Matt black is the most restrained Storm III and one of the three cheapest. It suits a helmet with this much visible hardware better than gloss does, and it carries one real disadvantage that belongs at the top rather than in a footnote.

Everything that is usually an extra

Four things on this helmet are usually extras: the Pinlock 70 MaxVision in the box, the drop-down sun visor, the magnetic chin deflector and the emergency release on the closure.

🔵 The fifth is the one nobody advertises — a helmet fully equipped from the box needs no follow-up order before the first cold morning.

1600 grams — the heaviest in the range, and why

🔵 If you have ridden a 1350 g helmet, this one will feel heavy. That is not a criticism of the Storm III; it is the arithmetic of fitting a sun visor mechanism and a second screen into a thermoplastic shell.

The figure is quoted for a mid-size shell without accessories, at ±50 g.

KPA shell, three shell sizes and ECE 22.06

Injection moulding buys consistency above all. Every shell out of the tool is identical because a machine made it, which is why a mid-priced thermoplastic helmet can be relied on to be the same helmet every time.

🔵 It is heavier than a composite of equal strength, and a great deal cheaper to produce.

No independent safety rating — and nothing borrowed from a sibling

🔵 It would be easy to write „from a brand with four-star helmets" here and let the association do the work. LS2 does have four-star helmets, and this is not one of them — it has never been submitted or bought for testing.

Its evidence base is ECE 22.06 homologation and LS2's own specification.

About the solid matt black finish

🔵 The disadvantage first. Black is the hardest helmet colour for a driver to separate from dark tarmac in poor light, and poor light — overcast, dusk, rain on a grey road — is precisely when the separation matters. On a helmet built for long days, a proportion of which will end in exactly those conditions, that is worth weighing seriously rather than dismissing. Plenty of riders do weigh it and choose black anyway; a helmet is one of several things making you visible, and a bright jacket does more work than most people credit. It should be a decision rather than a default. Everything else about the finish is well judged. The Storm III has more visible hardware than most helmets in this range — vent covers with transparent elements, a magnetic chin deflector, a sun visor slider — and gloss puts a bright highlight along every edge of that, which reads as clutter. Matt shows the outline instead and lets the shape hold together. It also absorbs the handling a touring helmet collects, because there is no clear coat for marks to catch in. Matt has one absolute rule: wash it, never polish it. Abrasive compound cuts a permanently shiny patch that nothing will blend back out.

Sun visor and the Pinlock in the box

The case for a drop-down shield over a tinted outer visor is that it is reversible in one second. Into a tunnel, under trees, past sunset — it retracts, and the clear visor is still on the helmet.

🔵 A tinted outer visor has to be swapped at the roadside, and in most European jurisdictions it may not be used at night at all.

Crown and chin intakes, channelled EPS

Two intake paths — crown and chin — is one more than several helmets at this price manage, and the chin intake is the one that matters in winter because it feeds the visor as well as your face.

🔵 With the supplied Pinlock fitted, that combination handles fog properly rather than adequately.

Emergency release, closure and comfort

Correct strap tension: snug under the jaw with room for one finger and no more. If you can roll the helmet forward off your head with the strap fastened, it is loose or the wrong size.

🔵 A ratchet holds at a preset length and that length drifts as the padding beds in — re-check it after the first few rides and each season after.

Where it sits in LS2's range

Sixteen finishes, two prices. Gloss White, Nardo Grey and Matt Black at the lower price; the remaining thirteen slightly above.

🔵 Nothing else changes between them. The cheapest Storm III is identically equipped to the most expensive.

Care and replacement parts

Look after the outer visor above everything else. Never wipe it dry — grit dragged across the surface leaves fine scratches, and scratches flare into a starburst against oncoming headlights.

🔵 Wet it, wash it, dry it with something clean and soft. Replacement visors and Pinlock inserts are both available.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Solid, Matt black (KPA shell)
• Clear outer visor, fitted
• Integrated drop-down sun visor, fitted
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert — supplied, not a separate purchase
• Magnetic chin wind deflector, fitted and removable
• Breath deflector, fitted
• 🔵 No intercom — the helmet is prepared for a Bluetooth system, which is a separate purchase

Size guide

A tape gets you to the right size; it cannot tell you about head shape. If a correctly-measured helmet presses at the temples while gapping at the forehead, that is shape rather than size.

🔵 No padding change fixes a shape mismatch — a different helmet does.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF818 Storm III
• Part number — 168180011
• Colour — Solid — Matt black
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• 🔴 Safety rating — none. SHARP's LS2 brand list carries the Strobe2, FF325 Strobe, Stream 2 and FF320 Stream but no Storm or Storm III; Certimoov has no entry either. Nothing is transferred from a sibling model — a rating belongs to the helmet that was crashed
• Shell — KPA injection-moulded thermoplastic; three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• 🔴 Weight — approx. 1600 g (±50 g) — the heaviest helmet in LS2's road range. The sun visor mechanism, the emergency release and the second screen are what it is spent on
• Sizes — 2XS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Sun visor — integrated drop-down shield, retracting fully into the shell
• 🟢 Anti-fog — Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ insert SUPPLIED in the box — not a separate purchase, unlike LS2's FF820 Rapid III and FF808 Stream II
• Ventilation — large crown intake plus chin intake feeding channelled EPS, with rear exhausts (transparent elements in the covers) and a breath deflector. 🔵 Assessed from the published construction; no independent airflow measurement exists
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no independent measurement is published for this model
• Retention — ratchet buckle with emergency release — tabs allowing responders to withdraw the cheek pads before the helmet is moved
• Chin curtain — magnetic — refits with one gloved hand; fully removable
• Interior — fully removable and washable; cheek pads available in several thicknesses
• Communication — prepared for Bluetooth intercom — no system supplied
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet, not eligible for FIM-sanctioned competition
• Serviceability — both visors, sun visor mechanism, cheek pads, complete lining, magnetic chin deflector, breath deflector and vent covers all available separately
• Replacement guidance — after about five years regardless of condition, and immediately after any impact

• 1× helmet
• Carrying bag
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers