Advocacy & Safety - What is under your helmet?

Since helmet topic over all are not taboo, here is a differant one. I'm going to post some questions then I'd like to share a personal experience but will not offer suggestions or recommendations that others do the same.

What is under your helmet? Do you wear a head band, or headsweat type item? Or do you go commando?

I used to wear the Headsweat brand headbands & "doorag type" items under my helmet. A few years ago I had a rather serious crash, did not hit my head, but the impact of my body on the ground caused my helmet to slip to one side, I'm pretty sure it was due to the headband I had on. I already knew the instruction manual said do not wear any type of headband under helmet. Until that crash my thought was "screw you" I don't like sweat mixed with sunblock in my eyes. After that I stopped using headbands & just dealt with the sweat in my eyes by carrying a bandana & wiping my face when ever I stopped.

I had another serious crash, again did not hit my head & the helmet did not shift because I did not have a headband on. But I still had to deal with sweat running into my eyes, especially on humid days.

This year on RAGBRAI I discovered the Sweat Gutr. It channels sweat away from my forhead & down the side of my face. It is not directly under my helmet so the helmet will not shift.

What is under youre helmet?

Hair.....

I never put sunblock on the upper part of my face when I will be wearing my helmet.

During the winter, the helmet goes over the hood of my overcoat.

Paul

I used to wear the Headsweat brand headbands & "doorag type" items under my helmet. A few years ago I had a rather serious crash, did not hit my head, but the impact of my body on the ground caused my helmet to slip to one side, I'm pretty sure it was due to the headband I had on. I already knew the instruction manual said do not wear any type of headband under helmet.
Something I will be thinking about.

In the winter I have either a polar fleece balaclava or a windproof beanie, otherwise nothing.

Sometimes I wear a baseball hat or visor because the regular helmet visor doesn't do any good when you ride a recumbent.

My shaved scalp in the summer. Winter is a skull cap. I can't stand my balaclava. I've been fine down to 8F in a skull cap.

Also hair, lots of it.

I remember hair.

I wear nothing underneath my helmet. I like the feeling of the wind blowing through...err...blowing across my scalp.

Lots and LOTS of hair - it actually feels like MORE under the helmet now that it is cut short (I'm a woman, short is above my neck) and I can't put it in a ponytail anymore.

Ditto: just lots of hair. I have Helmet Head all the time, but I'm not complaining; at least the hair's still there... :)

When it's warm, HeadSweats do-rag; I started using them this season and am hooked!

When it's cool, European-style cycling cap.

When it's cold, hood on longsleeve jersey maybe combined with abovementioned cap or an earband.

Edit: for the ride up Haleakala, I used the cap for its versatility, as the weather changes a lot from the beach up to the top!

Braaaaaaaaains. Warm juicy brains.

Halo headband.

If you keep sunblock below your eyes, you will never have to deal with it being washed into them by your perspiration.

Before I started wearing a helmet, I wore a baseball cap. Worked like a charm to wick sweat away from my eyes. I tried a cycling type cap under my helmet at first - that was far too uncomfortable. Now, I wear nothing and find that if I keep my hands away from my eyes and forehead, nature and surface tension tend to make sweat stream in directions other than my eyes for most of my ride. Invariably, the "rivers" overflow their banks and I start getting sweat in my eyes.

Sometimes I rub them to wipe it away, other times, I just let it stream in there and ride on.

I may go back to my baseball cap without a helmet, but I will never go back to wearing anything under it.

Caruso

A cotton bandana and, until recently, nylon hair extensions (UV violet and blue, if you must know).

Just a simple headsweat to keep me from sunburning the scalp - not enough hair.

Commando. My helmet is very well ventilated, so my hair is often dryer than my face.

For my face, I just use some napkins and wet-naps I keep in my bag....wet naps to clean up, and napkins to dry.

Doo Rag to protect my scalp or a Bianci cap.http://www.v-rodforums.com/forums/images/smilies/ride.gif

My head

Nike Dri-Fit headband. It's thin enough to go comfortably under my helmet
and keeps sweat away from my eyes.

Me

Something I will be thinking about.

This is why I wear a specialized helmet (~120.00 US). It has a clamping mechanism in the back that basically attaches the bucket to your noggin.

A good test for helmet "adhesion" is to strap it on, then move the helmet fore and aft... your eyebrows should move.

What's under my Helmet? My thinning, and rapidly greying hair, and my scalp. When the weather gets colder, as it always does here in New England, I wear a polarfleece headband that covers my ears, or an all-over balaclava. The Balaclava works a lot better than I ever thought it would. Really does keep your entire head warm.

Skin surrounded by hair for commuting, bandana on longer rides.

Sometimes, there is absolutely nothing under my helmet.

Nothing when it's hot out. A cycling cap in rain and when it's cool. A balaclava (with my cycling cap as a base) in the winter.

Headsweat.

The floor of my pickup truck.

Sunscreen. No hair, so I wear sunscreen. Otherwise I look like some Darth Maul freak or something.

Just hair, most of the year. After it gets cold enough to protect my ears, usually a headband, although I know that's not recommended. I just already had a headband when I started commuting, and haven't gotten around to trying any cyclist-specific headgear like a balaclava. Below 10 F (yes, I commute throughout the Maine winter), I go even further from the recommendation and wear one of these head sockz (http://headsokz.com/) things that I found a few years ago at a mall stand.

I have a shaved head. In sunny weather, I wear a headsweats skull cap or cycling cap. In the winter, I use a polypro skull cap. In good but not sunny weather, where I am not worried about a sunburn that perfectly matches the vent holes in my helmet, I wear nothing.