Maine Outdoor Journal

It’s mid July and there’s still a whole lot of summer activities to do before the winter season creeps up on us.

As an advocate of safety while either riding a bike, kayaking, skateboarding and snow skiing, I thought this would be a good time to get a little nutty. By that, I mean protecting your brain by wearing a helmet.

Not just any helmet
There’s a relatively new helmet that has come onto the scene, called nutcase. The name caught my attention last winter while skiing in the Eastern Townships of Quebec when I noticed a fellow journalist wearing one. It looked pretty cool and I just had to find out more about them.

nutcase was created by a designer Mike Morrow, a former creative director for Nike. He is no stranger to understanding consumer demand for lifestyle sports and high design aesthetics. Murrow thought that sport helmets were dull, and didn’t express a wearer’s personality, so he decided to do something about it.

Enter nutcase. You’ve got to admit, the name of this headgear is rather unusual. I’ve heard helmets called other names like brain buckets, lids and now there is a nutcase helmet.

The multi-purpose designs combine highly visual graphics that can be worn on cycles, skateboards, inline skating, scooters and snow wear. Others can be used for water sports. They are aimed at providing unique designs and have become popular with bicyclists, skate boarders, and other sports enthusiasts.

We’ll be doing some digging into the design and safety features of the nutcase helmets and show you some neat graphics of them.

For more info on nutcase, check out www.nutcasehelmets.com

If you’re biking or kayaking, do so safely and don’t forget to wear a helmet. Why not try out a nutcase?


About the photos… by Dan Cassidy



This was the first nutcase helmet that caught my eye. Chris Dehnel, past president of Eastern Ski Writers Association wears this Blackdana design while skiing in the Eastern Townships of Quebec .


Five year old Courtney Rent wears a nutcase Classic Shell design helmet with special graphics and the word Caution on it. The helmet is designed for boarding and skiing.



Kristin Boucher, age 10, looks great in this nutcase Paddle and Surf helmet with the River Rock design.


Nine year old Tim Boucher wears a nutcase with the Tattoo Olive design. The multi sport helmet can be used for cycling or skating.



Tim helmet the Silver Fly design nutcase helmet is great for paddle and surf.