Smith Maze 2012

I wore this helmet for almost two seasons; it's the comfiest helmet I have ever worn to date. I can mostly attribute the comfort to the weight, or lack thereof. The Maze is the lightest ASTM certified helmet out there. Of course, the weight savings do come with downsides.

First, what I liked about the helmet. As I already stated, it is incredibly lightweight. It's easy to forget you're even wearing a helmet. My usual cold day setup was to take the liner pads out and wear a beanie under the helmet (leave the earpads in though). My goggles went over the helmet. I found it most comfortable to take the pads out, because they were very thin and I could feel them on my head. With a beanie, the helmet felt just as secure and there were no pressure points. On Warmer days, I would ditch the earpads and wear the goggle strap under my helmet or sunglasses. The earpads held the helmet more securely, so when I took them out I always had to make the strap tighter, otherwise the helmet would slide around while doing extreme maneuvers.

As I stated earlier, the pads inside the helmet aren't very comfortable, so I recommend wearing a beanie in lieu of the pads. Given the lightweight nature of this helmet, Smith had to make some sacrifices to save weight. Most noticeably, the outer "hard" plastic is not very hard. While transporting the helmet in the back of my car, my boot fell over on it and compressed the shell. Of course, the helmet was compromised, so I replaced it. While this is entirely user error, all of my other thicker-shelled helmets would have been fine in the same situation. This particular gripe has nothing to do with safety of the helmet, rather it is a warning to other users/potential buyers to take extra care of the helmet during transport and storage.

Overall, this is a great helmet that is super lightweight and comfortable. It would be great for someone who opposes helmets because they don't feel "comfortable" or "natural," because it feels like wearing almost nothing. Just remember to take extra care to it during transportation and storage.

*Helmet was purchased from Backcountry.com in 2012*

User Statistics
Height/Weight: 5'11"/155lbs
Skier type: Freestyle (Park and Powder)
Ability: Advanced
Location: Mt. Hood, Oregon

• Design
  Clean
  Busy
• Weight
  Light
  Heavy
• Durability
  Fragile
  Durable
• Style
  Uncool
  Cool
• Size
  Small
  Big
• Padding
  Thin
  Thick
• Audio / Cell features
  None
  Command center
• Ventilation
  None
  Tons