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Chin Curtains on helmets
- Thread starter JimH
- Start date
ARtraveler
R.I.P. Dwayne
We don't use them...or the chin bars if provided on certain helmets. Linda has claustrophobia. A calculated risk, we know.
Ex-Rocket
Well-known member
You can say what you want to about me but I have only owned half or 3/4 helmets. Yeah I know i'm not as protected by a full face helmet but my choice. Here is Arkansas there is no helmet law and I ride with no helmet if I know I'm not leaving the state. Again my choice.
BajaRon
Well-known member
Chin curtains are a comfort item. In other words. Whatever is more comfortable is what you want to do.
Advantages of a chin curtain.
1- Keep you warmer in cold weather and cooler in hot weather. (See #5)
2- Helps keep wind, debris, bugs and rain out of the helmet. It's only very effective for wind. Bugs, debris and rain are usually not that much of an issue on full face helmets anyway.
3- Makes the helmet quieter by reducing turbulence. Though the quietest helmet is louder than you should endure without hearing protection. I use ear plugs. It is counter-intuitive. But you can hear better with the right ear plugs than you can without them. That is because the sounds you need to hear get less attenuation than the sounds that you don't want to hear. Not to mention that hearing protection will do exactly that. Save your hearing. (Unless your hearing is already shot and you can't hear anything anyway)
4- Makes the helmet a bit more aerodynamic. A little less buffeting and wind resistance.
5- Can actually increase airflow over the head. Because it forces air flow to enter through the engineered air portals in stead of up trough the bottom which never reaches the most important areas of your head. How effective this is depends on design of the chin curtain and ventilation ports on the helmet.
Disadvantages
1- Can make the helmet harder to get on and off.
2- Can make the helmet hotter in stop and go riding.
3- Can increase the feeling of claustrophobia.
In the fire service they taught us to close our eyes when dawning the air masks. It is the blocking of vision, they say, that brings on claustrophobia. Don't open your eyes until after the mask (or in this case, helmet) is comfortable and in position on your head. I never had a problem. And I always wondered why a person with claustrophobic tendencies would choose a profession where tight, confined spaces were a part of the job. It also helps to practice when you're doing something else, like watching TV in a dark environment so you don't notice the change in lighting so much as you dawn the helmet. An environment where you don't feel rushed or pressured. (like you might getting ready for a ride). And you can stop putting on the helmet at any point along the way. Knowing you can take it off at any time can also relieve stress during the initial stages of desensitization. Get used to it in this way and you may find a full face helmet is just what you were looking for.
So, overall, a chin curtain is a good thing. Try it both ways and see what you think. Many helmets do not have chin curtains so it certainly is not required.
I deal pretty exclusively in Arai helmets. Their chin curtain is very good.
Advantages of a chin curtain.
1- Keep you warmer in cold weather and cooler in hot weather. (See #5)
2- Helps keep wind, debris, bugs and rain out of the helmet. It's only very effective for wind. Bugs, debris and rain are usually not that much of an issue on full face helmets anyway.
3- Makes the helmet quieter by reducing turbulence. Though the quietest helmet is louder than you should endure without hearing protection. I use ear plugs. It is counter-intuitive. But you can hear better with the right ear plugs than you can without them. That is because the sounds you need to hear get less attenuation than the sounds that you don't want to hear. Not to mention that hearing protection will do exactly that. Save your hearing. (Unless your hearing is already shot and you can't hear anything anyway)
4- Makes the helmet a bit more aerodynamic. A little less buffeting and wind resistance.
5- Can actually increase airflow over the head. Because it forces air flow to enter through the engineered air portals in stead of up trough the bottom which never reaches the most important areas of your head. How effective this is depends on design of the chin curtain and ventilation ports on the helmet.
Disadvantages
1- Can make the helmet harder to get on and off.
2- Can make the helmet hotter in stop and go riding.
3- Can increase the feeling of claustrophobia.
In the fire service they taught us to close our eyes when dawning the air masks. It is the blocking of vision, they say, that brings on claustrophobia. Don't open your eyes until after the mask (or in this case, helmet) is comfortable and in position on your head. I never had a problem. And I always wondered why a person with claustrophobic tendencies would choose a profession where tight, confined spaces were a part of the job. It also helps to practice when you're doing something else, like watching TV in a dark environment so you don't notice the change in lighting so much as you dawn the helmet. An environment where you don't feel rushed or pressured. (like you might getting ready for a ride). And you can stop putting on the helmet at any point along the way. Knowing you can take it off at any time can also relieve stress during the initial stages of desensitization. Get used to it in this way and you may find a full face helmet is just what you were looking for.
So, overall, a chin curtain is a good thing. Try it both ways and see what you think. Many helmets do not have chin curtains so it certainly is not required.
I deal pretty exclusively in Arai helmets. Their chin curtain is very good.
Last edited:
I have been known to ride during extremely hot weather (& so know full well how difficult it is to get 'melted asphalt' splatter off my Spyder! :shocked: ) and I have ridden both on and off the test tracks with just about all types of helmet with & without chin curtains, so I can say with some degree of confidence that (at least for me & everyone I know personally who has done/been subjected to the same type of testing! 
) the helmet chin curtains on most quality helmets actually DO help keep your head cooler; keep you more alert; and help reduce/delay the onset of heat & hydration issues!! So for me/my ryding, that's all good stuff that warrants keeping the chin curtains on all the time! 
hyea:
Of course, your personal feelings & thoughts about this might vary, but I suspect that no matter how much you might 'feel' that taking the chin curtain off (or riding with a 1/2 or 3/4 helmet for that matter
) during hot weather might help you think you're any cooler, actual testing of your temp & hydration levels are very likely to show otherwise :lecturef_smilie: But, as with so many other things, even if I & mine keep our helmet chin curtains on, it's your ride & your life, & just so long as you're not creating a hazard for others & those road users around you, you can fill yer' boots or whatever & do it your way! :thumbup:
After all, as someone once said (& my apologies to whom-ever for my subsequent corruption of their adage )
It's not WHAT you Ride (or wear! ) it's THAT you Ride! hyea: :2thumbs:
) the helmet chin curtains on most quality helmets actually DO help keep your head cooler; keep you more alert; and help reduce/delay the onset of heat & hydration issues!! So for me/my ryding, that's all good stuff that warrants keeping the chin curtains on all the time! hyea:Of course, your personal feelings & thoughts about this might vary, but I suspect that no matter how much you might 'feel' that taking the chin curtain off (or riding with a 1/2 or 3/4 helmet for that matter
) during hot weather might help you think you're any cooler, actual testing of your temp & hydration levels are very likely to show otherwise :lecturef_smilie: But, as with so many other things, even if I & mine keep our helmet chin curtains on, it's your ride & your life, & just so long as you're not creating a hazard for others & those road users around you, you can fill yer' boots or whatever & do it your way! :thumbup:After all, as someone once said (& my apologies to whom-ever for my subsequent corruption of their adage
) It's not WHAT you Ride (or wear!
) it's THAT you Ride! hyea: :2thumbs:
BajaRon
Well-known member
I have been known to ride during extremely hot weather (& so know full well how difficult it is to get 'melted asphalt' splatter off my Spyder! :shocked: ) and I have ridden both on and off the test tracks with just about all types of helmet with & without chin curtains, so I can say with some degree of confidence that (at least for me & everyone I know personally who has done/been subjected to the same type of testing!
Of course, your personal feelings & thoughts about this might vary, but I suspect that no matter how much you might 'feel' that taking the chin curtain off (or riding with a 1/2 or 3/4 helmet for that matter
After all, as someone once said (& my apologies to whom-ever for my subsequent corruption of their adage
It's not WHAT you Ride (or wear!
You caught some things that I left out on my list. Glad you did. Off the top of my head isn't what it used to be!
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