Fog City Pro Shield / universal pinlock inserts

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I figured I would ask this here as it's probably something that riders are more familiar with and simply due to the sheer number of riders on this site versus track rats such as myself.

My Arai GP-5W auto racing helmet often has problems with the visor fogging. I think part of the reason is that the 5W has a larger eyeport (literally, W for "wide"). My race supply shop, and even Arai, have said to simply crack it a bit to bring in a bit more ambient air. While this does works, I have a few reservations about doing it from a safety perspective. It's also a bit distracting since I have a mirrored (dark tinted) visor and cracking it lets in light. This has bugged me since day one with the helmet and I was pretty close to buying a different one with a smaller visor in the hopes it would not come into contact with my breath, such as the GP-6S.

Arai does make a dual-pane/anti-fog visor but it's pricey and only available as clear, yellow, or "light tint". I believe you motorcycle folks call this a pinlock. I found some "universal" anti-fog inserts that supposedly work on any helmet but I wanted to ask if these really work. I know there are also those sprays and gels, but I talked to two Arai tech support guys and they said not to bother.

Example:
https://www.revzilla.com/product/fog-city-pro-shield
 
I'm glad you posted this because I wasn't aware that universal fog shields existed. I've owned helmets with pinlock shields but it always seemed like the shield was custom shaped to fit the helmet's visor. The pinlock shields DO work, although they impair visual clarity and shouldn't be used at night (but we all use them at night anyway).

Anyway - regarding the link you posted - in theory it should work fine as long as it maintains a tight seal. The principle is no different than dual pane glass where you maintain an air gap in the middle to block condensation as a result of temperature differences on each side.

I'm probably going to buy one myself to try it out as my current helmet (LS2 Vector) comes with a poor excuse of LS2's version of pinlock.
 
Fortunately, I don't use them at night. Some events do run until dusk, but that would be the darkest it ever gets -- the vast majority of use is during the day.

What is it about them that impacts visual clarity? Are things less sharp? Increased glare? Distortion? I do understand that more layers = less light gets through, so nighttime visibility would, of course, go down.
 
I'd call it "haloing" when riding at night. Street lights and headlights appear multiple times in your vision because the reflection occurs on 2 panes in your view.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
I'd call it "haloing" when riding at night. Street lights and headlights appear multiple times in your vision because the reflection occurs on 2 panes in your view.


Yep, that's what I figured. Won't be an issue since it'll only get used during the daytime.
 
Does your helmet have a nose guard ? I ripped the so called antifog off my KBC, I hated it. Looking to get an LS2 next...so what it their antifog about.

Commuting year round with my KBC, 400km a week, I seldom had the visor fog...even in fog. Now I do a short commute in town on a scooter, and have a dorky scooter helmet with a face shield. It fogs up before I get on my bike, it fogs the sun glasses soon as I put them on. Nose guards are good.
 
Originally Posted By: Silk
Does your helmet have a nose guard ? I ripped the so called antifog off my KBC, I hated it. Looking to get an LS2 next...so what it their antifog about.

Commuting year round with my KBC, 400km a week, I seldom had the visor fog...even in fog. Now I do a short commute in town on a scooter, and have a dorky scooter helmet with a face shield. It fogs up before I get on my bike, it fogs the sun glasses soon as I put them on. Nose guards are good.



No, it doesn't have a nose guard/breath deflector. It's rare to see that in an auto racing helmet.

Another reason that these helmets tend to fog up is that the airflow in the car is low. The windows are down, but there isn't a steady stream of air hitting the front of the helmet to work its way into the various vents.
 
I have a Pinlock insert on my clear visor - it works really well at keeping misting down in cold/wet conditions. This is why it is on my clear visor, as I need it most in poor conditions. However my dark visor also has Pinlock posts, so I can put the insert in my dark visor and get the same anti-fogging but with the dark visor if, for example, it is cold but there is a bright, low sun. The only small degradation is a bit of 'ghosting' but this is much better than no visibility at all! I can ride with my visor fully shut - the insert will fog up if you huff on it, but it clears within a second or so.

I have, in the past, used a breath shield which works well if perfectly fitted/located, but is a PITA to get right and makes putting the helmet on and off a bit more of a faff.
 
Just ordered two of the Fog City inserts. For $34 shipped to my door, it's worth a shot. Thanks for the help!
 
I have used both pinlock and fog city and they have worked well for me. They never lasted as long as I thought they should though. Sometimes depending on the size of the shield they would catch on the helmet opening and eventually tear off the shield.

There are two things I have used that are great and have never failed.
#1- Divers goggle treatment. Can't remember the exact name, friend let me try some one race weekend when I was having issues. I think it was Frog Spit or Frog Snot. Awesome stuff.
#2 Respro Foggy Mask. Inexpensive and never fails.
http://respro.com/store/product/foggy-mask

This was on a bike so not sure how inside a car with less air the foggy would work.
 
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