Best Bang for Your Buck

Price: $90

Weight: 7.9oz

Sizes: S/M (48-58cm), M/L (53-61cm)

Shell: Polycarbonate

Foam: EPS

Colors: 3

Adjustment: 2-handed, plastic

What We Like: Well ventilated, Easy rear adjustment

What We Don’t: Magnetic buckle

The Petzl Meteor attempts to bridge the gap between affordability and lightweight performance. Costing $90 and weighing 7.9 oz, it really is in the middle of the pack in both categories. This makes it a great buy for a climber who is looking to shed some weight from their gear but isn’t able to justify going for the more expensive super lightweight options like the Petzl Sirocco. This helmet, like the Sirocco, is made for all kinds of alpine shenanigans like rock climbing and ski mountaineering, as it also has the CE certification for ski mountaineering. The Petzl Meteor is an affordable option for those who are tired of lugging around heavier ABS plastic helmets and want to get into the lightweight world without absolutely smashing their bank accounts wide open. For these reasons the Petzl Meteor won the Best Bang for Your Buck award.

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See Our Best Climbing Helmet Review HERE!

Construction

The Meteor has been designed with affordable lightweight performance in mind. Petzl used molded EPS foam throughout the entire helmet and protected the foam with a polycarbonate shell. Both materials are extremely lightweight without compromising safety. Polycarbonate is not as resistant to big bangs as ABS plastic, but it will shield the foam that does all of the heavy protecting.

Adjustability

The Meteor takes the best of both worlds from the Sirocco and Boreo when it comes to the adjustment systems. You get the plastic rear adjustment strap from the Boreo with the magnetic chin strap buckle from the Sirocco to have a very well designed strap system. The magnet does seem to collect a fair amount of dirt and will need some cleaning to work properly in certain situations. There is a fair amount of adjustment along the ear yolks as well to get the chin strap in a comfortable position away from the climber’s neck.

Accessories

Just like its more expensive counterpart, the Petzl Sirocco, the Meteor has really easy-to-use headlamp straps and tabs. The two front tabs are flexible and have a tooth at the bottom to effectively hold onto the headlamp strap. At the back of the helmet, the bungee cord holds headlamps or ski goggles and can be easily manipulated while wearing gloves with the helmet on your head. There are also the pre-drilled holes in the front “corners” of the helmet that are compatible with Petzl’s face shields like the VIZIR and VIZEN.

Venting along the Meteor has been well implemented, with 21 vent holes spread throughout the helmet. Two of these vents are right along the front of the helmet and allow air to blow right onto the forehead, which does make you feel much cooler than other helmets.

The Bottom Line

Petzl has done an excellent job of merging the lightweight performance of their high-end helmets with a budget-friendly price tag. While it is not the most affordable helmet, it weighs about 4 ounces less than any ABS plastic helmet and at the end of a long day on the wall, those ounces can matter. Petzl jam-packed this helmet with features that make it super versatile and will work for any climber, from total beginner to mountain guide. We think that this rock climbing helmet brings enough to the table to earn the title as Best Bang for Your Buck of 2021.

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