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Ever blinded by your helmet?



 
 
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  #11  
Old November 11th 04, 05:15 AM
paul r
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Bruce Frech wrote:
"Patrick Lamb" wrote in message
...

On Wed, 10 Nov 2004 23:27:23 GMT, "Bruce Frech"
wrote:

..........

Or try not wearing a helmet.


Maybe I'm a +3-sigma sweat-er, but neither of these has worked
reliably for me. IME, I can saturate a headband with or without a
helmet. And the headband catches sweat before it hits my eyes, with
or without a helmet. On really hot, humid days, I've found I need to
stop every 45-60 minutes and squeeze or wring out the headband or
bandanna. And while I'm at it, squeeze out those puny sweat
collectors/concentrators in my helmet.

So, keep looking for some new danger to blame on helmets.

Pat



When you are in a race you can't stop and squeeze the headband. I've found
the only way to keep excessive sweat going into my eyes is to wipe with my
hand and I can't do that well when wearing sunglasses and a helmet.

Bruce



For me, when mountain biking, going without a helmet is not an option.
I've also had the problem of helmet leakage and sweat blindage. Not to
mention my enormous bushy eyebrows that act like sponges and splooge out
a mess o' sweat at inoportune times.

I found a great solution - a headwize (sp? or something like that)
headband. It's designed with a light terry on the inside and a wicking
material on the outside. It works great for me. I only have to wring it
out after a couple of hours riding (and it holds buckets!). And it holds
my helmet in place.

Cheers,
Paul
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  #12  
Old November 11th 04, 05:57 AM
Rick
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B Paton wrote:
I was thinking about my own helmet use the other day, particularly in
response to the helmet issue here in Ontario.

It occurred to me that helmet-wearing actually creates hazards for users
under certain circumstances.

For example, many times I have been blinded by sweat on fast descents when
air pressure squeeezes sweat out of the pads and into my eyes.


....stuff deleted

Yup, common problem here. On really hot days, I ride without the helmet,
though I have this problem with hats as well. As others pointed out,
sweatbands don't work for me, for whatever reason. I can outsweat the
best of them, and have. I can also sweat below a headband sufficiently
to have this problem as well (just what sweats from my eyebrows reaches
my eyes, I sweat that much). The headband, I find, actually warms the
head and I sweat more profusely with same than without.

Insects, however, are a more significant problem for me. I ride fast
enough that they can't get out of the way, I guess. I have to wear
glasses or goggles or, as I learned one spring day in Davis, a bug in
the eye is painful. Worse if a you get one in the second eye while you
are trying to clean out the first. I remember fumbling for the brakes
when this happened. I've worn shades since.

Rick
  #13  
Old November 11th 04, 07:59 AM
Bill Z.
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"B Paton" writes:

I was thinking about my own helmet use the other day, particularly in
response to the helmet issue here in Ontario.

It occurred to me that helmet-wearing actually creates hazards for users
under certain circumstances.

For example, many times I have been blinded by sweat on fast descents when
air pressure squeeezes sweat out of the pads and into my eyes. The oily,
salty sweat causes near-total blindness for 3-10 seconds before the tear
ducts can flush them out. Knowing that the helmet will partially protect me
from the hazard it causes is not comforting. It's occured with every helmet
I have ever owned. It occurs frequently while riding around here. It is a
hilly area with lots of 6--12% grades.

I was wondering who else has experienced this feature of bike helmets. Is it
my physical features that are at issue, do I just ride too hard, or what?


If you are overheating on steep grades, you can just take the helmet off
and carry it along that part of your ride. If the steep grades are
like in my area, they are on rural roads with few intersections, so your
chances of an accident on such uphill sections are very low, and you
can't go over the handlebars at very low speeds (and the grade helps
as well.)

People react differently to heat and it is possibly worse if you
aren't in top physical condition (low body fat, etc.) but some
people in good shape overheat on flat terrain in hot weather
(even around here where the humidity is low.)

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB
  #14  
Old November 11th 04, 02:28 PM
Peter Cole
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"B Paton" wrote in message
news
I was thinking about my own helmet use the other day, particularly in
response to the helmet issue here in Ontario.

It occurred to me that helmet-wearing actually creates hazards for users
under certain circumstances.

For example, many times I have been blinded by sweat on fast descents

when
air pressure squeeezes sweat out of the pads and into my eyes. The oily,
salty sweat causes near-total blindness for 3-10 seconds before the tear
ducts can flush them out.


