Bluegrass is an offshoot of Italian outfit MET, arguably best known for armour, pads and full faces; the Rogue Core is its only open-face trail lid.
Built around a fully in-moulded polycarbonate shell, it offers deep coverage around the back of the head and over your temples. We appreciate that the shell cover wraps around the bottom edge of the helmet. It may seem like a small thing, but we’ve taken this brain bucket through airports around the world, thrown it in the back of the car quickly packing up for a ride, and set it down at many a park-up, and it does wonders to protect the foam from gouges and small dings.
There are also several flat surfaces around the shell where you can mount lights or sticky GoPro mounts for some fully sick footy.
Available in MIPS and non-MIPS versions, we have the latter.
Interestingly, Bluegrass has only opted to use a single-density EPS foam core. The helmet still achieves a five-star rating from Virginia Tech, with a score of 9.95 (the lower, the better) — outperforming several high-end lids that highlight the use of multi-density foams in the spec list.
At the front, the peak is comparatively short but provides plenty of coverage and leaves enough room for goggles underneath, though the positions are not indexed. It’s also made of a relatively bendy plastic, which Bluegrass says is designed to flex and deform should you bury it into the ground.
Speaking of the visor, small channels in the vents allow for you to stow your sunnies here. You aren’t going to lose them once you have closed the arms, however it does put the lens in the direct firing line of branches. That said, you can also stow them in the vents under the visor too.
Weighing 360g in a size M, it’s pretty feathery, considering the level of coverage. With 19 vents backed by deep internal channelling, the Rogue Core breathes like linen in a strong breeze. We’ve been using this helmet in South East Queensland through spring and have already had some stonking hot and humid days. Counting droplets of sweat that drip into your sunnies on a slow climb is hardly a scientific measure, but the Rogue Core is markedly on the drier end of the spectrum.
With ridges on the rear of the helmet to help secure a goggle strap, the vents on the underside of the brow are connected to the descent-sized front intakes and do well to stymie mist on the inside of your goggles should you go full enduro.
The dial-based retention system wraps all the way around your head to apply pressure, and there are three positions of vertical adjustment. Bluegrass has used pleasingly light webbing for the straps, sensible ear splitters that don’t get all muddled up, and it’s all held together with a magnetic Fidlock buckle.
