7iDP M2 Open Face Helmet

To be honest I'm newer to needing pads and all mountain-enduro lids coming from a road/XC background. After hurting my knee pretty bad despite having knee pads on I did some research and the best pads for me turned out to bethe 7iDP Project Knee. I had never noticed they made helmets before (it only makes sense) and the M2 seemed like it would fit my head great had awesome colors and the limited reviews I could find on it indicated it was well regarded.  And the helmet put me into free shipping territory, so I bought it on a whim.  

Once I got the helmet, I sat it on my head, turned the dial and the fit was so much better than the two helmets it was replacing.  The quality was evident and I loved the look of it.  I wore it for almost every mountain bike ride this year (I have an XC helmet I used a couple times on XC rides) and it was the right combo of excellent venting, great sweat absorbing pads and comfort.  The visor was perfect and the extended rear coverage made me feel more secure.  I didn't have any significant crashes on it and rode it all over the midwest and down in Bentonville.  

This is where the review gets much more important.  Went on an end of season trip to SE Utah, 3 days of hiking/National Parks and 3 days of some amazing mountain biking.  Well 2 miles into my first ride out there I was bombing a fast, rocky descent near Bryce Canyon and somehow I didn't notice a tree; however the tree noticed my 800mm handlebars.  Definitely a high speed OTB landing back of the head and shoulder first and I felt myself grinding to a halt as rocks were scraping along my helmet.  As soon as I stopped I was able to think clearly.  My collarbone was definitely broke (required surgery) and I had epic scraping down the whole left side of my body.  But my bike and head were both fine and I remounted and finished the last 6 miles of the trail back to the car.  On a side note, my camelback was definitely ground into the ground too, I think that saved me some back damage or worse.  Went to the emergency room and everyone asked about my head which was totally fine but the collarbone Xray confirmed the break.  Got out and had to book a flight home the next day to get back to my doctor.  When packing up I finally took a look at my helmet.  The extra rear coverage lacking on lots of helmet saved me big time.  The back was ground down by rocks, the foam was compressed and the shell even got punctured.  Had I been wearing an XC or Road helmet I was have certainly been injured back there as well.  7iDP seems to have amongst the most rear coverage in the game, only thing safer would be a full-face but that's not how I like to ride.  

In conclusion this helmet is not only stylish, high-quality, well-vented and affordable, it also works when you need it the most.  Just ordered another one.