The Komai layout inverted onto a dark base. Inverting a livery does not simply darken it — it changes which part of the helmet your eye reads first, and the character of the object changes with it.

Everything that is usually an extra

Equipment, in one line: sun visor fitted, Pinlock 70 MaxVision supplied, magnetic chin deflector, emergency release, breath deflector, Bluetooth prepared.

🔵 Weight, in one line: 1600 g, which is the heaviest in LS2's road range and the direct consequence of the list above.

1600 grams — the heaviest in the range, and why

🔵 It is worth being clear about what the weight does not mean: it is not a safety property in either direction. Protection comes from the EPS liner, not from mass, and a heavier helmet is neither safer nor less safe for being heavier.

What extra weight does is load your neck.

KPA shell, three shell sizes and ECE 22.06

🔵 One consequence of 22.06 that riders noticed across the industry: helmets got heavier. More impact points at more speeds, plus an oblique test, generally means more material.

The Storm III's 1600 g is a 22.06-era figure carrying a 22.06-era equipment list.

No independent safety rating — and nothing borrowed from a sibling

🔵 Ratings and homologations answer different questions. ECE 22.06 asks whether a helmet may legally be sold; SHARP asks how it compared when crashed against others.

The Storm III answers the first. Nobody has put the second question to it.

About the Komai black and red graphic

On the white version the graphic is a set of bands across a bright field and the eye takes in the whole shell at once. Here the black recedes and the red becomes the only element with real weight, so the helmet reads as a dark shape with marks on it rather than as a decorated surface. It is the more restrained of the two by a wide margin, and for a rider who wants the Komai geometry without the brightness it is plainly the better answer. The grey elements do useful work in between, lifting the mid-tones enough that the graphic does not collapse into a black helmet with red on it. 🔵 The practical trade is the one every dark finish makes on a helmet meant for long days. It hides road film well — genuinely well, and a touring helmet collects a lot of it — and it is measurably harder for a driver to resolve in poor light than the white version of exactly the same graphic. If a good share of your riding ends after sunset or in November, that is the comparison worth making before you decide.

Sun visor and the Pinlock in the box

🔵 Fogging is what stops most riders in November, and the Storm III arrives with the solution already fitted. That is a genuine advantage over the cheaper helmets in LS2's range, where the insert is an accessory you discover you need on the first cold morning.

A breath deflector is supplied as well.

Crown and chin intakes, channelled EPS

🔵 If your riding is mostly urban, ventilation matters less than the brochures suggest — there is no airflow at a standstill regardless of design, and what helps then is a pale shell rather than a clever one.

Above about 40 km/h the arrangement here is a good one.

Emergency release, closure and comfort

Replacement cheek pads are the most useful spare part available for this helmet and the least often bought. A fit that has loosened over two seasons is usually corrected with thicker pads rather than a new helmet.

🔵 The complete lining is available separately as well.

Where it sits in LS2's range

If you already own a 22.05 helmet and are weighing a replacement, the current schedule tests more impact points, at more speeds, with a rotational assessment the old one had no equivalent for.

🔵 The Storm III is a 22.06 helmet with the most complete equipment list in LS2's thermoplastic range.

Care and replacement parts

The maintenance routine is short: wash the shell with warm water and a soft cloth, wash the lining in cool water a few times a season, and never dry-wipe either screen.

🔵 Do those three and the only things that will end this helmet are age and impact.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Komai, Black, red and grey (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

The commonest sizing mistake is buying for comfort in the first minute rather than fit over a season. New padding is at its thickest on the day it arrives.

🔵 Snug now, correct in six months.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF818 Storm III
• Part number — 168180631
• Colour — Komai — Black, red and grey
• 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