Helmet with integrated visor

A snowHead

I wear glasses and for many years have been using prescription inserts inside Oakley goggles which is ok but obviously new inserts are needed when the prescription dramatically changes, which mine does as i get older! Over the last couple of seasons i have notices more and more people using a helmet with built in visor with their regular specs underneath. If you have tried this set up what is the experience like? Are there are recommendations for specific helmet /visor brands or models? Do some models allow you change lenses for different light levels?

A snowHead

Yes. I wear one that can change visors from clear to yellow to dark blue. I won't give the make as I'm certain a number of SHs will come along and tell me it's a cheap helmet and I shouldn't be recommending it. However, there is this one on Ebay - no idea if it's any good but it is Bolle so I assume that carries some reputation. Copy & past the ID into the Ebay search
Item ID 335101783914

Edit. As an additional benefit, I've never had a visor fog up in any kind of weather and the ability to flip the visor up when in a lift queue is well worth looking like a "lady's front bottom" Toofy Grin

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Based on previous discussions, I think the consensus on Snowheads is that helmets with visors make you look like a lady's front bottom Laughing

My tactic is contact lenses under regular goggles because I don't think a visor would help with warmth like goggles do.

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@JCSKI, I have bought one of these https://www.switchbacktravel.com/reviews/smith-survey-mips though they are an old model now so not so easy to find. Two reasons, I have had some health issues and uprating my helmet seemed a good idea (I am a reluctant helmet wearer so my existing one was pretty basic). Increasingly I need to wear my driving glasses whilst skiing especially in low light conditions and wearing them with googles is a real pain so this seems a good option. I can see that the glasses might be a bit more liable to fogging but that is preferable to the faff and discomfort of wearing glasses & googles. I also have always disliked wearing googles much prefer glasses, perhaps I dont feel the cold!

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I think ultimately this is where they will all go in say 10-20 years.

POC have released theirs for this season. At first I thought that they were completely taking the wee wee with their pricing then (after a long time) I thought that it is not so different to the price of a helmet and goggles combo you buy yourself from them.

https://www.pocsports.com/collections/snow-helmets/products/levator-mips?variant=42026403233944

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@ster, notwithstanding the general principle that anyone can wear what they damn well like, it's about the image it portrays. Visors tend to be worn by the Bogner/Fusalp "tribe", the image being they this particular tribe mince about strictly on piste only and stop on the dot of 12.30 for an expensive lunch, before skiing back to the luxury chalet for a massage and spa session. No-one in my "tribe" (seassonaires, hard charging on and off-piste) would be seen dead in that sort of kit.
But as I said, wear what you like, it's your cash.

After all it is free

Noticed yesterday that Lidl France have got a couple of integrated-visor helmets available online. Don't know if you're able to get them in the UK or of they're any good but thought I'd share anyway
https://www.lidl.fr/p/crivit-casque-de-ski-avec-visiere-unisexe/p100367904
https://www.lidl.fr/p/crivit-casque-de-ski-avec-visiere-unisexe/p100367888

@Dr John, thats as maybe but hardly a valid claim to be the SH consensus on the subject though.

Indeed I have seen mostly kids wearing them, the logic I imagine being its harder lose a visor if attached to a helmet than to lose goggles that are separate. I guess who you see wearing them maybe a product of where you ski?

But correct, you can wear what you want if it works, who cares what others think.

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[quote="Chronic_Beginner"]Based on previous discussions, I think the consensus on Snowheads is that helmets with visors make you look like a lady's front bottom Laughing

/quote]

I think there's a fair few on here that use them.

Not me though, I think they're poo-poo Laughing

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@Dr John, Not sure where that comes from. I havent skied in France for many years but regularly do so in the Arlberg - Lech being the spiritual home of the "Bogner" crowd. Helmets with built in visors are relatively uncommon, I assume more down to issues with fogging than any style considerations. It makes sense to me for a variety of reasons but understand it wont work for others. From a manufacturer's perspective perhaps there is more money to be made selling two items rather than one?

