bpeder

Sorry, I’m not posting to say I’ve found one. I’m posting to shout out what it would be. Maybe if the designers of these things visit BF and see these ideas and those that others add it could help get something better produced…

Before I put design ideas on the plate, let me take one off. Bag trying to design a mask to be “fog free” Face it, it’s not going to happen. Ski goggles, motorcycle goggles, glasses - they will fog up no matter what. Besides, in many winter conditions, who’s riding fast enough to really be tearing up after the first mile or so when the eyes have become used to the chill?

The ultimate face mask would be a poly propylene/wool/nylon mix fabric, as thin as possible but still warm. Not too warm though. Just having a layer over as much exposed skin on the face and neck to keep the wind chill off is enough. It would be cut just stupidly extra generous from the chin down so it could never become un-tucked from your jacket collar, exposing your neck. It would abandon the idea of an opening big enough to accommodate goggles. You’re not wearing any, remember? The openings would be only big enough for the eyes. There would be a small elastic or adjustable strap at the bridge of the nose so you could cinch the thing up tight around the eyes, or it would just be sewn together there.

The top from the hat band up would be an even thinner fabric so it would fit easily under the helmet. Maybe even a mesh. Warmth can be had by putting any number of helmet covers over the helmet that can already be purchased, and anyway you oftentimes you want to be able to lose heat from the head – which is just about the best part of the body to dump heat from… There would be 4 or six thin elastic straps stitched in at the hat band with tabs of hook Velcro on the straps and tabs of loop Velcro at the crown. This would allow the mask to be cinched up so that the fit was customized to the eye openings. We don’t want the mask sagging away from the eyes. Because there is so much fabric at the neck, these upward adjustments could be made without the neck ending up exposed. These straps could run front to back in order to meld with the standard molded helmet liners that have ribs.

Around the area of the mouth and nose there would be a stiff piece a material sewn in that would force the mask to ride away from the mouth, and the mouth opening would be baffled so it kept the wind out, but still allowed for unrestricted breathing. The top of this stiff area might have a strip of memory material that could be formed over the bridge of the nose. Nothing is worse when you are fighting below zero F temps and wind and snow-drag and studded tires that all combine to make you work and breath harder than ever - than feeling like you are stifling. There might even be a small pouch stitched in just under the nose that would allow a piece of super absorbent, disposable material to be inserted, to soak up snot, and a piece of slick nylon stitched at the chin so the mask does not get hung up on your beard.

Finally there would be an adjustable flapped opening just below each ear that would allow the helmet straps to pass through the mask and click under the mask, not on top of it. The mask needs to cover as much exposed skin as possible while still remaining loose over the mouth to allow un-restricted breathing. Stay loose, but stay put! I like black. Blaze yellow is good too. Add a strip of reflective tape here or there and we’re golden!

For this mask, I would pay $100.00

What would anyone else want?

tjspiel

Not quite everything but should solve fogging

I've seen others that look like they have a built in filtration system. They claim the air you breath in is warmed up to any where from 40 - 60 degrees.

crhilton

I like my smart wool balaclava. It's warm for me (with a hat) down to like 10 below (it doesn't really get colder than that here). I should point out, I have a beard and that may make it seem warmer to me.

I pair it with ski goggles on the cold days. The two can cover every bit of skin on my face, head, and neck. It's light weight, simple, and warm even when it's soaked. It keeps my breath pretty warm and moves out of the way when I don't want to cover my mouth.

garage sale GT

I have one of those Psolar breath warming face masks. It does what it claims to. Even when it's tenF, you breathe very warm, very very humid air.

I find the heat exchanger is better situated for mouth breathing, though. If you exhale through the nose the vapors really fog up your goggles and it seems to lose effectiveness somewhat as well as restricting your breathing a bit and soaking the material around the heat exchanger with condensation.

If the face seal on a mask were made from rubber such as one of those carpenter's dust masks or a painter's air filter mask, fogging could be eliminated.

Goggles are often necessary because even if you're quite slow, the wind can be very strong. That's one of the few weather conditions that can stop you cold on a bike: blasts of cold air which cause you to tear up.

xtrajack

It looks like a very good unit. Permaybehaps next year.

Currently I am using a neck gaiter with 180's ear muffs.

Yan 

I'm currently alternating between a regular balaclava and a Beard Head. I own the brown one.

AEO

never had my double lens ski goggles fog up on me...

the key part is having a proper seal between the nose ridge and the goggle foam sealings.
put your goggle on, and try and stick your finger into your goggles at the side of your nose. If you can, glue some additional foam there.


also, if possible, you want your balaclava to be knitted, or have a vent at the top. You want it like a chimney. Sealing your scalp off with neoprene or whatever causes all that heat to get trapped and makes it exit from the opening at your face. If it's windy and your head is freezing for the first 10~20mins, seal off most of the front vents in your helmet. Remember, chimney.

orange leader

just ride while breathing through a snorkel!

clasher

I appreciated the glasses I was wearing when there was ice pellets falling the other day and wished for some nice snowboard goggles. I'm partial to wearing a huge scarf wrapped around my lower face, and when it gets cold I put a toque on. I get pretty hot quickly so if I were to put down for a balaclava I'd want one that had a top vent or something that I could undo in milder conditions or sunny calm days.

TurbineBlade

I have a cheap target polyester one I picked up the other day. That dude is warm! Too warm for over 25F or so for me.

Yellowbeard

Yeah, good luck riding without glasses when it's actually snowing and 30 km/h winds are blowing it into your face. I, for one, have more than a little difficulty keeping my eyes open.

I use hardware store safety glasses, and as long as I keep my mouth uncovered they don't fog up at all.

nwmtnbkr

I bought a Hot Headz 6 way polar fleece hood for under $10 and really like it. It can be worn as a balaclava, neck gaiter, cap, face mask, or hood and can be used as a carry sack, too.

Eclectus

Fogless!

https://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...ord=respirator

Hezz

Not a bad idea considering the quality of many cities air.

possiblecrit

+1. not perfect but for 7 bucks, works EXTREMELY well. I usually see them at hardware stores like Ace/home depot, etc