Hornit Lazy Llama Helmet

When considering a helmet for your child you want a good quality, good safety and ideally plenty of adjustability – obviously – and the Hornit Lazy Lama Helmet has that pretty well covered. But possibly the most important thing is that it's something your child will agree to actually wear. And with 15 endearingly mad designs to chose from, it's very likely to have that nailed too.

Our little tester, three year-old Roo, chose the Lazy Llama featuring astronauts, detectives and weight-lifting llamas. It's a well made hardshell helmet, with good ventilation, a proper adjustment system and an integrated LED light.

The skate style does seem popular with the target age-range, though at 367g in a small the hardshell style is noticeably heavier than in-molded alternatives (and 27g heavier than claimed).

Neither construction is definitively safer than the other, and Hornit test all their helmets to both European and American standards (EN1078 and CPSC), though hardshells take more abuse – the common expanded foam/thin shell in-moulded type are designed to work by crushing, and need replacing after a heavy impact.

The shape of the Hornit kids lid is unusual – with its very wide profile it bears a passing resemblance to a military helmet. It sits high on Roo's head compared to other models, but still seems secure, and the extra width means good coverage around the side of the head and ears.

> 16 of the best kids' bikes – we take a look at everything from balance bikes to junior superbikes

Some rivals, such as the Abus Youn-I 2.0 Helmet, have a deeper profile at the back, but the good thing about the Hornit is that the dial is much easier to get hold of. It's therefore more likely that you or your child will tighten it properly.

The adjustment dial doubles up as an LED light, and can be set slow flash, fast flash and constant. The button is child-friendly, though on our test helmet the button got stuck and was hard to work loose.

The helmet has good ventilation compared to most hardshell options, with seven vents on the top, plus two at the front and two at the back. The straps are basic but soft, and feature a standard buckle.

Roo's previous lid came with a soft chin protector which was a nice touch that is missing here. The plastic sliders on the side straps are also basic, and though they're common at this price they will move and need readjusting.

Value

You can find much cheaper helmets on Amazon if you're willing to risk unknown quality, and even high street shops such as Halfords, but for a quality brand and strong design the price is spot on. At the other end of the spectrum, you can also spend a lot more on protecting your child's noggin. If you start looking at helmets with MIPS (Multi-directional Impact Protection System) you can add around another £20 over the £34.99 of this one.

Overall

This is a simple, well-made helmet with good adjustability for different heads and growing kids, and while we could be all sensible and say nothing else matters, we all know looks are everything to the kids who'll actually wear this – and life is easier if they actually like it! Hornit has done a great job there with a ton of cool designs.

Verdict

Well made, easy to fit and adjust to all kinds of heads and good-looking enough they'll want to wear it