road car driving gear

[sltous]

It looks like it's a Smartwool product, most likely their Merino Beanie although I may look into the lighter-weight Sport Beanie for summer.  Caveat is that I never go on any roads with speed limits above 45 so my experience may not be appropriate for highway travel or long fast blats.

[fastg]

I have tried a couple of aero screens with mixed success. I use Brookland screens, if you play with the angle you can get a buffet free ride. I wear ear plugs and a Simpson open face helmet. One of my other hobbies is high end hifi, it would be a waist of money if I was as deaf as a post, so I look after my hearing. 

 

Graham

[papak]

I went from a conventional windshield to Brooklands and find much less buffeting. I'll forego the helmet on surface streets but always wear a full face one (currently Racequip) on the freeway. I remove my hearing aids and use foam earplugs, particularly with the helmet.

 

[sltous]

I have now tried both a motorcycle helmet (LS2) and a SA2020 rated auto helmet (G-Force) for the same ~160 mile mixed highway and surface street trip and the auto helmet is worlds more comfortable for highway use.  Much better peripheral vision and more room around the chin to not feel like my cheeks are getting squished in.  Full face and aeroscreen is much more comfortable (to me) than windshield with or without helmet for highway use.  For me, the windshield buffetting pulled my head back and forth the whole time I was on the highway like a bobblehead toy and the aeroscreen allows for the air to only be pushing the head against my headrest.

Edited July 24, 2022 by sltous

[pethier]

Both my polarized sunglasses and my Transitions glasses are in Ray-Ban DADDY-0 frames. I was totally sold on these things by a LensCrafters salesgal in Colorado Springs.  I had just towed in from Minnesota for the Lotus Owners Gathering and my sunglasses seemed to have a coating delaminating. 

 

"Hello, sir, what can we do for you today."

 

My wraparounds are shot and I'd like to replace them.  I'm myopic with astigmatism.

 

"Wraparounds take ten days."

 

I won't be in Colorado in ten days.

 

"You should do what the bikers do."

 

Do you mean motorcyclists or bicyclists?

 

"Yes."

 

She reached into a drawer and handed me a DADDY-0 sample.  It fit.  

 

When I got back to The Cities, I found that both a Harley-rider and an ex-mountain-biker autocrosser I knew were wearing DADDY-Os.

 

Up near Superior Wisconsin at an autocross venue where nobody knows me, I actually had a young eyeglass-wearing guy ask me what they were because they were the coolest and he wanted a pair.  It was an overcast day so my Transitions didn't even look like sunglasses.

 

I often like to drive my Caterham with full windshield, top on, no doors.  A USA7s member put me on to some 3M low-profile headphones with about half the normal sound attenuation.  I took it a step further and pulled out the foam. These phones completely kill the turbulence in my ears and I can still hear what is going on around me.

 

Driving without the top, I add a baseball cap. The phones keep the cap on.  Interesting feature of the 'phones is that the button on the top of the cap fits in the split of the phones' band.

 

In Minnesota it is legal to run music in one ear, but not both, so I run the risk of being stopped.  No problem, as I can easily show the officer that there are no speakers in the phones.

 

I took the Birkin with windshield and windwings to a novice autocross school,  I used an open helmet so that the students could hear me more clearly.

 

When I first got the 1700, it was about 50 degrees.  I found I could drive topless with a full-face helmet.  When I stopped for a red light, it would fog up.  Snapping up the shield caused the fog to clear instantly.  As soon as I got moving, I would snap the shield down.

 

When I bought Darren's CSR, he was kind-enough to include a pair of wraparound goggles.  I can't use them, because I need corrective lenses.  The CSR has a cage and an aeroscreen with the right portion removed.  Whether or not I wind up cutting the aeroscreen down to the height of the central section, I expect I will always be using one of my full-face helmets with this car.

 

[Slonie]

Oh boy, this is one of my favorite topics (although I still haven't completely cracked the code).

 

I have a full windscreen and (usually) no doors, and run with plexiglass deflectors when the doors are off. Wind is the the real issue as you can imagine.

 

My current strategy is Howard Leight foam earplugs (NRR 33) as the baseline. I also have  some twist-fit plugs that do a good job too and are far easier to insert, but the little plastic handle that sticks out the back is very incompatible with wearing a trapper hat with ear flaps (as I am oft to do). Anything contacting the plastic part transfers sound right into your ear. Good for a regular ball cap though, but as many people have noted a ball cap is only good til about 35mph without making it extra tight or using a strap (the number of people recommending cap-surz in this thread has my attention, as I've already lost one of my beloved cycling caps on the road...). Of course a set of Peltor earmuffs will also keep a hat down (for off-highway use only of course, likewise with AirPods Pro fitting underneath for excellent noise cancellation and sound).

 

As for glasses, wraparound cycling shades are good to a certain point and I often use them, but I'm always looking for something to keep ALL the wind out of my eyes.

 

3M Solus/Virtua with indoor/outdoor lenses are for when it's really cloudy or when I'm caught out after dark:

 

 

And more recently I've found some pretty cheap tinted Carhartt goggles with a gasket that do well. Optimally I want to find something like this with a better lens (polarized, because the windshield is a bastard for reflections). They can be converted between sunglasses and goggles and were dirt cheap (link provided for reference, I got them at amazon but they now show as unavailable)

 

 

 

There are several other safety glasses/goggles I have my eyes on but they're all a bit more expensive so I haven't gotten them just to try. Yet.

 

 

[Austin David]

I've been tricking my wife and sister into making durags.  So far I've only lost one of the good ones, and I e earlier store bought.  Both at 70+ while passing, I'm an aeroscreen user.

 

Between a durag and gaiter I can keep most my skin covered.  But this gets to the earflaps problem, where air buffering the flaps (or gaiter) transmits directly 

[ashyers]

I've found that a military Patrol Cap works well at speed. The bill is small enough that it doesn't generate lift and the top is double layered to help protect my hairless head . 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/235046265593

 

Works great! Just need to ensure that you get one that fits your head since they are not elastic.

 

Andy

[Silber]

I like to wear sunglasses, a baseball cap, a lightweight hooded jacket with the hood over the hat, and a neck gaiter over the top of everything. The neck gaiter provides sun protection for my face and keeps the jacket hood from flapping, and the hood keeps the hat on my head. Ear plugs underneath it all and driving 70+ mph is comfortable.

 

This is with a windscreen and wind deflectors. Without the windscreen I wear a full face helmet.

[Slonie]

Without giving away too many fashion secrets, I do also often wear a sun hoodie (I forget the brand, it's unimportant — probably an alphabet soup amazon brand. There are ones from fancy running brands but the one I got was cheap) for when it's hot out and I don't want to get sunscreen everywhere.  Thin, stretchy, cycling jersey-like material, with long sleeves and thumb hooks. Works great.

[redursidae]

Sun hoodies are awesome.

[Slonie]

4 hours ago, redursidae said:

Sun hoodies are awesome.

 

Okay I said the brand wasn't important but you know what, I may as well vouch for the cheap one I bought.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYPSTLMB

 

 

Price seems to bounce around the range of $20 to $25.

 

I usually come back from a drive with it smelling too bad to do anything else with it besides washing it, so maybe it's time to pick another up in a different color like this green.