COMFORT

The Suomy Mr Jump is a very comfortable helmet. Any helmet that you can wear for nine hours constant riding without complaint gets our vote, and this ticks all the boxes we need, Soft liner, good fit and light weight all contribute to fantastic levels of rider comfort.

DURABILITY

We’ve been using the Suomy for over 18 months now, and it shows do sign of wear. Sure you need to look after it – keep it clean and in a cool, dry and dark place when not in use and wash the liner regularly and it will last well. However a helmet, unlike a dog, is not for life and however much you like it, you need to change regularly.

VALUE

The Mr Jump is a mid priced helmet – not the cheapest, not the steepest. Coming in at around the £200 or $300 mark, it’s what you would expect to pay for a helmet of this quality – in fact you might expect it to be more.

APPEARANCE

The only time this helmets loses marks is on the graphics. They are superb quality, just mighty confusing. Why is there a hand holding a Molotov cocktail, why is it so busy and importantly, who is Mr Jump? We see ourselves more as Mr Momentary Unintentional Airtime. The Suomy looks cool though – what do we care?

In the world of off road helmets, Suomy is not the biggest hitter. With the top riders tending to reach for Airoh, Shoei or Arai as a default  it can be difficult for smaller brands to get a foothold on this lucrative market. Yet, the company supplies helmets to none other than Romain Febvre, current World MX1 motocross champion, so that all may start to change. And on the basis of our time spent wearing their somewhat curiously named Mr Jump helmet, Suomys deserve to be far more popular than they are. It’s one of the best helmets we have ever tested.

Ok so what made us come to this conclusion? The Suomy helmet came out in 2013 and is intended as a purely off-road product. It weighs in at a staggeringly low 997g, and has a composite shell made from a combination of Kevlar, carbon fibre and fibreglass, has a removable liner, variable density foam interior and adjustable visor.

So that’s the basics – why does all that add up to an exceptional helmet?

First off, the weight. If you have a crash on a dirt bike or indeed any motorcycle, the weight of the helmet can affect the injuries you sustain. The momentum on a lighter helmet will be much less than a heavier item – if you have any doubts just shake your head in a beanie and then in a helmet – which is easier to stop? OK so it’s not quite as simple as that in a real crash, but the science in reduced weight helmets is all out there and the Suomy is incredibly light – in fact it’s right up there with the Airoh Aviator, pretty much the market leader.

On the science side of things, the Suomy Mr Jump is cleared for European regulations, which tend to be stricter than elsewhere in the world. Although these regs run to reams of detail, the main points are

• Testing of the chinstraps for strength and attachment
• Direct and oblique impact tests
• Abrasion resistance
• Projections on surface of no more than 2mm
• Mandatory Batch testing
• Flexible outer shell to absorb impacts
• Chin bar strength tests

So if a helmet passes all that, you can reckon on it being pretty spot on to protect you in the event of a big off. We know, we’ve had those moments in this helmet.

Part of the way the Mr Jump offers this protection is the use of variable density foam in the inner, which contains and spreads any impacts. The foam is also cunningly laid down in ridges over the top of the liner which aids cooling of your head, as the air enters through the front vents and travels through the helmet easily, taking heat away from your head.

The removable and washable liners helps cooling too as the soft material wicks away sweat, although as a slight gripe, the light colour does keep a bit of effort to keep clean, but all sections, including the sleeves for the Double D chinstrap, can be taken off and cleaned.

The visor on the Mr Jump is set fashionably high and is adjustable for angle. The high setting allows us to fit a Drift Stealth 2 cameraDrift Stealth 2 camera  to the underside, thereby avoiding branches knocking it off while riding.

In terms of the exterior, there are deep, rich and slightly confusing graphics, cool curves and contours and a good ridge to keep your goggles in place. All good.

What’s it like to wear then? Pretty damn good we reckon. The lightweight is a complete revelation as it’s noticeable straight away and at the end of eight hours in the saddle – the usual neck fatigue just doesn’t happen. The goggle aperture is wide and allows good visibility with goggles on, and the chin bar is close enough to feel inobtrusive, far enough away as to not feel claustrophobic.

On the lining and interior front, the design as vents work really well, channeling cool air through all day long. On a cold day, riders with shaved heads may find this is cooler than you actually want, but a helmet liner gets round that issue.

SUOMY MR JUMP HELMET RATING:

The Suomy Mr Jump is one great lid. From the first time we wore it out on the trails we loved it. It’s light, well made, well designed and really comfortable. Job done. Visit the Suomy website more info on their helmets. You might not find the Mr Jump now, but you will find the next generation  off-road helmet.

Or, if you’d like to find out about the motorcycle expeditions we offer around the world, visit our Ride Calendar to see what’s on and when. Or, if you’d like a private tour for you and your friends in Cambodia, visit Ride Cambodia: a local branch of Ride Expeditions.