• Price: £130 / €150
• bernunlimited.com

Bern are helmet specialists, so when they showcase something as a major breakthrough, it’s worth taking a look at. The Bern Heist snowboard helmet makes its debut in the 2017/18 season, and is packed with more features than you can shake a stick at.

“A ribcage-like layout of material soaks up much of the energy from the crash before it can do any damage”

It’s certainly not the cheapest lid on the market, but in value-for-money terms it’s hard to beat. There’s a lot going on in the Bern Heist, not least of which is the stellar protection system that combines a tough outer shell and aluminium impact plates with Bern’s own lightweight, extra-strong ‘Zipmold+’ foam. Both systems have been tried and tested for years, and work well together to keep you safe from all kinds of impacts.

The safety features don’t end there. A ribcage-like layout of material sits in the helmet, separated by small air pockets. When you take a big knock, the cage is able to move and flex within the empty spaces, soaking up much of the energy from the crash before it can do any damage. It works like a car’s ‘crumple zones’, and is just as effective.