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@MikeM, @munich_irish, are you glasses wearers too or just 'normal' skiiers who have a preference for visor helmets?

Asking as another current goggles + prescription insert wearer who's also into off piste and while I find the inserts are great on piste, where the skiing physical effort/speed and so airflow through the goggles is low I've had issues off piste, where you have generally lower skiing speeds, so less airflow through the goggles but often more body heat, thanks to a 30min hike with skis on your back to get to the run. Wondering if a visor helmet might be a better option so looking for feedback from a hot-running, glasses wearing, visor helmet totting skier...

@JCSKI, If you're any where near a Decathlon store nip in and have a look. They seem to have a reasonable choice and "fit" is probably the most important factor. I know some glasses wearers that have switched to them and they won't go back.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I tried these a few seasons back... they didn't work for me at that point. The issues were:

In deep snow, the gap at the bottom meant you'd get snow on the wrong side of the glazing, which isn't good.
This was before photochromic, so you needed more than one lens, and with such a massive lens, that's a transport problem.

If they have a seal at the bottom of the lens (and double glazing) - which that POC may have, then that's the 1st problem solved.
POC don't seem to have photochromic, so not for me just yet. I intrinsically like the idea, which seems neater than goggles to me.

A snowHead

I think someone struggling with their eyesight when skiing is going to be more interested in finding a solution than looking "cool".

My wife is one such person, with a mix of the age-related changes everyone gets plus suffering from other conditions that affect eyesight. It has taken years - and significant sums of money - to get to what I hope is now the solution. One part has been finding a pair of decent sunglasses she could get good prescription lenses in; the ones that work are by Oakley and have the Rose Prizm coatings that cover quite a wide range of light conditions. However they won't do under the dimmest conditions, and certainly not if it snowing somewhat. She didn't get on with over-the-glasses goggles (the glasses misted up despite the claims), and did all right with having one with prescription inserts while she could get away with a simple prescription but she gave up on those once varifocals became a necessity.

The current solution is a helmet with a visor, essentially she tried different ones in the shop until she found one she was comfortable. Because she only wanted the visor for use in adverse conditions she bought a pale yellow tinted version which she leaves up as long as she can get away with her sunglasses (she changes to normal clear glasses for use with the visor). For what it is worth the make that worked for her was Cairn, but she concluded that the choice depended on what worked for her head shape and the way her glasses sat on her nose - the reputation of the particular brand was irrelevant.

Good luck @JCSKI.

[Edit: I see that while I was typing @MikeM described his success with much the same solution].

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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@Mjit, I cant get prescription inserts (I have tried) to match my driving ie long distance glasses as they would be helpful for cycling too. In an ideal world I would have sports glasses with interchangeable lenses (I dont like googles) with appropriate inserts but despite a lot of looking and discussions with opticians nothing appears to be available for what I need. I dont get on with contacts either. Hence the visor option works for me. I agree they are not perfect but seem the best option for me. Part of the boring getting old thing.......

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@ster, I find your lack of faith disturbing.

After all it is free

@ratechaser, I think they were on sale for £450 at the ski show but still v v pricey, and not a great lot of reviews on the POC site itself.

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@JCSKI, it's a good option. I bought one for my son as he is eight and his glasses prescription changes frequently hence inserts and contacts just aren't an option.

As with everything glasses related, there's going to be some mockery. If that's the price for being able to ski and see what you are doing then that's just the way it is.

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solomon & head do a nice looking intergrated visor option.
Still needs to fit properly, which is more important than how it looks.

Was a game changer for me last year. I have moved from perfect eyesight to permanent glasses. Have been coping without glasses for a number of years but bought an Atomic visor last year. They have a foam seal and no issue with wind, falling snow or distortion. Will post the model later.

For the first time in a while I felt confident in my vision and no faffing about with glasses to read a piste map or order lunch!

You know it makes sense.

