I wish to cover my face, but then my breath "backs up" under my glasses (fogging them). How do all of you balaclava weareres deal with this?

Thinner balaclava. I have an underarmor one that is thin and suprisingly warm--my breath goes through the mask instead of on my glasses like it did with my schampa one.

Only when you're stopped?

When I'm just getting ready to take off
or when stopped for a while; I usually pull
my balaclava below my nose. When I start
moving, I pull it up over my nose. Sometimes
it's a little tricky to do with thick winter gloves


LITTLE RED LIGHTHOUSE, NYC by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

I've taken to wearing a painting respirator on colder days (see avatar).

For warmer days I have a balaclava with a velcro face mask that I can open and close as necessary to reduce fogging. I'm not sure if something like this is available separately. I got it as part of a somewhat expensive Outdoor Research Gorilla balaclava, which itself is too warm for cycling.



Yesterday I tried a light merino wool balaclava. It does a poor job blocking the wind, but you can breathe through it with little fogging.

breathe out to the side. QED.

Catcrap...works for me

I've tried a number of differant "anti-fog" solutions and none worked well, even Cat Crap.

However, they all CAN work if you try to make a balance with keeping your lenses fog free and a slight haze that may obscure your vision a bit.

The trick is to prevent the water droplets from forming on your glasses, and any sort of paste or viscous liquid will do the trick. I now just use dish soap.

Yep, put a VERY small amount of dish soap on your finger and gently wipe accross each lens, then buff LIGHTLY, from left to right only, with a cloth. Yes, your vision will be obscured a bit, but not as much as if they fog up. This is the same trick you will need to do with any of those anti-fog type products. You must leave some of the product behind on the lens to prevent the water droplets from forming. The anti-fog products are SUPPOSED to remove the surface tension, but people often wipe it completely off.

https://rolfje.wordpress.com/2010/04/...met-visor-tip/

I've gone to "motorcycle" glasses that have a foam seal around the rim, still fogs the outside now and then but it clears faster than when it fogs the inside. Also Shawmutt's thinner balaclava suggestion is a good one, I found one that is a knit hat with a pull down face flap at a local sportsman store that works great 'into the 20's.

I had the very same problem so now I only use 3-hole ski masks. It's the only thing that works for me.

I pull my hat down to the top of the eyebrows and then use a thin head band to cover my nose/cheeks. I then pull up my neck warmer to under my lower lip. No fogging, air can come out my nose or mouth. YRMV

ski goggles.

and one of those face masks that is more like a bandana over the face.

I use something similar to this although I had to make the holes a little larger. I have have seen full head balaclavas like this online but I don't recall where.This lets your breath escape outwards instead of upwards and it works well for me in temperatures down to about -20C. Below that I use ski goggles in addition to the mask. When it gets close to -30C I use a respirator.

Just a regular "painter's" respirator?

Don't cover your nose. just your mouth. Works for me.

My glasses used to fog until I got a decent pair of goggles. I now ride with the Scott spherical-lens OTG set with an amber tint.

Get a good pair of goggles and see how much it transforms your winter riding. I hadn't realized how much I was suffering until I wasn't suffering any more. It'll set you back about 80 bucks for a good pair, but they're worth every penny.

Yes. I'm using a 3M half mask respirator that I had kicking around. It would be better if it was one of those that directs your breath downwards. Instead, I blocked the front hole and removed the valves from the side so that my breath goes out that direction well away from my goggles & glasses.

Thanks for all the kind replies.

I purchased a Seirus Ultra Clava. I'll see how it works.

Captain Blight, I am looking for a pair of those Scott OTG (spherical) goggles. Since I ride at night, I'm trying to find clear lenses. At this point, I've been unable to find such a pair. But I'll keep looking.

+1 for the dish washing liquid, it works fairly well for me.

Try checking with a motorcycle dealer. You might be able to find them there.

Getting better glasses? This is why people spend a lot of money on good glasses. I have some vented radars and the only slightly fog when stopped.