Beautiful craftmanship

CAIRNS FOREVER

I have a Phenix TL2 and i have had it for a year. I don’t particularly like it. It’s a nice helmet but I’ll tell you my gripes in case you’re trying to decide if you want to buy one. To me it does not feel significantly lighter on my head. It is definitely not a life changing difference. Especially when the adrenaline is pumping you don’t feel the weight anyway. I have the leather interior upgrade and I wish I would have gotten the basic cloth because if you have short hair/ shaved head it feels like wearing a shoe without a sock. Very sweaty. The phenix bend has a very pronounced downward curve almost like a Bronx but it protrudes out farther than the Bronx and it would hit my pack every time I’d look up. The D ring on the back of the brim is riveted so the ring cannot reach beyond the brim making it very difficult to hang it on things. If the ear flaps were any longer I could tuck them into my socks. The paint is very susceptible to chipping and scratching. I was under the impression that the factory colors used a penetrating dye that would allow the pigment to penetrate the surface so that small scrapes and dings would not noticeably damage the paint. Now maybe I was misinformed and this is false but either way I was disappointed how easily the paint was damaged. Also the leather is very soft so it gouges very easily. You can flex the leather with your bare hands. The helmet was delivered without bourke holes drilled even though I ordered it with bourkes which was mildly annoying. My department issues 1044’s and 1010’s and my shield will not fit the Phenix so it is not supported by the brass eagle at all. And new holes had to be drilled in the shield so it can be screwed in. I knew this when I bought it but just in case you guys didn’t know I figured I’d tell you. It is also an incredibly adjustable helmet which is great but they talk about how low the helmet sits on your head which I guess is true but it’s also a lot taller of a helmet so yeah it sits lower but it feels like it sitting higher than my cairns did. Also remember you don’t want to adjust it so low that when you have your mask on, the helmet is resting on the seal of your mask so just because you can adjust it so that it damn near sits on your eyebrows, do you really want it to sit that low? I am definitely not trying to shit on this company. They put a lot of effort into their product and I know a ton of guys who love the Phenix. I just don’t see many negative comments about them I’d figured I’d let you guys know some of the cons. I’m probably going to keep this as a training helmet and go back to a retro N6A.

Wow, finally found who makes these like LA City wears.

Do you know what color red Angelus paint Phenix uses on the red helmets? They have a fire red as well as plain red.

Yeah, I'd love a leather helmet, but $700? Who's got that kinda cash?

I understand that most US firefighters are very attached to their traditionnal leather helmets and find their design to perfectly fit their needs and "looks cool". But now, how on earth can you think the new plastic "metro" helmet is a decent helmet for agressive and challenging firefighting? It seems the tactics in the US are not agressive and do not require maximum heat protection, that would be a logical solution for "metro" style preference. Where I'm concerned my I think the F1 helmet is a state of the art helmet and offers the best available head protection against all kinds of threats as well as all kind of options, such as attaching the SCBA directly to it.

You paint leather?......oh my

But when you hate that rediculous bronx bend...Cause you cant look up...you cant reshape it. Its a plastic helmet...covered in leather. Oh and your name is stamped into it so good luck selling it!

There’s only one leather. And it isn’t a phenix!!!! Lol CAIRNS forever!!!!!!!

Garbage helmet not buying another one again I bought my 1994 pre msa cairns leather and it seems much better and safer. CAIRNS FOREVER