Helmets for the visually impaired?

[Arashi]

Just wondering if anyone out there has any experience with wearing glasses under a costume helmet.

I've been wanting to do a custom outfit that would involve a helmet, but I wear glasses and dont know if I would run into constant problems with fogging up or space issues, etc, etc.

Chime in if you wear glasses and a helmet.

Arashi

P.S. Contact lenses are not an option.

[TimeRender]

I know some paintballers who wear rec-specs under their helmets because they are durable and low profile. If fogging becomes a problem, use the old scuba diving trick of spitting on the lenses.

Edit: Actually if you wear a pair of glasses that are open on the sides, you will probably have no trouble at all with your glasses fogging up under a helmet. The lenses of the helmet will be much more likely to fog.

[Loachri MacTalabh]

I have worn glasses 30 some-odd years. Although motorcycle helmets have venting, I don't always remember to open them. I have had no problem with my glasses fogging up. Just so you know I have ridden in all temperatures.

[Arashi]

Good to know, I know I have pretty serious issues with my sports frame glasses fogging up when I do SCA swordfighting, but that is mostly due to all the sweating and such. Wasn't sure if glasses under a costume helmet would cause any problems due to reduced airflow, etc.

Arashi

[jin starkiller]

no they won't fogg up too badley unless you do a lot of heavy breathing in the helmet ...I wear a mando helmet and my glasses don't fog up too badly

[Boj-Vaati Mau]

It really depends on the costume. If it's a full encolsure suit, i.e. Darth Vader or Stormtrooper, then it could be an issue becasue you WILL sweat.You can build an inlet & exhaust fan into the costume but you may still have teh issue. SCA combat is a good indicator of how you'll work in a costume.

[Arashi]

It will probably be a fairly full coverage helmet, I was thinking about doing a custom non-mandolorian bounty hunter helmet. Possibly using one of the existing toy helmets currently on the market as a base. Maybe one of the Iron Man or Optimus Prime helmets as a base, I'll have to see what I can come up with design-wise.

Arashi

[(null).exe]

I've been making custom helmets (no pre-made base helmet) for several years now with the Halo costuming groups, and while fogging can be an issue with any heat buildup, I use the trick of some mini case fans attached to a switch and battery, mounted to blow on the wearer's face to offset that.

The case fans are small, almost silent and efficient, both in cooling and preventing fogging

I'm not talking about the full-size fans, btw. I'm talking about the little 25mm fans: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119098

[Jedi-Loreen]

If fogging becomes a problem, use the old scuba diving trick of spitting on the lenses.

Have you ever worn glasses? That sounds like a terrible option, to me, if you want to see clearly. I personally can't stand anything on my lenses when I'm wearing my glasses.

They do make anti-fog sprays, and they work.



P.S. Contact lenses are not an option.

Why not?

Too expensive?

Or are you squeamish about touching your eyeballs? You get used to it.

Soft lenses are very comfortable and easy to take care of, these days. I've been wearing contacts since the mid 1970s, when hard lenses were the only choice. My brother got the first gen soft lenses and they were such a pain in the butt to take care of in those days before disposable lenses.

[Loachri MacTalabh]

Why not?

My prescription barely allows for contacts.

[Arashi]

I tried contacts once a few years ago, they drove me crazy. Even the ultra soft trial lenses they gave me I could barely stand. Felt like I had something in my eye the whole time...I could feel them every time I blinked or moved my eye...not a pleasant experience at all.

Arashi

[Boj-Vaati Mau]

Then fans would be a good option...

[Arashi]

I was planning on adding some electronics to whatever helmet I end up with anyways, a voice changer/amplifier at the least, maybe some lights, etc. A fan or 2 certainly wouldn't be out of the question either :)

[Loachri MacTalabh]

Then fans would be a good option...
The problem with that, You couldn't hear. The noise from the fan in a enclosed space on you head would be as noisy as a lawn mower.

[TimeRender]

No J-Lo, I don't wear glasses, but I have been diving. The anti-fogging sprays don't seem to work any better than spit. Besides, fogging is caused by a difference in pressure and temperature between the air on two sides of the glass. As I mentioned in my edit, the lenses of the helmet will probably be more likely to fog than the lenses of the glasses because the air surrounding the glasses will be the same temperature. The air outside of the helmet won't be. This means he wouldn't be spitting on his glasses, so it won't effect his vision quite as badly.

Fans are a good option if you have room in your helmet and in your budget.

[(null).exe]

The problem with that, You couldn't hear. The noise from the fan in a enclosed space on you head would be as noisy as a lawn mower.
That's why I use those case fans. They're small and designed to be quiet, so in most environments, like your typical convention setting, the fans can't actually be heard over the crowd and conversation noise.

In my Halo CQB helmet, I have a 25mm fan in each cheek piece and a slightly larger one above my forehead. The left cheek fan pulls air in, the top fan blows on my face and the right one blows air out, all working together to create a nice subtle airflow that removes heat and moisture from inside the helmet, preventing fogging.


