I went with a David Clark helmet, too. That, coupled with my DC ENC headsets and a visor from the local Harley shop (MXL HFS Armor Clad flip up smoked lens) makes for a nice rig. While not the "top of the line" in helmet selection, one can certainly make the argument that this helmet is better than nothing.
The DC K-10 is different from the DC deck helmets. It's beefier and has incorporated the temple protection that is of concern in the deck helmet version.
I bought mine from Skygeek. According to my neighbor, who is a neuro-psychologist who rehabs head traumas, the cost was less than an hour of his time. That made an impression on me as my self-insured deductible is 15k. One could certainly rack up some medical bills in a hurry with a good smack on the head.
The helmet is light and comfortable. I didn't notice it as much as I thought I would and pretty much forgot about it by the second hour.
Your existing headset attaches to the liner, which is then attached to the helmet. It seems to offer additional noise reduction, probably because of the manner in which the liner holds the headset.
A couple of notes. Remove the ear seals before attaching the liner. The instructions have it backwards. Also, there is an extension velcro piece available by calling DC that accommodates the ENC headsets that have the larger headband pad.
As always, customer service and support from David Clark is superb. Always has been, and hopefully always will be. I can't say enough about what a pleasure it has been to deal with DC over the past 20 years.
I fly the PA-11, which has the through-spars to the center post, like the J-3. A good friend took a bit of a whack on the center post tubes that left him senseless for about a minute. So, having a helmet seems to make sense for a PA-11 pilot.
So, I now have a decent helmet, military surplus survival vest, an EPIRB attached to the vest, fire extinguisher, safety cables and VGs. I feel pretty comfortable on those occasional long legs over the Great Maine Woods. :lol: