My biggest problem with riding during this time of year? Fogging. The simple act of breathing wreaks havoc with my prescription glasses and helmet visor. Some helmets are better than others at venting, some visors are treated with a coating that make it difficult for them to fog, like Shark’s RSR2 visors. Unfortunately, this won’t help with my eyeglasses so I’ve fought the good fight and tried out a few different products to help keep the fogging at bay.
CatCrap and other so called anti-fog gels and wipes? They fail miserably. The best of the bunch by miles and miles as far as anti-fog coating, solutions and wipes go is a product called Fog Tech made by Moto Solutions. Basically the solution is made up of 2 parts – a hydrophilic substance that repels water and a surfactant substance. The hydrophilic absorbs water and the surfactant spreads the absorbed water out into a very tiny layer over your visor allowing you to see through the water.
I used the Fog tech for my first SaddleSore 3000 attempt and it worked as advertised. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fog Tech I would’ve turned around soon after the sun set. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have it’s hiccups. First of all, if you don’t apply the solution smoothly and evenly, your vision will be distorted. Second, if the temps are cold enough, and the Fog Tech is working overtime, there will come a point in which it will stop working. Once the solution has had it’s fill of water, that’s that. You’ll have to stop and wash off the used solution and reapply it. While not a big deal, it can become another chore that you’ll have to do at your gas stops. Normally not a big deal but during an IBA ride, it becomes a huge pain in the butt.
Another problem that I ran into was my eyeglasses. My DNA dictated that I possess long eyelashes. When I was a kid, most folks thought I was little girl because of my eyelashes. While out riding, I have to adjust my glasses on my face every so often which is normal. With the Fog Tech, I have to be VERY careful when making these adjustments because if I end up touching the treated surface of either the helmet visor or glasses (both the inside and outside surfaces of the lenses), then the Fog Tech will smear and if I’m in the midst of riding, this most definitely IS NOT a good thing.
To Fog Tech’s credit, their product works and it works well. If my typical rides were didn’t require four or more tanks of fuel, I’d be perfectly happy with the Fog Tech. Since my rides tend to be longer than that, I needed a new solution to my fogging woes and that solution came in the form of a low tech but very effective product – The Respro Foggy mask.
The Respro Foggy mask is a simple piece of neoprene outfitted with velcro attachments. The velcro grips to the inside of your helmet liner and stays in place very well. The “nose” has a piece of malleable metal that you can shape to the contour of your nose. This may sound simple enough, and it is! It makes you wonder why a million other folks haven’t thought of it as well (myself included). The mask forms a barrier between the lower half of your face and your eyes and it’s very effective. You can sneeze, cough, or do your best Luciano Pavarotti impression – your eyeglasses and your visor WILL NOT fog up. It works so well in fact that it takes a little while to get used to. Once I installed the mask in my Shoei X11 (by far the easiest of my helmets to fog up), I found myself still leaving the visor open a crack when taking off or waiting at a stop light. This of course isn’t necessary with the Respro installed.
Fitting the mask to your helmet and face takes a few minutes to get it right, but once it’s in the correct position, you never have to move it again (unless you move it to another helmet). Another benefit of the Respro mask is that my eyeglasses now sit on top of the mask instead of my nose adding to the all day comfort of my X11. The only downside to the mask (and it’s a very small one), is that it requires you to take your helmet off with extra care. No big deal really. I’ve worn the mask installed in my helmet for my usual around town errands and I didn’t mind putting on of taking off my helmet too much.
With more velcro available at any hardware or office supply store, you can move the mask from one helmet to another in about 20 seconds.
Installed in my X11
The Respro Foggy mask is the best anti-fog device out on the market today. HANDS DOWN. No wiping and cleaning to deal with, no buffing or polishing, just throw one in your helmet helmet and forget about it. The best $20 I ever spent on motorcycle gear. They’re available all over the www, just ask the google.
***Attention Federal Trade Commission – I’m not affiliated with Respro or Moto Solutions, makers of Fog Tech. Neither company sent me a “sample” for review. These products were purchased by me with my own money… I’m just a regular guy that rides a lot and likes to give people an honest real world review based on my experiences.
