I looked at was weight. I sorted by the smaller size's number, lightest first, and checked how much you pay for lightness by price per gram. Last, I read the shell construction and the manual's cautions and swapped close ranks.

• If you want 200g or under, choose from the type shaped from foam (EPP)
• To keep the price down, go for the 300g range with a hard resin shell (ABS)
• Check whether the official page shows the standard label (EN 12492)

This ranking and my picks are made from what you can buy on Rakuten. mont-bell, sold only through its official shop, is shown as out of ranking, with its numbers listed.

Quick table of the 6 hiking helmets

Only the 2 light ones are in the ¥130 range per gram.

Why this order

No. 1 Petzl Sirocco | the lightest of the six at 160g

I'll say this with some heat. 160g is the lightest of the 6, and even the M/L (53–61cm) is 170g, so going up a size adds only 10g. It's 10g lighter than the next-lightest Vapor and ¥1,870 cheaper.

Here's the weak spot. At ¥132.0 per gram, it works out to about 2 times the No. 2 Meteor. It suits people who value lightness over price.

No. 2 Petzl Meteor | 235g with a shell

A thin polycarbonate shell covers the whole thing, so the foam isn't exposed. The official page says the foam and buckle can be replaced.

Watch the size: the M/L is 57–61cm and 245g. It suits people who often shove it into a pack and value a shell on the surface.

No. 3 Black Diamond Vapor | 170g, but with a caveat

The official page lists EN 12492 and UIAA 106 certification. Here's the weak spot. The company's own manual calls the Vapor a lightweight helmet with many vents and says it doesn't recommend it where rockfall is likely.

It's also the most expensive of the six. I moved it down the ranking because of this caveat.

No. 4 Mammut Wall Rider 2.0 | 200g

It uses a hard ABS shell in places, with EPS and EPP foam inside. What to watch is how the information is given: the Japanese official page has only a single weight, "200g," and no standard label.

It's hard to compare by the numbers, so it's 4th. A candidate for people who want to match their Mammut gear.

No. 5 Petzl Boreo | thick shell, 300g and ¥11,000

A thick ABS resin shell combined with EPP and EPS foam. Petzl describes the shell as resistant to scuffs. The weak spot is that it's 140g heavier than No. 1.

It suits people who want a hard shell more than lightness.

No. 6 Black Diamond Half Dome | ¥9,240

An ABS shell with EPS foam, and the lowest price of the six. The M/L goes up to 56–63cm. What to watch is the weight: the M/L is 350g.

One for people who wear it only a few times a year, and people whose head is over 62cm.

Out of ranking: mont-bell U.L. Alpine Helmet and trekking gloves (bought at the official online shop)

The U.L. Alpine Helmet is 178g (54–58cm) and ¥11,900, with an EPP shell. It's 18g heavier than the No. 1 Sirocco and ¥9,220 cheaper.

The Trekking Gloves Men's are an average 46g and ¥5,500, with a goatskin palm. They're built to protect your hands on chain sections and rocky ridges. They're 47g lighter than the gloves I picked in a later section, and ¥2,200 cheaper.

Shell construction and the EN 12492 label

What do EN 12492 and UIAA 106 test?

EN 12492 is a European standard that sets test methods for mountaineering helmets. UIAA 106, from the UIAA (the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation), adds requirements on top of it.

According to the UIAA document, what it adds is an upper limit on the impact test. In both the test dropping an object on the top of the head and the tests hitting the front, side and back, the force transmitted to the head form must not exceed 8kN. A standard is a label saying the test conditions were passed.

For rock and chain sections, get gloves with a leather palm

My pick is the Black Diamond Transition Rock Glove. It's 93g and ¥7,700, in goatskin and nylon. Here's the weak spot. The official description is for belaying, with the caveat "only for belaying and via ferrata."

Cautions that makers and public bodies write

Petzl's manual says a helmet cannot protect from every impact, that you should discard it after a major impact, and that its service life is 10 years. It also asks you to get proper instruction before use.

Nagano Prefecture designates areas such as the rocky ridges of the Yari-Hotaka range as "mountain areas where wearing a helmet is encouraged," and notes that 1 in 4 people in distress had a head injury. In the National Police Agency's statistics for Reiwa 7, 19.2% of people in distress had fallen and 17.3% had slid. For what to carry after an injury, I looked at weight and contents in the first aid kit article.

Who is it for?

This suits people who want to bring their own helmet to mountains with rock or chain sections.

You can also rent one at a hut in the area you're going to (Nagano Prefecture publishes a list of huts that rent them for a fee). If your current helmet is within 10 years of manufacture and hasn't taken a major impact, you don't need to rush to replace it.

FAQ

From how many grams is a hiking helmet lightweight?

The 6 ranked weigh 160–330g, and 3 of them are 200g or under. 200g or under is on the light side.

How many years does a hiking helmet last?

Petzl gives a service life of 10 years, and Black Diamond gives up to 10 years from the date of manufacture. Both say to stop using one that has taken a major impact right then.

On which mountains should I wear a helmet?

Nagano Prefecture designates the rocky ridges and active volcanoes of the Northern Alps, and mountain areas in the snow season, as areas where wearing one is encouraged, and notes that this doesn't mean a helmet is unnecessary elsewhere.

Gear in this article

Ad · Images: Rakuten Ichiba

Petzl SiroccoPetzl MeteorBlack Diamond VaporMammut Wall Rider 2.0Petzl BoreoBlack Diamond Half DomeBlack Diamond Transition Rock Glove

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