Many/most helmets are sold with "open cell" foam pads. These act like
sponges, soaking up sweat and concentrating it into brine. The solution is
to replace the open cell pads with closed cell pads which are not
absorbent. Your LBS should have bags full of pads, used for helmet
fittings. Replace at least the pads in the front of the helmet.

Good headbands are a necessity when wearing a helmet, I've had good luck
with the Pearl Izumi ones, pricey at $10, but work well. Other solution
used by some is to wear a cycling cap underneath the helmet.



  #15  
Old November 11th 04, 02:57 PM
Michael
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"PK" wrote in message
...
psycholist wrote:
"do not spam" wrote in message


The best thing I've ever found is the old
tried-and-true bandana. But on hot days, I have to remove it and
just let the sweat pour down my face.


Panty pad stuck to the inside of the helmet - great absorbency.

pk



What I do is just usually suck it up.

I just know I'm gonna get flamed here....


  #16  
Old November 11th 04, 03:35 PM
Just zis Guy, you know?
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On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:54:33 +0000 (UTC), "PK"
wrote:

Panty pad stuck to the inside of the helmet - great absorbency.


Yuk! Bare head: sweat evaporates As Nature Intended :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University
  #17  
Old November 11th 04, 06:55 PM
Raptor
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I'm frequently "blinded" by my helmet, but duh: I don't ride if I don't
see. It's just impaired vision. When I forget to remove the visor for a
road bike ride, I sometimes have to peek through the air vents. I'll be
getting a separate road riding helmet.

And I sweat buckets, easily soaking the pads even on a modestly warm
day. I have to drain the pads periodically. This can be done by tipping
my head and pressing on the front of the helmet, or removing the thing
and squeezing with my fingers.

I haven't yet tried a headband, but the recommendations here for the
NON-absorbent ones is intriguing.

I also remove my helmet on long slow mtb climbs. Never on the road,
since I'm not capable of forseeing all the dumbass tricks others on the
road can play.

Michael wrote:
What I do is just usually suck it up.

I just know I'm gonna get flamed here....


This won't work if you have contacts (like me) and get brine on them.
They stay foggy until cleaned.

It's almost not worth wearing the thing. Almost.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall
"We should not march into Baghdad. ... Assigning young soldiers to
a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning
them to fight in what would be an unwinnable urban guerilla war, it
could only plunge that part of the world into ever greater
instability." George Bush Sr. in his 1998 book "A World Transformed"

  #18  
Old November 12th 04, 03:57 PM
JRKRideau
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"Peter Cole" wrote in message news:fOJkd.28740$5K2.10613@attbi_s03...
"B Paton" wrote in message
news
I was thinking about my own helmet use the other day, particularly in
response to the helmet issue here in Ontario.

It occurred to me that helmet-wearing actually creates hazards for users
under certain circumstances.

For example, many times I have been blinded by sweat on fast descents

when
air pressure squeeezes sweat out of the pads and into my eyes. The oily,
salty sweat causes near-total blindness for 3-10 seconds before the tear
ducts can flush them out.


Many/most helmets are sold with "open cell" foam pads. These act like
sponges, soaking up sweat and concentrating it into brine. The solution is
to replace the open cell pads with closed cell pads which are not
absorbent. Your LBS should have bags full of pads, used for helmet
fittings. Replace at least the pads in the front of the helmet.

Good headbands are a necessity when wearing a helmet, I've had good luck
with the Pearl Izumi ones, pricey at $10, but work well. Other solution
used by some is to wear a cycling cap underneath the helmet.


After two near crashes when I was blinded by this happening . Forty
plus years of cycling and 5 with a helmet. Two near crashes caused by
helmet wearing. My solution was was to discard the helmet. No problem
since then.

JohnKane
Kingston ON
  #20  
Old November 13th 04, 05:52 AM
Frank Krygowski
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Alex Rodriguez wrote:



You must be going amazingly fast if the air pressure squeezes the sweat out
of the pads. I've never had this problem going down hill.


I know many people who have been bothered by this! I don't know if it's
due to the design of the helmet, or simply sweating lots, but it's a
pretty common issue.

A cycling cap soaks up sweat and helps it evaporate, and its "flip-up"
brim is handy and versatile.


--
--------------------+
Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove rodent and vegetable dot com,
replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

 




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