Iron Redemption Gear carries both styles in real volume, 28 open-face helmets and 52 half helmets, and the two collections overlap in price more than most riders expect. Neither style covers your chin, but that's where the similarity mostly ends.

What You're Actually Comparing

An open-face helmet, sometimes called a 3/4 shell, covers the top, back, and sides of your head down past your ears, with a brim and sometimes a snap-on visor up front. A half helmet, often called a skull cap or a half shell, stops even higher, closer to a low cap line, with far less shell around the back of your head. Both leave your face exposed. The half helmet just leaves more of your skull exposed too.

What You Get With an Open Face Helmet

Every open face helmet on Iron Redemption Gear runs on Daytona Helmets, split across two distinct lines. The Daytona Cruiser is the entry line, priced at $119.95 in solid finishes like dull black or hi-gloss white, $139.95 in graphic and visor styles, and $149.95 in metal flake finishes. The Daytona Spyder Jet sits at the top of the collection at $165.95, certified to both D.O.T. and ECE 22.06 standards, the same dual certification pattern seen elsewhere in Daytona's lineup.

The Cruiser meets FMVSS 218, the federal safety standard behind that certification, and is marketed as the smallest 3/4 shell helmet made to it, offered across three different shell sizes for a closer fit. It uses a reinforced strap retention system with a quick-release lock and a one-finger release lever, moisture-wicking fabric, and nickel-plated rolled tubular steel rivets. It's also Bluetooth-compatible, and so is the Spyder Jet; both open-face lines carry it, only the certification and price tier separate them. Sizing on the Cruiser runs 2XS to 4XL, confirmed directly from its product listing, with weight climbing from about 2.05 pounds at the smallest size to 2.45 pounds at the largest.

Browse Open Face Motorcycle Helmets to compare the Cruiser and Spyder Jet side by side.

What You Get With a Half Helmet

This collection is bigger and more varied than the open face lineup, and the pricing needs a closer look than one number can give. The Daytona Skull Cap, in its base beanie style across a dozen color and finish options, runs $99.95. The Hawk and German lines, carried alongside the Skull Cap, are also $99.95. A leather-covered Skull Cap or a Skull Cap with an inner shield runs $109.95. A Skull Cap Graphics line, decorated with designs like Freedom 2.0 or Rockin' Reaper, runs $119.95. At the top, a Grey Carbon Fiber Skull Cap, with or without visor, runs $199.95, the highest price in the entire collection.

The Skull Cap meets that same FMVSS 218 standard as the Cruiser, marketed as the smallest 1/2 shell helmet made to it, also offered across three shell sizes. It uses a nylon Y-strap retention system with a sliding adjuster, the same quick-release lock and one-finger release lever as the open-face line, moisture-wicking fabric, nickel-plated rolled tubular steel rivets, and a dual-density EPS liner named explicitly in its spec sheet. Sizing on the base Skull Cap runs 3XS to 4XL, ten separate sizes, confirmed directly from its listing. The carbon fiber version runs 2XS to 4XL, nine sizes, also confirmed.

Browse Half Motorcycle Helmets to see the full range across Skull Cap, Hawk, and German styles.

Where the Price Tiers Actually Come From

Neither collection prices helmets randomly, and knowing what drives the jump from one tier to the next helps you avoid paying for something you don't need.

On the open-face side, solid finishes on the Cruiser sit at the bottom for $119.95. Add graphics or a printed design and the price moves to $139.95, not because the helmet performs any differently, but because a printed shell costs more to produce than a single solid coat. Metal flake finishes push further to $149.95, a genuine material and finishing cost, not just branding. The Spyder Jet's jump to $165.95 is the one increase tied to something functional: the added ECE certification, not just a different paint job.

The half helmet side follows similar logic with one more layer. The base Skull Cap, Hawk, and German lines all sit at $99.95 regardless of which one you pick, so which line you choose within Daytona's own catalog isn't what drives cost. Add an inner shield or a leather covering and the price moves to $109.95, real added material and hardware. The Graphics line at $119.95 follows the same finish-based logic as the Cruiser's graphic tier. The carbon fiber Skull Cap's jump to $199.95, the single highest price in either collection, is a material change, not a certification change. It's still certified to the same standard as the $99.95 base model, nothing more. You're paying for shell material, not for anything the base Skull Cap can't legally do.

That last point matters if you're shopping by budget. The most expensive half helmet on the site isn't the most certified one. It's just the lightest and most premium-looking.