Here is the mule helmet that I knocked up and wore last season. I wanted to try a full face helmet that wasn't a faff with separate goggles etc., so it could be worn over glasses, although in my case it was more an interest in keeping the weather out for a more comfortable ski. I know it looks like a motorcycle helmet, but it isn't. It's small and slim like a ski helmet, and no larger. I modified it internally to eliminate fogging. It works unbelievably well.

Surprisingly quite a few people stopped me and asked where they could get one, which made me think that something like it could have commercial potential. What do you lot think? I've no idea why the image is rotated 90 degrees sorry.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

I've written this many, many times...I wonder how many, if any, have actually followed my advice:

Wear glasses under goggles, pretty much any goggles
BUT
Use a pair of nail scissors or similar to cut out a channel in the foam at your temples where the arms of the glasses lie.

The result:
1. Comfortable as without the pressure on the arms the glasses feel completely normal, and that small bit of missing foam doesn't feel any different on the goggles.
2. Vison is perfect, and you can use whatever lens you like on the goggles.
3 This is the really nice benefit...the extra bit of air flow means that your goggles don't steam up. Mine NEVER steam up.
4. That extra air flow is not enough to make you feel cold, it's not a gale Smile

5. If you do it and don't like it then you have not trashed your goggles! It's just a small bit of foam cut away (small!)

A snowHead

@rungsp, that was the first combo I tried when I had to stop using contacts. Works OK when you were moving but by the time you'd treked from a gondola sweat box to the snow and a cold, still day I couldn't see a thing. Prescription inserts are less prone to fogging as they sit farther from the face/in the goggle's anti-goggle lens fogging airflow but still have their limits.

A snowHead

My wife tried a few different combos of glasses under goggles, some of which I adapted by cutting in vents but visibility and steaming up was a constant issue for her. I bought her a visor helmet few years ago now (can’t recall make and model) and it has been a complete game changer for her. No more faffing about and fiddling with goggles, she can now ski confident of good vision. We’ve yet to encounter any weather which has been an issue with visor as opposed to goggles.
Highly recommend giving a visor a go if you have to wear specs.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I have a Kasp helmet with built in photochromic twin skin lense. Very pleased with it, not cheap (around £400 I think I paid a couple of years back).
I did have a Salomon one prior to this but had an issue with the lense steaming up between the 2 skins and it partially obstructed my vision which I didn't notice in the shop nor when you standing bolt up right, but when skiing in a slight bent over position was annoying.

The Kasp fits me vastly better, after not being happy with the Salomon lid I tried many on to get one that fits my shaped head well.

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For some reason I never find googles comfortable, so I only wear them if I absolutely have to, for 95% of the time if its snowing I wear some POC wrap around sunglasses (with low light lenses).

These aren't the exact ones, but close enough (I think they are possibly more targeted to cycling):

https://www.pocsports.com/products/aspire?variant=39415692820632

Makes it much easier as you don't need to worry about a perfect fit with a helmet and they are far more comfortable (and I find the field of vision better), but of course the trade off is that they don't offer the same protection from the elements.

My daughter has one of the Decathlon helmets with visors for this season as she kept saying her goggles weren't comfortable (and she'd outgrown her old helmet, so needed a new one anyway), so will see if she prefers it or reverts back!

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@greengriff, for me there's only one thing worse than a helmet with a visor.... a full face helmet. So to incorporate the two together just takes it all to a whole new level Laughing

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@swskier,

Fair enough. After years of riding motorbikes it just feels natural to me. Maybe it's a bit too niche!

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@greengriff, they have their place no doubt, like in some extreme tricky steeps or something, with huge exposure, but it feels like overkill beyond that Laughing

Perhaps my hatred for them was influenced by some lad wearing one last weekend up on the glacier, whilst blaring music out of his bluetooth speaker, and he wasn't even a good skier Laughing

or maybe i'm old and miserable at the grand age of 33

After all it is free

I have Bollé photochromic one. I think it is the V-Line.

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@greengriff, looks like something that bloke who was wandering around Somerset scaring some of the locals might wear Very Happy

(though perhaps it is just a bad photo)

Help!!

Helmet with integrated visor

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