I am using an Arai now because of my head shape, hate to spend the money..... But it is lighter and better ventilated than the less expensive ones. I was told only to wear what you think your heads worth. But I was also told that the difference between open face and closed face helmets is whether it is a open casket at the funeral.
Kind of like crashing at high speed - the difference between 70 mph and 100 mph is how far does the corpse slide before it stops ...
I think that is the key for helmets is your head shape as different manufacturers appear to use different molds.
I happen to be fortunate that HJCs fit my ugly noggin really well.
I use flipfaces and so far in my limited experiences they do not fly open upon impact.
There are some instances that all the safety gear in the world is not going to make any difference.
But I'm getting an air vest (after two sets of busted ribs in 6 months - I'm a slow learner!
) because I believe it will help if there is a next time.
The pants are interesting and worth consideration since they come in something besides denim.