A Word About Novelty Items in This Collection

Not everything in the Half Helmets collection is a real helmet. Several Novelty Eagle designs, priced at $89.95, sit inside this same collection, and their own product listing states plainly that they do not meet D.O.T. standards, are not designed to be safety helmets, and do not protect your head on impact. That's what a novelty helmet actually is, a decorative shell, not a D.O.T. certified helmet, and that warning isn't buried in fine print. It's stated directly on the product page.

These items look similar to a half helmet at a glance, and they're priced close enough to the real Skull Cap line that it's easy to grab one without realizing the difference. If you're buying head protection to actually ride in, stick to anything listed as Skull Cap, Hawk, or German; all three carry the certification the Novelty Eagle line above doesn't. If you want the look for off-bike wear only, the Novelty Items collection is where that belongs, clearly labeled for what it is.

Sizing, Confirmed by Model

The Cruiser open face helmet runs 2XS to 4XL. The base Skull Cap half helmet runs 3XS to 4XL, one size smaller at the bottom than anything confirmed on the open face side. The carbon fiber Skull Cap runs 2XS to 4XL, matching the Cruiser's range exactly. Don't assume every finish or variant matches these numbers precisely; check the size chart on the specific product page before buying.

Weight Tells the Real Story

Sizing charts only go so far. The actual weight numbers, confirmed directly from each product's dimensions table, explain why some riders pick half over open face regardless of price. The base Skull Cap runs from about 1.60 pounds at its lightest confirmed size up to 2.05 pounds at its heaviest. The Cruiser runs from about 2.05 pounds up to 2.45 pounds across its size range. That means the heaviest confirmed Skull Cap size weighs no more than the lightest confirmed Cruiser size, and every lighter Skull Cap size beats it by a real margin. If neck fatigue on long rides is your main concern, that's a measurable difference, not a marketing claim.

A Few Real Riding Scenarios

The rider doing short trips around town in warm weather tends to lean toward a half helmet. Less shell means less weight and more airflow, and the base Skull Cap's price makes it an easy first helmet to own without a big commitment.

The rider who wants visible coverage and a visor without going to a full shell tends to land on open face. The Cruiser's brim and optional snap-on visor cut down on sun glare in a way a half helmet simply can't.

The rider who wants both legal certification and international compliance, maybe someone who splits time between the US and a country that requires ECE, is the one case where the price gap to the Spyder Jet is worth paying without hesitation. Nothing in the Half Helmets collection offers that dual certification at any price.

The rider drawn to the carbon fiber Skull Cap because it looks the lightest and most premium should know it's actually priced above every open face option on the site. Carbon fiber costs more than the material savings in weight might suggest, worth knowing before assuming a Skull Cap is automatically the budget pick.

A Side-by-Side Look

Which One Should You Actually Buy

If you want more shell around your head without going to a full face or modular helmet, the open face Cruiser gives you real federally certified coverage, a visor option, and Bluetooth compatibility for $119.95 and up. If certification matters more than budget, the Spyder Jet's dual certification is worth the jump to $165.95.

If you want the smallest, lightest legal option, the half helmet Skull Cap starts cheaper at $99.95 and still carries the same FMVSS 218 certification as everything else in Daytona's lineup. Just make sure what's in your cart says D.O.T., not just a graphic that looks the part. Iron Redemption Gear's own product pages make that distinction clear once you're looking at the right listing; this article exists so you know to look for it in the first place.

If you're still deciding between these two styles and something with more coverage entirely, the motorcycle helmet buying guide covers the full range of types before narrowing down to just these two.

Get the Right Helmet for Your Ride

Iron Redemption Gear holds an Excellent rating from over 400 customers, and every order over $99.99 ships free. Still not sure which style is right for you? Email info@ironredemptiongear.com and describe how you ride; we'll point you to the right one.

FAQs

What's the real difference between an open face and a half helmet? 

An open-face helmet covers the top, back, and sides of your head down past your ears, often with a visor. A half helmet stops much higher, closer to a cap line, with far less shell protecting the back of your head. Less coverage generally means less weight and more airflow, but also less shell between your skull and the road.

Is an open face or half helmet safer? 

Neither protects your chin or face the way a full-face or modular helmet does. Between the two, an open-face helmet covers more of your skull, so it offers more shell protection in a fall than a half helmet does, even when both carry the same certification.

Which is lighter, an open-face or half helmet? 

Half helmets run lighter at nearly every matching size. The heaviest confirmed half helmet weight ties the lightest confirmed open face weight at 2.05 pounds, and every lighter half helmet size beats it outright.

Do open face and half helmets come in the same sizes? 

Close, but not identical. The Cruiser open-face helmet runs 2XS to 4XL. The base Skull Cap half helmet runs one size smaller at the bottom, 3XS to 4XL.