I'm cheap too, but I was asked the question (more than once) "what is your head worth to you?"
I looked for a comfortable full face mask that had decent reviews and think I found one that works for me.
One thing we went over in the MSF course was that everybody checks and makes their own DOT determination. For instance, HJC tests their helmets for DOT approval, Arai tests their helmets, etc. To top that off, they only have to take a small batch of helmets during the initial production run. If something adverse happens later on in the production process, well, you would never know.
When it comes to Snell standards they end up sending a batch of helmets every so often during production for testing at the Snell foundation so they can constantly keep up to standards. Its just a little bit of extra protection and quality assurance, but it comes with a higher price usually.
So, I now pose the question. What is your head worth to you?
