Tom Ireson's Climbing Stories: Gear Reviews - The Petzl Meteor III+ Helmet

For a long time, I saw helmets as purely something you wear when you have to. They were clunky, heavy, hot, uncomfortable, and probably more than anything else a little bit uncool. Thankfully, it seems that opinions are changing, and helmets along with them.

After a pretty serious accident at the crag a couple of years ago where neither of us were wearing helmets (more on that in another post), I made the conscious choice to wear a helmet more often.

Charly hanging out in
Verdon, France

Last year my fiancee Charly got herself a Meteor III and I was actually jealous! It weighed about half what my old 'lightweight' helmet did, fit my head really well and the straps would not irritate me even when wearing it for long days out. I actually pinched it off her many times over the season and was always reluctant to go back to my old one afterwards.

Me pinching Charly's helmet for a
route in the Vercors, France

When I finally got my hands on one of my own I was far more excited than anyone should reasonably be over a helmet. On the Petzl Roctrip (see my older post for more on that), helmets were most definitely obligatory and it was so nice to have one that I could happily wear all day.

When I have this helmet with me, it is always an easy decision to wear it. We all know it's better to be wearing one really, so to have one that does not get hot, restrict my vision, feel heavy or even make me look silly is great. The cycling world has totally embraced helmets over the last few years, largely thanks to advances in the technology, and I think climbing helmets of this standard will help to push the climbing world the same way. Apparently the Meteor III is certified for cycling and whitewater too so if I ever do get bored of climbing I will probably still be wearing it!