Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tim Linke on August 10, 2009 at 11:50am

I always say...if your neck isn't strong enough to hold a leather, you shouldn't be a firefighter:) Seriously, though...I have a Sam and love it. It actually holds up quite well...I don't gripe about constant maintenance, because a good leather is like a Harley....you have pride in it and actually want to work on it from time to time. It is a helmet that you can buy once in your career and then paint and rework as you move up the ranks. Financially, they are expensive...but a one-time $500 investment will last you years and years as opposed to purchasing a different helmet (if that is your prerogative) for each promotion. Yes, it does bend a little with the heat, but is easily reformed. No, it doesn't make you a better firefighter...but I like to think that someone willing to spend the money on a leather will also want to invest the time upholding the traditions and honing the craft of the worlds greatest profession....and live up to the expectations of those who wore the helmet before them. I probably haven't given you any good, concrete reasons...but I do love my leather and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Permalink Reply by Wayne Zerbe on August 11, 2009 at 10:18am

John , ive had a leather my entire 16 year as a volly and wouldnt trade it for anything , if you looking to buy one for the first time try ebay sometimes you can get great deals on used leathers i know i got a couple from there for other guys and they use them all the time its not new , but for a first and to see if you really like it before stepping up and paying an arm and leg for one . maitance on the leather clean it off with some soap and water , only ones i hear you have to keep a constant eye on are the natural leathers that arent painted . hope this helps alittle. these are my opinions others may disagree with them

Permalink Reply by Chris Lanter on August 13, 2009 at 3:39pm

i have to agree with tim on this one. i have had my leather for about three years. its a new yorker, but there isnt much difference between that and the huston. i love my helmet. i really havent had any problems with it. yes it does bend a bit when it get hot. however if your an out of the box type of guy you can bend it back. im not an out of the box guy, i dont even worry about it. whatever shap it bends into, i think it showes character. i like to think that my helmet tells a story. all the dings and funky bends have their own story behind them.

when i first got it i was pretty picky about paint chips and cracks. however, that needs to be expected with a leather. they do make touch up pain that you can easily touch up areas if you dont like this chips. most of the paint chips are very small, i have never got to the point where the paint pretty much falls off.

granted they do weigh a little bit more then the normal salad bowl hellmets. but who wears palstic helmets anyways, hahaha. i used to have a 1010 before my leather and after about six months, one of my brother accidently dropped it out of the engine and it cracked the back bill. my leather has been droped alot, there is nothing wrong with it. i dont recomend doing it, but another brother took a window punch to his leather and his old compaosite. the leather ended up with a small hole and the composite cracked like a window. besides after a week or so you neck muscles will get stronger and you wont even notice the difference. least if all you wear is the leather.

to sum everything up, a sam huston or the new yorker are the way to go. all you really have to do to them is wipe them off with soap and water. if they do heat up and bend, just put it in the oven and bend it back to where you want it. but i garentee that it will out last any plastic/compostie one.

P.S. the fire store has them on sale now.

Permalink Reply by Joseph Giordano on August 16, 2009 at 5:17pm

I don't know about anyone else.

But i wouldn't suggest putting 500 bucks in an oven.

granted it goes into jobs with you, i still wouldn't.

Permalink Reply by Blake Smith on August 17, 2009 at 1:03pm

I have a 1997 N5A Large helmet that I am looking to sell if you or anybody else is interested in. PM me for more details.

Permalink Reply by capt4021 on August 27, 2009 at 11:50pm

In my career ive had 4 leather helmets. I had a natural New Yorker great helmet but sold it when i became a white hat and then bought a White Sam Houston after about 3 years it has been burned black the bourkes were burned and than recieved a white and black new yorker for my birthday last year the black is still in the box. However I wouldn't go back to anything else. And everyone ive talked too that has had the pheonix tl2 they said they are junk. But all my lids have stood up and beyond what any normal helmet would ever put up with. Just in the first 2 years in my career i went through close to 9 salad bowls, and 2 lion legends also junk. But I've never had a problem with my leather lids of course the only leathers ive owned were made by cairns.

Permalink Reply by Bill Mulligan on August 31, 2009 at 1:36am

go with carins n5a or n6a forget the rest.

Permalink Reply by joe on October 20, 2009 at 8:39pm

if your going to buy then buuy a cairns don't buy anything else, i have 3 cairns a white one that i bought when i became a officer 9 years ago and yellow one that i have had for 15 years that i bought when i join my new dept. and a black referb one from nyc, i just got my white one back from having some minor maintance done and i would not wear anythiing else ever again .

Permalink Reply by Jerry Kuczynski on October 22, 2009 at 9:06pm

I have been on the job for 30 years and have always wore a New Yorker. I have been thru 3 and am on my 4th now.
My last one became brittle and started to crack and I had to take it out of service. I used it in the burn building too much.
I went to the Firehouse Expo in Balito MD and saw the Phenix TL2. I liked the feel of it. Itis softer than N5A as they do not put resin on it to make it stiff. It does not feel the same as my N5A but I guess I will get used to it.
It is cheaper than the N5A and the front shield comes with it.
I have been wearing it since Aug and have had a couple of jobs with it and found no difference between the 2 other than the leather brim being able to bend. I guess time will tell.
The TL2 meets both NFPA & osha standards. The N5A does not meet both standards.
Iam the only one in my FD that still wears leather. I was told years ago to get a new helmet from supply a 1010.I got it but they did not tell me I had to wear it. Leather forever

Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on October 24, 2009 at 5:19am

There are many pros to leathers and especially Sam Houston's. As a matter of fact, I had always worn a New Yorker, but i swithed to a sam Houston because it is NFPA and OSHA compliant. The greatest selling point to me is the durability. You stand a pretty good chance of keeping your leather for alot of years vs the non leather salad bowls that are built to be disposable. My helmet goes through alot of wear and tear but I haven't noticed any extra maintenance.

Permalink Reply by Greg aka "Slim" on October 27, 2009 at 12:49am

Plastic melts cow dont...

Permalink Reply by Michael Meadows on February 4, 2010 at 10:37pm

I have a question about buying a leather helmet. If I get a N6A Sam Houston from Cairnes without the ESS goggles they are cheaper but are they ok to be used in structural firefighting applications? I'm going to get the Bourke shields but all the goggles I've seen melt pretty quick so I'm not sure why NFPA says we have to use them espically since you can't really use them with an air pack. Any help would be appreciated.

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