The originator of the helmet brim, Bern is back with an updated version of the original Watts helmet. The Bern Watts 2.0 helmet brings the classic Watts look and visor, multi-sport functionality, and the addition of Mips at a great price.
Overview
- Certifications: CPSC, EN1077B, and EN1078
- Weight: 350 grams
- Construction: DSI
- Vents: 11
- Country of Origin: China
Who is Bern?
Bern is a family-owned helmet company from Plymouth, Massachusetts. They’ve been making helmets for biking, water sports, and winter sports since 2004. If you saw anyone wearing a brimmed helmet in the mid to late aughts, it was likely a Bern helmet.
One Helmet to Rule Them All?
It’s rare that folks pursue solely one action sport these days. Mountain Biking, Skateboarding, skiing, and snowboarding all have growing numbers of participants. Each of these sports has its respective helmets but not everyone wants or needs a helmet for every sport they partake in. Bern has addressed this nicely with the Watts 2.0 by gaining three certifications that encompass Skiing and boarding, skateboarding, cycling, and rollerblading. The Bern Watts 2.0 also has a MIPS liner and Air Flare for even more added safety.
What are the Bern Watts 2.0 Certifications?
The Bern Watts 2.0 has 3 separate certifications. Up first is the CPSC certification. This is the minimum American certification from the Consumer Product Safety Commission for bike helmets. It is required of every bike helmet available on the American market.
Next up is the European EN1078 certification. This is the standard for cycling, roller skating, and skateboarding for both children and adults. EN1078 standards require that a helmet not transmit more than 250 G’s worth of force to its wearer.
Finally, there is the EN1077B certification. This is a European safety standard for adult and children’s helmets made for skiing and snowboarding. This is, like the EN1078 standard, a test for how many G’s are transferred to the wearer with a given impact for winter sports helmets. EN1077A is for helmets with ear protection (think racing helmets) and EN1077B is for helmets without.
If you want to dive more into helmet certifications I found Helmet Facts to be quite helpful.
What is the Bern Watts 2.0 made of?
All of those certifications are undoubtedly due to the tech that makes up the Bern Watts 2.0 helmet. To start with, the outer shell is made of a combo of two materials; ABS and Zip Mold. Bern calls this DSI, Dual Shell Integration. ABS is a thermoplastic that is well regarded for its impact resistance and ability to stay that way in cold temps. ZipMold is a liquid injected foam that comes at a lighter weight with a lower profile and is part of the shell.
Moving inward, the next layer of protection on the Bern Watts 2.0 helmet is the EPS foam. EPS foam is similar to the peanut-shaped foam you get in larger Amazon deliveries, but in this case, designed around the impact forces a helmet will take in the event of a fall. It is intended to crush under the impact, reducing the amount of force transmitted to the wearer.
The Bern Watts 2.0 also features Mips. This is a feature rarely seen on helmets at this price level and is a welcome addition. Mips is a low friction layer inside the helmet that allows the helmet to rotate between 10 to 15mm on impact. This is intended to reduce rotational forces on the wearer in the event of an accident.
For more on ABS head to: https://plasticextrusiontech.net/resources/what-is-abs-material/
For more info on Mips, head on over their site: https://mipsprotection.com
What is Mips?
Crashes rarely happen in a straight line. There is almost always some sort of side or rotational impact. This type of impact, or force, can cause tearing to the brain tissue. To counteract this force, Bern has implemented the Mips liner.
Mips is a “low-friction” layer that can rotate in any direction between 10 and 15mm helping reduce the impact of rotational forces.
For more on Mips head to: https://mipsprotection.com
What is Airflare?
The Bern Watts 2.0 comes with a free subscription to Airflare, an app that alerts SAR in the event of a crash. We reached out to Airflare for more info and are still waiting to hear back. When they do, we’ll update this review. In the meantime, head over to Airflare for more info.
How does the Bern Watts 2.0 Fit?
The Bern Watts 2.0 is really comfortable. Each size of the helmet has a good range of adjustability. The size L fits a size range of 59 – 62cm. I am a solid 62cm and this helmet has a little extra room for me. I like that as I usually wear a balaclava underneath.
Micro Adjustments are handled by the BOA closure system at the back of the helmet. It nestles nicely behind your head and when adjusted clockwise tightens snugly, keeping the helmet from moving about when riding through rough terrain.
To further the comfort, the U-shaped earpads and back of head support are removable while the BOA stays attached. The middle of the pads is thin and perforated, allowing for easier hearing, or if you prefer, comfort while wearing earphones. This piece is removable for summer use. I remove the earpads while heli-skiing to allow me to use earmuffs to keep heli-noise at bay.
AirFlow
There are 11 vents on the Bern Watts 2.0. That’s a lot of vents. 6 of them are on the top of the helmet, helping dump heat from the top of your head. Then there are five vents on the back of the
helmet.
These vents do an ample job while skiing the slackcountry and mechanized skiing. No snow gets into the top despite there being no way to close the vents. It would be nice to have front-mounted vents to take advantage of airflow while moving forward. That said, without the ability to close those vents it could end up being quite cold.
Overview
This is one seriously comfortable helmet. I’ve worn n the backcountry touring as well as heli-skiing and lapping the lifts. When I wear it touring or riding the lifts I keep the earpads attached. When I wear the helmet heli-skiing I remove the earpads so I can use earmuffs. It’s a comfortable helmet both ways. There is some wind noise with the earpads removed but that is not an issue solely for the Bern Watts 2.0, it happens with all helmets.
The brim doesn’t block any sun as a winter helmet. It does protect the top of your goggle’s foam from being destroyed. I suspect it plays a bigger role in light protection when wearing the helmet without goggles. The underside of the brim is painted white, which would normally reflect light back onto the wearer. Since you’ll likely be wearing goggles with this helmet I suspect it won’t matter at all.
I would like to see a model with front vents, and possibly, closable vents. This of course, would add cost, and I’d be happy to pay that. This is a great multi-sport helmet that is very hard to beat at its price.
If you are interested in checking out the Bern Watts 2.0 helmet head on over to Bern and check it out!
Pros: Stylish. Brim protects goggles. Very well priced. Jack of all trades.
Cons: There’s no way to close the vents on big storm days,
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Black Sheep Adventure sports was provided with a free sample of the Bern Watts 2.0. This in no way affected our opinion or review of the helmet.
