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I have no idea of today's motorcycle helmet ratings, but when I last was involved in the sport, "Snell 1990" was the safety rating that was most desireable, with whatever the DOT rating at the time being considered the minimum standard. You could usually find DOT rated helmets back then for under $100, and Snell rated helmets generally ran $150 and up.

As a salesman in a motorcycle accessory store at the time, and also having had years under my belt working in an ER, I naturally steered customers to the Snell rated helmets. They were a bigger sale, AND they were a better helmet. They also tended to have extra, desireable features such as ventilation and higher quality visors.

I was often griped at by people who were angry about having to pay more for a better helmet. Their mood didn't improve after I told them that once they "used" the helmet by interspersing it between their noggin and the pavement at anything above walking speed, it would be likely be useless for protecting their noggin any further.

"Well then, why should I pay more for the Snell helmet if it's going to be worthless after a crash?"

"Because the DOT rated helmet is a minimum standard designed by a government comittee at the direction of someone in Congress. The Snell helmet is designed to withstand the actual forces your head is likely to be subjected to by the pavement (or car, or curb, or tree, or whatever) when your head comes in contact with it at 60 MPH."

"Yeah, but that's a lot of money."

"What is your brain worth? You only have one. Put a dent in it, and it won't ever be the same again.........if you live. What do you think an hour or two spent in a trauma room, neurosurgery, and a week or two in ICU cost, and a month or two in a regular bed on the neurosurgury ward, plus physical therapy so you can learn to walk again, speech therapy to learn how to talk again, occupational therapy so you can learn how to button your fly again..........if you live?"

The cheapest gun I carry is a CW45 which cost me $399. That doesn't seem like that much money on balance. If it gets "evidence recovered," and never returned, I'm not nearly as seriously inconvenienced as I would be if I carried a substandard gun that failed me when i most needed it to perform.