Price: $60

Weight: 13.4oz

Sizes: 1 size (53-61cm)

Shell: ABS

Foam: EPS

Colors: 2

Adjustment: 1-handed, dial

What We Like: Comfortable

What We Don’t: Heavy, Too much padding

Maybe it’s in the name, but definitely in the design, but I can’t help but hear the Imperial March and envision Darth Vader walking down a smoking ramp every time I see this helmet. The Mammut Skywalker 2 just has the most Star Wars-y design, but is probably a lot cheaper than any of the helmets in Lucas’ epic saga. At only $60, it is a very wallet-friendly helmet; it’s great for climbers looking to take their activity outdoors for the first time and need something that can take some bumps and bruises.

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Construction

The Mammut Skywalker 2 is an old-school-designed helmet for a modern age. Using ABS plastic as the rugged outer shell coupled with an EPS inner shell, this helmet is built to take some hits. It is the heaviest on our list and most climbers may begin to notice this over the course of a long day. The helmet does only come in one size as well, so it is very adjustable but is a one-size-fits-most helmet with a range of 53-61cm. The webbing inside the helmet does cause it to sit fairly high on a climber’s head and may cause them to bump into more rocks than usual. Unfortunately, the design just does not seem to meet the standard that other lower-cost helmets have been able to achieve.

Adjustability

As for adjustability, if you are able to find the chin buckle behind all of the included foam, that’s a win right off the bat. Luckily, the added strap foam can be removed; we see what they were trying to accomplish but the chin padding quickly becomes a sweat catch and just sits under your nose all day. There is a wheel adjustment system at the rear similar to the Black Diamond Half Dome system. This does make it very quick and easy to adjust if the helmet is being shared by multiple climbers throughout the day. There is adjustment along the ear straps to relocate the chin strap if needed, which is always appreciated.

Accessories

Here is where things get really bad. The vents at the top of the helmet are not very big and are not capable of adequately regulating air flow. The cut-outs in the ABS plastic seem large but get smaller along the EPS foam within the helmet. There are also only 8 total vents and they are all around the same place, which does not provide a lot of air movement. The headlamp straps on this helmet seem like an afterthought. They are so tight to the helmet that testers found they needed to use a knife to pry the tabs open to slide in the strap. Even with the tab open slightly, the thicker headlamp straps struggled to fit in well.

The Bottom Line

Even for a budget-conscious helmet, the value is not there with the Skywalker 2. As a low-cost ABS plastic helmet, there are better options on the market for a similar price and with a more comfortable fit (like the Black Diamond Half Dome). From the odd strap design to the awkward fit, and the overly tight headlamp straps, things just did not seem to come together for this product. Luckily, Mammut still produces some excellent helmets, just in a higher price bracket; it’s a shame that some of that technology couldn’t trickle down to the Skywalker 2.

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