If you are hire karting, you need nothing. 131 of the 137 tracks in this directory run hire sessions, and a helmet comes with the session. For a first few visits that is genuinely the right answer. The other six are owner-driver club circuits, where you bring everything yourself.
Buy one when you are going often enough to want your own, or when you start racing and the regulations require a specific standard. That second case is where people get it wrong, because “kart helmet” covers several different approvals and buying the wrong one means being turned away at scrutineering. If you are at that stage, starting owner-driver karting covers the rest of the route.
The standards, and who needs which
Snell CMR2016 is the one for young drivers. CMR stands for Children’s Motorsport Racing, and the shells are built lighter to reduce the load on a developing neck. If your child is racing Cadet, Bambino, Mini or Junior, this is almost certainly the standard the regulations will name. Demon Tweeks list CMR2016 helmets separately, which saves filtering by hand.
Snell SA2020, and its predecessor SA2015, cover senior competition. SA helmets are tested for fire resistance as well as impact, because the standard was written for cars. They are heavier than CMR helmets, which is exactly why CMR exists. SA2020 helmets are listed separately too.
FIA 8859-2015 and FIA 8860-2018 are the top tier, and mostly relevant if you are racing at a level that demands them. The 8860 helmets cost several times what a club racer needs to spend.
BS6658:1985 with the BSI Kitemark is the old British standard, and it still matters because hire venues accept it. Karting at Haynes names it as the standard your own helmet must meet.
ECE 22.05 and ECE 22.06 are road motorcycle approvals, and they are the standard hire karting names most often, because the TeamSport chain lists them at most of its venues. A good road helmet you already own may well be accepted for hire karting, but check the venue first.
The important point: check the current Motorsport UK yearbook before buying for competition. Accepted standards are withdrawn on a rolling basis, and a helmet that was legal three seasons ago may not be now. Retailers are generally good about labelling this, but the regulations are the authority, not the product page.
Can you bring your own helmet to a hire track?
Usually yes, with conditions. 68 of the 137 tracks publish a rule on own helmets, and none of them bans own helmets outright. What they ask for varies more than you might expect.
Full face is the near-universal requirement. 59 of the 68 mention full face in their rule, and 37 mention a visor. Red Lodge Karting wants full face with a visor, Rye House full face meeting recognised standards, Lydd any full face crash helmet. The only listing that explicitly allows an open face helmet is South Coast Karting, and only with a visor or goggles.
Some name a standard, many do not. 37 of the 68 are TeamSport venues. 27 of those name ECE 22.05 or 22.06: nine also accept Snell K2020/K2025 or FIA 8878-2024, and nine more say Snell or FIA without naming a version. The other ten say only that your helmet must meet their safety standard. Elsewhere it is a mix:
- Karting at Haynes: BS6658:1985 with the BSI Kitemark
- Daytona at Milton Keynes, Sandown Park and Tamworth: full face with a visor and BS type A approval
- Smart Kart Raceway, Elgin: British requirements, with an EC number on the back
- Xtreme Karting Edinburgh: full face with a visor meeting UK motorcycle standards
Motocross helmets are a coin toss. Haynes, Nottingham Raceway, Anglia Indoor and Karttrak Cromer take them with goggles (Nottingham also wants a chin piece). Lydd and Absolutely Karting Maidenhead refuse them. If a track does not say, assume no.
Someone will check it. Ten tracks, including Red Lodge, Buckmore Park and the three Daytona venues, make own kit subject to Race Director or staff approval, so arrive early the first time.
Tinted visors have a catch. Rye House allows them in daylight only, and Buckmore Park bans dark visors once the floodlights come on. A clear visor is the one that works everywhere.
There is a small saving too. Brentwood and Lakeside make the balaclava optional if you wear your own helmet, and JDR refunds its £5 Race Pack if you bring your own kit.
Racing circuits ask for more
Circuits that also host racing can set a higher bar for hire drivers bringing their own kit. KART Silverstone sets the highest of any listing: own helmets must meet Snell K2020 or FIA 8878 or above, and under-16s must wear a neck brace. If you are buying with racing in mind, buy to the competition standard and it will cover hire karting as well.
Filming from your helmet
If the point of your own helmet is a camera, check first. Most TeamSport venues allow an action camera only on your own helmet, never on theirs. Daytona lets you fit your own to your own helmet, but only its hired ViewPoint camera to one of theirs. Buckmore Park allows a shoulder mount but no helmet mount. Brentwood, Lakeside, Topgear Karting and Xtreme Karting Edinburgh do not allow cameras on track at all.
Fit matters more than the badge
A helmet that does not fit properly is worse than a hire helmet that does.
Sizing is by head circumference, measured about an inch above the eyebrows, all the way round. Manufacturers’ size charts differ enough that you should check the specific brand rather than assuming a medium is a medium. Hire helmets come in a range too: Karttrak Cromer’s largest is XXXL, so a large head is not by itself a reason to buy.
It should be tight when new. The liner compresses over the first few hours of use, so a helmet that feels comfortable in the shop will be loose in a month. When you have it on and shake your head, the helmet and your scalp should move together. If the helmet slides and your skin stays put, it is too big.
Check the cheek pads. They should press your cheeks noticeably. That feels odd initially and stops being noticeable quickly.
No pressure points. A spot that hurts after ten minutes will be unbearable after thirty. Different brands suit different head shapes, which is the real reason to try before buying rather than ordering on price.
For a growing child, the temptation is to buy a size up. Resist it. A loose helmet in an accident is the thing the standard is trying to prevent, and CMR helmets hold their value well enough second-hand that replacing one is less painful than it sounds. The junior karting guide covers the age and height rules that come first.
What it costs
A hire-legal full face helmet starts around £100 to £150. A Snell CMR2016 junior helmet is typically £250 to £450. Senior SA2020 helmets run from about £300 up to well over £1,000, and FIA 8860 helmets are in the thousands.
For a first season of club racing, mid-range is the sensible place to be. The money is better spent on tyres and track time than on the lightest available shell.
The full kart helmet range at Demon Tweeks can be filtered by approval standard, which is the field to check before anything else. The Arai CK-6 is the CMR2016 helmet most junior drivers end up in.
Second hand: be careful
The polystyrene liner in a helmet is single use. It absorbs an impact by crushing, and once crushed it does not recover, even where the shell looks fine.
So a used helmet is only worth buying if you know its history, from someone you trust, and it has never been dropped hard or worn in an accident. Manufacturers generally suggest replacing a helmet every five years regardless of use, because the liner degrades with sweat, heat and time.
A cheap used helmet of unknown history is the one piece of kit where saving money is genuinely a bad idea.
Looking after it
Do not paint it, and do not put stickers on it unless you know the adhesive is safe. Solvents attack the shell.
Keep it in a bag rather than loose in a boot, where it will get knocked. Wash the liner if it is removable. Replace the visor when scratches start catching the light, because in a low winter sun that becomes a real problem.
The short version
Hire karting: use the track’s helmet, or bring a full face helmet with a clear visor and check the track’s rule first. BS6658 with the Kitemark or ECE 22.05/22.06 covers most of the tracks that name a standard.
Junior racing: Snell CMR2016, and check the yearbook for the current list.
Senior racing: Snell SA2020 or the FIA standard your championship requires.
Whatever you buy: get the fit right, buy it tight, and never buy used without knowing its history.
Each track page on this site lists what that circuit accepts, where the operator publishes it. For the rest of what to bring on the day, see what to wear go karting.