Bauer Re-akt 95 : great helmet for both round and oval shape

[AJ0005 0]

Hello,

We've been on the hunt for a junior helmet for my son, who has really tested the limits of his Bauer Prodigy Youth: his head circumference is 55-56cm.

We tried to keep it simple first, so just ordered the safest helmet Bauer Re-Akt 200 in size S and.... sent it back. For the relatively oval head-shape of my son, it was too tight in the front and too wide above the ears.

So I started reading online reviews, and came up with a 26 helmet long list of potentials, which I then narrowed down to ovals only and remained with 14 helmets, which we tried on in the local shop.

Before we left home, we expected that the adjustability of Bauer's Re-Akt 150 or CCM's FL 3DS would win the day anytime, so these were our top choices. When trying them on, however, these were the ones that my son threw off his head first, somehow not a good fit. So we went on pushed the shop assistant to try the rest of the list, and he eventually showed up with a dozen helmets!

Top three based on fit:

* CCM FL 40 - size S, first impressions were excellent fit, no pressure points at all, very comfortable but filled-out foam doesn't seem to give much room for ventilation. Unfortunately this one was the heaviest (770g) had the second worse safety rating of the selection (12.19) and looks created a playful 'moptop' impression, almost like a bicycle hemet.

* Bauer 4500 - size S, first impressions were excellent fit, no pressure points initially but later some behind the ears. Good ventilation, relatively light (590g) and acceptable safety rating (8.83). Looks are decidedly old school 'goon' so quite convincing. But the longer my son wore it, the more obvious the pressure point became.

* Bauer Re-Akt 95 - this one wasn't on our list of 14 helmets, as it was classified as 'round shaped' but the shop assistant encouraged us to try, so we did. The size S was decidedly too small (looks like all Bauer Re-Akts come small) so we went for a size M. Great comfort, with no pressure points whatsoever, and a good fit: which was a surprise, as it is supposedly for a 'round' headshape. Excellent ventilation, and one of the better safety ratings (6.29). Looks are decidedly 'bulky footballer' compared to the other two due to the extra padding, but somehow more imposing as a result.

In our case, the online research was close to worthless when it came to the final choice of helmet. In fact our actual real life top 3 list wouldn't even have made the online review top 10. And our top choice wouldn't even have featured on our list at all, as we would have excluded it in the first round due to 'headshape'.

Will report back on the Bauer Re-Akt 95 after a few weeks' of use.

[JV23 12]

My son played for 2 years in one of those.  Great lid, once the intial break in was done, he was never happier.  Just went for the Re-Akt 200 last month because I found it on deep discount.  

[218hockey 50]

Great anecdote. So the 95 adjusts like the 150?

[JV23 12]

No, there isn’t any width adjustment on it.  Just front to back.  

[218hockey 50]

Another 95 question since we just figured out (after purchase) the 150 will not work for us. It's not deep enough.

Is the 95 deeper, meaning are the ear holes "lower" than the 150?

Thanks