Round or oval head: which riding helmet shape fits me?

That is how our Helmet Center explains it. Helmet makers build their shells around a particular head profile, and our Helmet Buyer's Guide puts it plainly: heads are oval or rounder, and brands build their shells around one profile or the other.

Back on Track's helmet size guide for its Trauma Void helmets starts from the same idea. It says your helmet's shape must match your head for a correct fit, and it sells helmets in oval, round and universal shapes.

This page is about shape. If you haven't measured yet, start with our Barn Talk on measuring your head for a riding helmet, then come back here.

Here is what each says, side by side.

These are fit descriptions from the makers and guides, not safety claims, and they point you toward what to try next rather than telling you for sure what your head is. One rider describes the oval-head side of it this way:

Our Helmet Buyer's Guide says head shapes vary widely between brands, so a size 7 1/4 in one helmet may not fit the same as a 7 1/4 in another. It adds that if a helmet is the right size and pinches at the temples or back, the shape isn't matching and you should switch brands before you size up or down.

Troxel's size guide says the same in its own words. Its fine print says some people may have a unique head shape that changes what size they need, that some helmets fit different shaped heads better than others, and that its chart is a guide only and not a guarantee of fit.

IRH makes the point from another angle. Its fitting page says each helmet style will fit a bit differently, so the number is where you start, not where you finish.

Here is what we could read directly:

Back on Track lists its Trauma Void models by shape: the Pardus is oval; the NEOZ, the EQ3 Micromocca and the EQ3 Smooth Top are round; and the Caracas, the Lynx Smooth Top, the Lynx Micromocca and the Lynx Eventing are universal. The guide doesn't explain what universal means, so ask the maker if the label matters to you.

Our Helmet Center says most One K styles come in long oval as well as round, so more riders find a true fit.

Our IRH page says riders point to the IR4G XLT as the one to try for a long oval head with a taller crown. It is sized rather than dial-adjusted, and it takes replacement liners in different thicknesses to fine-tune how snug it sits front to back. That is the page's reading of rider reports, so treat it as a lead to test, not a promise.

Troxel doesn't label its shapes as round or oval on its size guide, but riders do talk about shape with its helmets, as the rider note here shows.

The Helmet Center says a pinch at the temples means try a rounder fit. The Helmet Buyer's Guide says a pinch at the temples or back in the right size means the shape isn't matching and to switch brands before you resize. Back on Track's guide says forehead pressure may mean you need a more oval shape, and that a helmet that won't come down evenly may need a rounder one.

Those don't contradict one another. They describe different spots on the head and different makers' shells. A helmet that presses on the forehead and the back of the head while gapping at the sides is one pattern; a helmet that pinches at the temples is another. Each guide is describing what a round or oval shell does to a head that doesn't match it.

Makers also describe fit in different ways. IRH's fitting page doesn't talk about head shape at all and focuses on circumference and on how each helmet style fits a little differently. Troxel says its chart is a guide, not a guarantee. When in doubt, the one test all of them share is trying the helmet on, with your riding hair, and noticing what it does.

IRH describes the IR4G and XLT liners as options for finding the most comfortable combination of shell and liner. Our IRH page says the IR4G and XLT take a liner set of eight liners in four thicknesses, and that the Equi-Pro II and SV take liners whose sizes are interchangeable only between certain helmet sizes, so match the liner to the helmet line before you order.

Our Helmet Buyer's Guide is firm that a pinch at the temples means the shape isn't matching. In that case it says to try a different brand before you go up or down a size. Think of liners as the last quarter-inch of comfort, after the shape is right, not a way to rescue the wrong one.

If you wear your hair up to ride, try the helmet that way. IRH's fitting page recommends trying a helmet on with your hair styled the way you'll wear it under the helmet.

Our Helmet Buyer's Guide gives the checks, and Back on Track's guide adds one more:

• Brim: about two fingers, roughly 1 inch, above your eyebrows, and level on your head, not tipped back.
• Snug check: press down firmly on top with the heel of your hand. It should not shift or wobble. Rock it front to back and side to side; only minimal movement is acceptable.
• Skin check: Back on Track's guide says if the helmet moves but your forehead skin stays still, the helmet is probably too big or too oval for your head shape.
• Pressure check: notice forehead pressure, temple pinching, or gaps at the sides, and match them to the table above.
• Hair: try it with your hair the way you'll ride, as IRH advises.
• Brands: if the shape is wrong, try another brand before another size.

We aren't making a safety claim here; we're pointing to where the standards are explained. Our Helmet Center says ASTM F1163 is the US standard for equestrian helmets, that SEI (the Safety Equipment Institute) certifies helmets that pass it, and that every riding helmet it sells meets ASTM F1163. It adds that some also carry UK or European standards such as VG1 or PAS 015.

Our helmet ratings and standards page explains how to read the labels. Once you have a shape and size that fit, check the label for the certification and the date of manufacture, and read our Barn Talk on when to replace your riding helmet so you know when it's time for a new one.