Snowmobile Helmet Help!!!

[boritzer1234]

Well I'm looking at new snowmobile helmets and I would like some advice. I would like to get an open masked helmet with goggles. I've never used a helmet like this, I have had closed masks all my life. I was wondering if any part of your face gets cold with the goggles? How do you cover all your face(i.e. your nose and lower forehead)? Do the goggles ever fog up or frost up in the cold weather? Would you prefer a closed mask over an open one? Any advice and info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[polarisrider1]

I have tried many variations of helmets and goggles. What works for me may not work for you. I have a SR1 motocross style helmet. I wear a thin Balaklava that covers my forhead and chin. Googles I have many. My favorite is the Scott Voltage X OTG ThermaMax. pd$55 for them. I keep them scratch free with Zooke Z-wax and fog proof with Z-spritz cleaning them with a 100% microfiber lens cloth. The stuff works. I also have Oakley, Rudy Project, spy and Zeal goggles that all cost much more with lesses results for me. I think the foging issue is best dealt with by using the Z-sprite anti fog spray. Bought the stuff at Sturgis last summer and seen it sold at Novi show. Also it is in a very well known snowmobiler catalog that you can order it from. Lens colors are personal preference. Orange works best for my eyes.

 

[Tito]

HJC makes a nice helmet for cheap. Has removable breath box fits into the helmet comes just below your eyes. Has a big vent in front to let in air or can close it off. You adjust your googles to fit high on you fore head on super cold days. If you get enough snow in the face and are riding hard they will fog. They wont frost because your not breathing into them. If you stay away from the hokey quick straps you can pop them off easy and put under the hood when taking a break and will dry back out in 10 minutes as good as new. Every type helmet has its good points. Blasting down the trail on a cold day or night with electric shield closed face helmet would be hard to beat. Open face shines off trail where you make more heat, has better side vision. Works Ok for med. speeds but the visior catches a lot of air if you high speed cruize all day. Usualy you run a color in the google for best results but clear is best at night so that is always a thought

 

[02zr600]

Usualy you run a color in the google for best results but clear is best at night so that is always a thought

i have had good luck with my scott proairsnow goggles. i bought an extra lens for them as they come with a rose one. i went the light sensitive one and think it is def. worth the extra money to have better depth preception in the day, and unimpared vision at night. (vary rarley get cold after the first few minutes of a ride, once you build up some heat. look for goggles that have a face/nose mask, as they help keep you face much warmer. only time the duel lens fogs is when you go or out of a place with much temp. varation, and after that, they defog vary quickly.) hope this helps!!

 

[boritzer1234]

We usually do a lot of riding in west central wisconsin and a few times a winter we head up towards hayward or the U.P. We generally put on at most 150-200 miles a day riding and the other guys we ride with fly but i keep it steady at 60 through the woods and a little high around 80 90ish on the straights. So is this considered a little too much for the whole goggle and open mask set up??

 

[snoluver1]

We usually do a lot of riding in west central wisconsin and a few times a winter we head up towards hayward or the U.P. We generally put on at most 150-200 miles a day riding and the other guys we ride with fly but i keep it steady at 60 through the woods and a little high around 80 90ish on the straights. So is this considered a little too much for the whole goggle and open mask set up??

Sounds like you do mostly trail riding. There not much advantage to wearing a open face helmet on the trail. In fact, its a lot of extra monkeying around to keep your face warm while doing 80-90mph. I would stick with a full face helmet if I were you.

 

[polarisrider1]

Nothing beats a skidoo modular for Hardcore trail riding. You have to use the snorkel if you want it to work correctly. Moto cross helmets and goggles are mainly for off trail riding with much slower speeds. The purpose is to get more air into your lungs easier and to give you a larger area of vision.

 

[anonomoose]

Barrow an open face for one day from a buddy and try it. You can cover up skin....and will need to if you do a bunch of trail riding...and with the lack of wind protection on the newer style sleds, this becomes important to prevent frostbite.

Why do you want to switch?...sounds like you have fogging issues and what you really need is an electric visor which won't fog up, no matter what you are doing.

Open face needs good coverage of skin for anything over 25 mph....as the wind chill will draw down the effect on skin. Warm weather riding, or slower riding with lots of body heat such as what happens with off trail riding and will put the open face and goggles as a next good option.

I have both, use them when appropriate, and prefer my flip open lazer because I can flip it up while going slow thru the woods (Under 25 mph) and down with a flip for trailing to get to the slower two tracking that I do most of the time.

 

[boritzer1234]

well I got a HJC helmet with goggles. Last year when we were in the U.P. my heated windshield did frost up and it was cold and I couldnt see much, but thanks for the info. I plan on using my heated shield and closed mask on the very bitter days and my helmet with goggles on the nicer days and where I'm moving around more. Thanks again!

 

[eagle1]

I tried a moto style helmet last year and my biggest problem was when trailriding at higher speeds you get too much air flow in the googles and my eyes would not stop watering.
I tried 3 pairs of googles and all sealed well just lots of air flow, don't know if I should try taping them up? Anybody try this?

 

[George]

I've have been using the motocross style helmet for the last 9 years and I love it. I have a pair of Oakley amber lenses and I wear them day and night. they never fog up and don't have that air flow thru them like the scott pair I have. on the scotts I have to duct tape the air vents on top closed or my eyes get cold and brezzy. The only problem is when its super cold but a little duct tape helps a lot

 

[t660redrocket]

Guarenteed best set-up!

open face helmet of choice...........No-Fog brand mask with the optional headband..........any good pair of goggles.

My set-up is HJC open face with No-Fog mask w/optional headband and Spy goggles.

An absolute must is that you wear only the No-Fog and headband under your helmet. The No-fog is neoprene. When the mask and headband are worn correcty it will cover all your skin once the goggles seat against them. If you were to wear a balaclava it may cause fogging as it allows mositure to wick inside and near your goggles. Being the NoFog is neoprene it keeps moisture away. I hope this all makes sense? This is honestly the most bulletproof system I've come with and have zero problems in all types of weather. Cold, warm, wet, dry.

 

[George]

agreed with that comment but my new helmet is just a little to big so I have to wear a regular face mask under the helmet, and on the inside of the face mask around the top and sides of my eyes I put some duct tape to keep the wind from going through and it does work good.