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After almost six years of blood, sweat, tears, and Arizona brush (along with one header from an endo), it was time to replace my helmet.  Originally, my priority was cooling.  Period.  That led me straight to the Klim F4 helmet, but the lack of reviews and the info from the one owner that I know steered me away.

SIDEBAR:  The guy I know is local and also rides in the AZ heat.  He said it was the best helmet he has worn in terms of cooling.  The problem was with durability of those ’scoops’ as he had already broken one off.  We ride similar terrain and while the cooling was nice, a cost to maintain broken pieces was not in the cards.  END SIDEBAR

So I kept searching…

I ended up with an EVS Takt 981 helmet based on a Rocky Mountain ATV clearance (still on as of 12/30/08) and 100% positive reviews:

 
I was not able to try any helmets on locally because EVS is not really a household name yet.  The sizing chart on their site was spot on as I’m not a big fan of buying helmets blindly. 

Anyway, the fit was perfect for me - good skull shape match and snug in the cheeks.  I also immediately noticed that this helmet is incredibly light.  The removeable and washable liner is as soft as a baby’s ass - seriously.

The venting is a far improvment over my previous Fox helmet.  It takes very little movement to get noticeable airflow around my head.  Another nice feature is the adustable visor. 

The graphics/paint job seem to be of high quality, but seriously…that means very little to me.  The helmet appearance is already hacked up from trees & brush.  I think every scratch will buff out, but I just don’t care.

One cool, techie thing that I hope I never need is a softened side of the helmet.  Supposedly, people at the motocross track have broken their collar bone from a helmet impact while crashing.  Take a look:

THE GOOD:

• Very light weight.
• Ultra-comfy.
• Venting is decent.
• It was really cheap.

THE BAD:

• Nothing yet, but I am concerned about parts availability.

THE UGLY:

• What this helmet will look like in one year.

This is a great helmet and it was for a great price.