vega helmets

I wore a Vega years ago. Unless they have improved the shield, mine was junk. I spent more on replacing scratched shields than the helmet was worth. I advise u to buy a quality helmet like Simpson , impact,or Bell
 
Absolute junk, seen the entire front of one collapse in on a putt putt during a low speed roll. Would not suggest this helmet if you value your safety.
 
Here is a crash video of my 9 year old wearing a new Vega Mach 1 helmet. It was sized for him and properly strapped. 5:11 into the video will start to show you what pieces of crap they are. It was a extremely hard hit, helmet strap stretched on impact. Also a hard plastic liner tab located inside the back of the helmet just behind his head cut his head wide open requiring staples to close up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUEDaTJYeU
 
i have one that i have used since i started racing, and another that i used for years while riding sportbikes, the one i used for bikes has been thru 2 hard crashes and barely have any scratches on it. the ones people have posted about above surprised me when i read their responses, Vega helmets is all i have ever worn and they fit nice and snug for me. they are worth what you pay for them, not everyone can afford to buy a $300-500 helmet just to wear on weekends or a couple times a month, the economy is tight right now. Buy what you can afford.
 
Weddle Racing said:
i have one that i have used since i started racing, and another that i used for years while riding sportbikes, the one i used for bikes has been thru 2 hard crashes and barely have any scratches on it. the ones people have posted about above surprised me when i read their responses, Vega helmets is all i have ever worn and they fit nice and snug for me. they are worth what you pay for them, not everyone can afford to buy a $300-500 helmet just to wear on weekends or a couple times a month, the economy is tight right now. Buy what you can afford.
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If its your child who is trusting in you to keep them as safe as possible, or if its an adult who has family/friends that cares for them and their well being.........and you can't afford to buy quality safety equipment, even if its even one race a year you wear it, then probably not a good idea to even race at all.
 
I have one. Haven't tested it in a wreck but I'm happy with it. Hope I don't have to test it anytime soon. I think it's a good helmet for the $$. Hell some helmets cost more than my kart did!
 
I have one that I find quite comfortable. Maybe I just got lucky, but I would not hesitate to buy another.

......and you can't afford to buy quality safety equipment, even if its even one race a year you wear it, then probably not a good idea to even race at all.
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If it's Snell rated, fits well and does the job, then what are you paying the extra $200 for?
 
Also, from watching that video again, it appears that the kids helmet was a little too big for him, you can see a couple times in the race where his head tilts back or to the side, like the helmet is a little heavy for him or a little too loose on him. And the way it came off when he hit the wall, makes it look like the chin strap on the helmet was not fastened. Im not saying this to be mean or to make you mad, just saying what my observations are from watching the video. I have been in countless wrecks and crashes on everything you can imagine with 4 wheels, and have never had a helmet come off like that if the chin strap was fastened and the helmet fit me properly and was nice and snug fitting. It just looks like his helmet came off way too easy in that wreck, i do not see how it was the helmet that cut your sons head open, do you have pictures of the helmet after the crash to show that it actually was the helmet that caused his injury to his head, to back up your claims reguarding Vega helmets?

I would also like to know what broke on your sons kart leading up to that wreck, or what was the cause of it? He was running down the leader more and more every lap, and was even pushing him thru the turns at one point, but towards the end of the video you can tell something is up with his kart in the last 5 or so laps of the race before he wrecked, he starts going alot wider when coming out of the turns, which is what caused the kart behind him to get a nose under him and eventually got past him right before your son wrecked. It appears that his tires started giving up on him or something in those last few laps after that last caution came out.
 
You should check with Dominic Greco here. He crashed at Daytona if I am not wrong, much higher speed than at most tracks we all race, and asphalt, his helmet even dragged on the ground I think, and he posted pics here. The helmet actually worked better than many others that are much more expensive. Ratings are given for a reason. They are not crap. Of course quality of cetain plastics and shields can be improved, but safety shouldn´t be an issue. On the contrary there have been other famous companies we all know that openly cheated with the homologation labels on some of their products. I have had several accidents myself on Vega helmets and I never had an issue. On one of them on asphalt it actually hit the ground and it only had a scratched. I replaced it because that´s what you are supposed to do after an aciident, doesn´t matter how it looks like outside, but helmet did its job. Actually it worked much better than a much more expensive NZI I used to have in Europe when I had another wreck.
 
Zach,
My wording probably is not the best. I like you and have respect for you, i'm just giving my opinion and not trying to insult you. If you choose to buy cheap safety devices and get hurt or killed its not fair to those who love you that you opted to go a cheaper less safe way. I know the vega helmets are snell rated and may fit some people well but they are made in china and I have yet to see anything built with quality and most importantly consistency made in china. The clone engines are testimony to that. The vega helmet was the proper size but very heavy for my son and his small head did not get the fit like his new Bell GP2 CMR. The chin strap I personally buckle before he goes out and it was buckled properly. The corner worker checked for it being buckled and stated to everyone at the crash scene that it was. It just flat out ripped off my sons head. There is a hard rubbery plastic trim piece that has a fairly sharp edge that is located along the back neck foam area that extends up about 3/8" that cut his head pretty deep requiring staples when the helmet came off the way it did. His head from The impact must have pushed the material inside the helmet and the helmet flexing allowed that plastic/rubber piece to cut him. It was a vega mach 1. If that is what you use , look at the back neck area and you will see that piece im talking about and if you take your hand and push it back into the helmet like a head would on impact and the take your other hand and rotate the helmet like its coming off forward that piece will be sharp on you hand as its rotating around. Multiple that force many times and you will probably see how the cut happened. My son had been racing very hard for 2 days straight with not much sleep and playing football all that day with the other kids and was exhausted. I did not realize that or he would not have even gone out. The track is a 1/5 mile high bite track that was also calciumed for that event and the g forces were incredible. It is disagreed on but 2 laps prior to the crash I was told and I believe I could see some contact with the kart behind him. My son also said he was getting really tired and dizzy just before the crash. He blacked out and went unconscious and was full throttle into the barrier. It is horrible to watch. The Bell helmet with 3 shields and some extra hardware was around $900. It is carbon fiber and weighs only 1300 grms. It was fit specifically for his head. Worth every penny to me as a parent especially after what we went through. His head/neck does not get as tired. He loves the fit feeling. I feel much better just in case something does happen. Zach I know you must have been offended but still what you posted after was concern for Jude my son and trying to figure out what happened. Thank you for that and I was not meaning to sound like I was being a smart guy or talking down to you.
Danny and Jude Stephen #17
 
