Summer Helmets

[sokay]

This is my train of thought as succunctly as I can put it: Peter Egan writes about a severe headache after riding in the hot sun all day. I get them too and I know it is not due to de-hydration. A helmet left in the sun for a little while gets very hot inside. A helmet worn all day stays cool and a helmet previously left in the sun will cool off rapidly when worn. The human body makes a high priority of keeping the brain at a steady temperature. So. Remember the unheated-water-bed-mattress-against-skin phenonemon? I am thinking that the body may be making a major transfer of heat from where the head contacts the inside of the helmet to who-knows-where. I propose a summer helmet that is, first of all white, and that has incredibly good ventilation. A complete re-think of the helmet. We should be able to soak the interior and have evaporation keeping the head cool. :)

[timmybob4]

If I remember correctly the Scorpion Helmet web site suggests pouring some water in your helmet on hot days to take advantage of the evaporative cooling effect. (It helps that their liner is supposed to wick away moistured (and is washable). I believe Santa is brining me a silver EX700 for Christmas.

Something else that helps to keep helmets cooler is the sunblocker strip at the top of your faceshield. http://www.helmetsunblocker.com/cgi-bin/eShop/index.cgi?exact_match=yes&product=%20Sunblockers

[sherob]

Soak and wear a dew rag... ;) My Scorpion EXO-700 blows air like you wouldn't believe... blows hair into my eyes... noisy, but cool :D

[Doobage]

My understanding is that color doesn't matter.

Your helmet is a ball of styrofoam with a candy coating. The transfer of heat is negligible or non-existant to the interior due to the thick layer of styrofoam.

The areas of your body that have a great deal of blood cooling potential are your inner thighs, under arms, and your neck (since your head is covered it doesn't get to drop the 30% of heat it normally does). Since your thighs are sitting on a giant engine, then it really only leaves some of your underarm and your neck that can truly help cool you down "fast".

I have toyed around with the idea of sticking a fish tank pump in my glove box with small iced "thermos" pumping iced water through a zig zag of fish tank tube zig zagged in a mesh vest, going up around under my arms and as high up on the neck as possible without looking bad.

To cool it down again, simply stop and buy some ice water.

I might build one this winter to try out next summer.

[Tor]

For now, I just use a Kooltie, soaked and refrigerated before I use it. On longer trips, the t-shirt gets completely soaked. Lasts for a couple of hours. Then do it over again on next fuelstop.

The Shoei RF-1000 has decent brow vents, and cool the top of the head pretty good, at least if the hair is wet. Chin vent is another story, unless I let the windshield down. Just not enough air pressure to get any significant amount into the chin vent.

[SteveST1300]

The soaked do rag works for me on hot days but it dries out pretty fast you have to re-wet it every so often feels great for a while though. :03biker:

[basco]

This is my train of thought as succunctly as I can put it: Peter Egan writes about a severe headache after riding in the hot sun all day. I get them too and I know it is not due to de-hydration. A helmet left in the sun for a little while gets very hot inside. A helmet worn all day stays cool and a helmet previously left in the sun will cool off rapidly when worn. The human body makes a high priority of keeping the brain at a steady temperature. So. Remember the unheated-water-bed-mattress-against-skin phenonemon? I am thinking that the body may be making a major transfer of heat from where the head contacts the inside of the helmet to who-knows-where. I propose a summer helmet that is, first of all white, and that has incredibly good ventilation. A complete re-think of the helmet. We should be able to soak the interior and have evaporation keeping the head cool. :)

My opinion, its from dehydration. Carry a Camelbak with you and drink regularly and fill it with ice. You can be dehydrated and don't even know it.

[CruisingDog]

I have a Shoei RF-1000 and all I do is lift the visor up a notch. Front and rear vents are open. Seems to cool me down very well in ~90F temps. Oh yeah, windshield is in a low setting also.

Headaches are cased by 2 things (ok there's more but these are relevant to motorcycling):

Hyperthermia (too much heat)
Dehydration (too little water)


Oh yeah, and a bad fitting helmet :-)

Apparently you can dissipate as much as 60% of your body heat through your head. It's very important to get cooling if you feel too hot since blurred vision and fainting can result and the onset can be rapid!!.

My advice/observations: Get in the shade for a while and cool off if you have a headache. Any helmet is going to stop a lot of the heat transfer. If you're too hot and you feel flush, you are definitely in the danger zone.

**Major Warning Signs**: Sometimes you'll just feel agitated and pissed off for no reason. Sometimes you'll feel incredibly confident for no reason [all with a headache!]. Pull up at a gas station and get a cold drink. Rinse your head under cold water. Apparently the fastest way to cool down is to run your wrists (face up) under cold running water for a minute. This is incredibly efficient at removing body heat since the veins are near the surface. It takes 45 seconds on average for the blood to circulate around the body once.

Go and drink some liquids. Water especially since it rehydrates you! Sugary drinks are not very good since they can be a diuretic. You may need some salts as well.

I've found that in temps of 110F+ I can only last about 45-120 minutes before I have to take a break. Depends. Usually I just stop on the side of the road and drink one of the extra bottles of water I just bought. Sometime I take photos whilst I'm at it. :-)

I'm sure that there's more science behind this and some medical professionals will give better advice. This is just stuff from my observations.