Comfort
The Grivel Air Tech drew positive reviews from testers for its comfortable fit on a wide range of head shapes and sizes. Soft felt padding is found throughout the interior of the helmet; including the front, sides, rear and top of the helmet. The felt padding also helped keep things cool on hot, sweaty days and kept the helmet from sliding around sweaty foreheads. The adjustability of the helmet along with padded chinstrap also helped boost our comfort rating.

Ventilation
One of the first things you notice about the Air Tech is the ventilation holes: sixteen! Ventilation is aided by large holes in the front and rear of the helmet, which appeared tailored for ski mountaineering although they proved effective for rock climbing as well. The top holes seem to further aid in ventilation but there is some metal mesh covering the holes for a little extra protection (perceived or real).

Adjustability
The Air Tech has an easy-to-use adjustment wheel on the back of the helmet, making for quick one-handed fine tuning. Flip-lock buckles help position the chinstraps around the ears, which is helpful since the straps can feel uncomfortable—they have a tendency to move freely in the rear of the helmet.   

Protection
The Air Tech’s molded foam offers excellent protection from impacts from all directions. The molded foam is designed to absorb force upon impact, like a bike helmet, to offer more protection than traditional hard shell plastic helmets. The contoured shape of the helmet also seeks to cover as much head space as possible for protection from side and rear impacts.

Weight
At 10.05 ounces, the Air Tech is significantly lighter than traditional hard shell plastic helmets but is heavier than other molded foam helmets. It is over 2-1/2 ounces heavier than the C.A.M.P. Speed and is slightly heavier than the Petzl Elios, a combination hard shell/foam helmet.

Other Features
Molded foam helmets, in general, lack the durability of traditional hard shell plastic helmets. The Air Tech relies on a lightweight, thin plastic shell, similar to a bike helmet, to protect it from minor damage typically caused in the day-to-day use of helmets. The Air Tech has a unique but not particularly effective headlamp attachment system. Three streamlined attachment points can be used to connect a headlamp but testers struggled to get a headlamp to stay in place. The contoured shape of the front of the helmet also made it difficult to attach a headlamp.

Value
At $109, the Grivel Air Tech is in the same price range of other lightweight molded foam helmets. It is over $20 cheaper than the C.A.M.P. Speed, which is also intended for ski mountaineering use, and is about $10 more than the Trango Zenith.