Judesdad17 said:
Zach,
My wording probably is not the best. I like you and have respect for you, i'm just giving my opinion and not trying to insult you. If you choose to buy cheap safety devices and get hurt or killed its not fair to those who love you that you opted to go a cheaper less safe way. I know the vega helmets are snell rated and may fit some people well but they are made in china and I have yet to see anything built with quality and most importantly consistency made in china. The clone engines are testimony to that. The vega helmet was the proper size but very heavy for my son and his small head did not get the fit like his new Bell GP2 CMR. The chin strap I personally buckle before he goes out and it was buckled properly. The corner worker checked for it being buckled and stated to everyone at the crash scene that it was. It just flat out ripped off my sons head. There is a hard rubbery plastic trim piece that has a fairly sharp edge that is located along the back neck foam area that extends up about 3/8" that cut his head pretty deep requiring staples when the helmet came off the way it did. His head from The impact must have pushed the material inside the helmet and the helmet flexing allowed that plastic/rubber piece to cut him. It was a vega mach 1. If that is what you use , look at the back neck area and you will see that piece im talking about and if you take your hand and push it back into the helmet like a head would on impact and the take your other hand and rotate the helmet like its coming off forward that piece will be sharp on you hand as its rotating around. Multiple that force many times and you will probably see how the cut happened. My son had been racing very hard for 2 days straight with not much sleep and playing football all that day with the other kids and was exhausted. I did not realize that or he would not have even gone out. The track is a 1/5 mile high bite track that was also calciumed for that event and the g forces were incredible. It is disagreed on but 2 laps prior to the crash I was told and I believe I could see some contact with the kart behind him. My son also said he was getting really tired and dizzy just before the crash. He blacked out and went unconscious and was full throttle into the barrier. It is horrible to watch. The Bell helmet with 3 shields and some extra hardware was around $900. It is carbon fiber and weighs only 1300 grms. It was fit specifically for his head. Worth every penny to me as a parent especially after what we went through. His head/neck does not get as tired. He loves the fit feeling. I feel much better just in case something does happen. Zach I know you must have been offended but still what you posted after was concern for Jude my son and trying to figure out what happened. Thank you for that and I was not meaning to sound like I was being a smart guy or talking down to you.
Danny and Jude Stephen #17
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i understand what your saying, you want the best quality you can afford for your son and i dont blame you one bit if you can afford it. Some of us just cant afford to pay $300 for a helmet, much less $900 for one, our choices are limited to what we can afford so most choose the best quality one we can with the money we do have. As far as Vega helmets, thats a horrible experience you went thru with your mach 1, but i still cant say that one or 2 accidents should justify calling a brand of helmet "trash" or "junk" quality, there are alot more people who have had good experience with them than those who had bad ones. Im sure you can look into any helmet manufacturer, even Bell, Simpson or one of the others and see that there have been instances like yours where someone was seriously hurt while wearing that brand of helmet, that kiind of thing is unavoidable when it happens and would likely happen the same way no matter what brand of helmet you have on.

Snell ratings are there for a reason, it gives the racers a sense of trust in the helmet they choose when they choose one with a good rating rather than one that isnt rated or approved. If Vega helmets werent Snell approved and trusted by many, i never would have bought one in the first place years ago. I respect you for what you said in that last post, never did mean anything harsh or bad by what i said, i was just trying to sort of defend Vega helmets because it is not always the helmet that was the cause of an injury or an inadequate helmet that is the cause.
 
Judesdad17 said:
If its your child who is trusting in you to keep them as safe as possible, or if its an adult who has family/friends that cares for them and their well being.........and you can't afford to buy quality safety equipment, even if its even one race a year you wear it, then probably not a good idea to even race at all.
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I'm sorry your son was injured, I can't imagine the horror going through your mind when you saw him crash. Hopefully he will recover soon. I hope the above statement was an after thought. Try to remember who allowed him to race that day, with that "junk" equipment.
 
Compu-kart said:
I'm sorry your son was injured, I can't imagine the horror going through your mind when you saw him crash. Hopefully he will recover soon. I hope the above statement was an after thought. Try to remember who allowed him to race that day, with that "junk" equipment.
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It was a year ago, he was out growing his previous quality helmet, I too asked a bunch of people about helmets and many said they liked the vega. I bought it for him also to "save" money. Up until the accident I had no idea. I remember every day "who allowed him to race with that junk helmet". And that is my whole point from personal experience with "cheap" safety equipment. If someone had told me what im telling now, I would have never bought it.
 
I took a kart frame to the face almost full speed when I hit it. I had a vega on and the impact cracked the front of the helmet. I walked away with nothing more than a very sore shoulder. I now use a simpson but I would not be scared to use another Vega.
 
Do you think that high seat back had something to do with the helmet coming off? Like if it got up under the back of the helmet and popped/pryed it off his head?
Nasty crash thats for sure. Glad he is ok ( minus the cut).
 
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