This season, I was testing a rather particular helmet for my type of snowmobiler : the CKX Tranz 1.5 helmet, distributed by Kimpex. So, as a novice user of this type of helmet, I had it on all season long in order to present my appreciation.
Firstly, I talked about it in my first article but I have to repeat myself : what a beautiful helmet! Kimpex provided me with the orange Evolve model for my test. Along with my yellow pants and my green jacket, I was called “the Ice Tea”.
More seriously, right from my first kilometers, I saw the advantages of a modular helmet. Effectively, the CKX Tranz 1.5 helmet is soundproof and I was not expecting this at all.
If you take a good look at the helmet, you can see all the other features that give its qualities to the CKX Tranz 1.5 helmet. There are many air vents (that I did not really test, just remember the average temperature of this winter…), a heated visor outlet and really comfortable pads.
But details make the CKX Tranz 1.5 helmet so interesting. Here is why. First thing : the strap to fasten the helmet. You just have to clip it like you do with your car seat belt and that’s it! No more frozen hands when attaching your helmet. Another thing I liked, after being very suspicious : the rubber breath guard. At first, I thought it would scrape, freeze my face or stay moist, but nothing like that happened. I was even surprised to find it comfortable! Of course, when you leave the helmet outside and you put it back on, the breath guard is cold, but not frozen. After only a few minutes, our comfort comes back.
Other features of the helmet are noticeable during longer rides. Firstly, who has never been blinded by the afternoon sun? You know, when you begin to ask yourself if clouds would not be better than this clear sky? Well, “clip” (noise made by the single button of the inner amber sunvisor – same color than my helmet furthermore!!) and there you go, not blinded by the sun anymore!
But the feature I liked the most on the helmet is still the proclip opening mechanism. Easy to use, convenient and above all, easy to handle with a snowmobile glove. This is absolutely what I miss the most when I wear full face helmets.
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Some of you must have heard about this problem with the Tranz 1.5 helmet : moisture remaining in the bottom that freezes the opening clip. Effectively, this is a problem that all our test pilots have experienced. Now, Kimpex offers a modification kit that is very simple to use. We tried it and the problem is totally solved following this modification!
I end up this test with great enthusiasm, but mostly with a helmet that I keep close for my next rides under -20 °C. The CKX Tranz 1.5 helmet truly exceeded my expectations. It almost convinced me to change my type of snowmobile helmet. I like to compare it to the Cadillac of helmets : extra-light, fully equipped and with all the details that make it really pleasant. Thanks to Kimpex for asking me to test this helmet.