Fans are a good option if you have room in your helmet and in your budget.
I salvaged the forehead fan from something, so there was no cost there, but the rest of the setup is fairly cheap, as 2 fans were $10-15 for the pair, then some wire, a 9v battery holder and a cheapo toggle switch (less than $15 in all) finished off the setup. If I'd actually shopped around for deals, I could have built it for $20 or less.

Now I'm thinking about mounting a White P4 or SSR90 in the forehead that I can activate either hands-free from inside the helmet with a chin switch, or by running a wire to an Arduino-powered control box mounted in my gauntlet :D

[KuroChou]

I tried contacts once a few years ago, they drove me crazy. Even the ultra soft trial lenses they gave me I could barely stand. Felt like I had something in my eye the whole time...I could feel them every time I blinked or moved my eye...not a pleasant experience at all.

Arashi

Mine normally feel like that for the first three or four hours at most, but eventually it goes away from a combination of slightly reshaping the tissue of your actual eye-balls and desensitizing the insides of your eyelids.

[Arashi]

I couldn't stand them long enough to get used to them, so i just deal with glasses. Maybe some day I will be able to afford laser vision correction or something. Until then, I'll just have to make due with glasses.


Arashi

[Jedi-Loreen]

You youngins just don't have the patience for anything. :lol:

;)

[TD-2272]

Get some fogtech I swear by it I put it in my TD bucket, Bacara bucket, Pred bio helm, and my paintball mask. great stuff

[Arashi]

I wish I was still a youngin...I'm quite middle aged at this point.

I'll have to look into the Fogtech stuff, I've tried a few anti-fog solutions for SCA fighting (none of them ever worked worth a darn)

[Jedi-Loreen]

Eh, you're still probably younger than me.

[Arashi]

Im old enough to have seen the original Star Wars in the theatre back in the 70s, it seems to have made a lasting impression :)

(To this day, every time I hear the 20th Century Fox fanfare, I think Star Wars)

[Jedi-Loreen]

I graduated from high school a couple weeks after A New Hope came out in the theaters in '77. ;)

[Arashi]

Ok, got me beat there...I was still a wee lad when it was first released.

[KuroChou]

I graduated high school a year ago.... http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs41/f/2009/049/6/6/_P_by_Kittengoggle.gif

[Skottsaber]

You youngins just don't have the patience for anything. :lol:

;)

*Bugs Sloth and Nully about TOR again*
Sue me :p

[xclgreen]

Its good to know this. Glad to read all ideas.

[dannv]

I wish I was still a youngin...I'm quite middle aged at this point.

I'll have to look into the Fogtech stuff, I've tried a few anti-fog solutions for SCA fighting (none of them ever worked worth a darn)

I have the same problem with SCA fighting. I've given up and just pull my helmet off and clena the goggles every so often. Not the best solution for a costume helmet, though. I haven't seen any anti-fogging spray or cloth that works long term. Some work for an hour or two.

[Mack]

My experience with anti fog for the most part a disappointment. The Fogtech wipes usually will work for about a half day. Other anti fog I've tried haven't worked even that long. The most reliable thing I've used is dish soap, like Palmolive. Rub it on and let it dry. (overnight inside if it's cold out or an hour on hot day outside) Once it is dried then I use a cloth and buff the lens until it's clear again. The film that's left on there keeps it from fogging. I've used that technique with full face helmets with a balaclava on. The drawback is you have to do it before each use. Fans are definitely the way to go if your helmet will fit them though.

Sorry for the necro but I didn't see anyone else who had tried this.

[KuroChou]

Hardly a necro. It was both, within six months, and useful/relevant.
Personally, I've never found an antifog that can keep up with even my casual pace, while paintballing.
I usually end up shelling out the cash for high end thermal lenses, to skip it altogether.

Definitely interested in trying some budget remedies though.
All anyone needs for evidence of your method, is the classic "ghost writing" prank.
You use some bar-soap, (or liquid, if you like to fingerpaint) to write or draw on a bathroom mirror. The next time someone takes a shower, it shows up, as though someone had come in and used a finger to draw in the "fog."
This has everything to do with the soap doing it's job as a surfactant, and disrupting the hydrophyllic bond of the condensation on the glass.

[gsterley]

Well here is the inside of my scratch built Sith Stalker helm. My normal glasses wont fit. This solution involves an old pair of glasses, magnets for mounting, and a small fan driven by a 9v battery. I can see and there is a nice breeze.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg685/scaled.php?server=685&filename=img20120327201521.jpg&res=medium
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg816/scaled.php?server=816&filename=img20120327222146.jpg&res=medium
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg818/scaled.php?server=818&filename=img20120327222323.jpg&res=medium

And here is a short video, just for fun. Click the pic.
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e52/gsterley/th_SithStalkerHelmet2.jpg (http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e52/gsterley/?action=view&current=SithStalkerHelmet2.mp4)