Sweet Strutter Helmet
Price: $200
Where: CKS (www.coloradokayak.com)
When: July 2011
Why I chose it:
- 3/4 of the kayak guides on the Kern River and 3/4 of the semi-pros in all the YouTube videos use it.
- It looks cool.
- It’s Norwegian.
- It received great reviews.
What I like:
I’ve used it four days now and am very pleased with it. My favorite features are that it’s super light and it protects my nose from the sun. It’s totally comfortable and you don’t notice that you’re wearing it. The matte black is cool looking and, while I do feel a bit like a poseur since I’m wearing the same gear in Class III that guys that run Class V wear, I do enjoy have the “it” gear.
Beyond just looking good and being comfortable, it also works. I whacked my head harder than I have in years a couple time floating sideways and upside down a Class III. I saw stars I hit my head so hard, but the helmet protected me from any permanent injuuuuuuuuuu…what? See my sweet battle scars:
What I don’t like:
It’s not straight forward at all to adjust. There are no directions on how to make it fit right. Granted, there aren’t that many things to play with. It has some thin pads on the inside you can move around a little, although I don’t see how they make much of a difference fit wise, and then there’s are two straps on either side of the helmet that come together in the standard Y shape.
Because of the big bill, it’s easy for it to be pulled back by the water when you roll. In the end, you just have to mess around with it for a while to get each strap just-so. Good news is that once I got it right it sits really well. I won’t say it fits perfectly yet, and it might never, but it sits well enough that I still recommend it. I have seen other helmets that have far more advanced fitting technology that are probably easier to fit faster.
One note on the matte black color: it’s not the best for being spotted probably if you’re floating down the river sans boat. It also doesn’t look that great in videos or photos (from a photographer’s point of view). So I would recommend getting the sweet red or blue one.
Pictures:
Overall recommendation: 
I have no affiliation with Sweet Protection or CKS.
The entire Backbone Trail in one day by mountain bike
67.9 miles – 11,352 vertical feet climb – 12 hours 37 minutes
Stuff used on this trip:
An epic ride, the Backbone trail runs from Pt. Mugu right through the entire Santa Monica mountains with spectacular views of the ocean on one side and the valley on the other to the Pacific Palisades. It’s mostly single track and accessible to mountain bikes. Being in the backyard of Los Angeles, it’s surprising how few people are back there. Wildlife is abundant and you’ll often surprise a coyote or a deer or maybe even a bobcat as you come around a corner.
We started at Sycamore cove at 6am. There’s plenty of parking on PCH, or you can park by the Point Mugu State Park campgrounds for $5. The ride started with a pleasant 6 mile warm-up on a flat dirt road, but then soon turned into a fairly tough singletrack continuous 3,100 vertical-feet climb to the highest point in the Santa Monica mountains.
We finally arrived back in civilization just as the sun was setting. We had taken it pretty easy and look forward to next time when we’ll push harder for setting a good time. I think sub-10 hours is very doable. We celebrated that evening at Nobu in Malibu.
Overall recommended expertise level (rookie/intermediate/expert): Expert
Overall experience: 
Markus Reviews 