Dealing with dust

[Woodman]

What do you guys do to minimize dust in your eyes??

Why I ask is that during the dusty i was having a lot of problems with dust affecting my eyes. They were constantly running and several times I had to stop as I couldn't keep them open any longer, and this was even when I was a fair distance from the rider in front.
Even when I was riding home over Arthurs Pass etc I had to stop occaissionally because my eyes were very irritated and got very sensitive to light etc.

What is best? e.g. goggles, safety glasses? or should I just HTFU?

Cheers.

[Eddieb]

HTFU, bloody KLR riders.


What were you wearing?

[Monstaman]

Over the years of riding I prefer goggles for off road and dust, they seem to let less dust in, for the road still full face with visor

[Motu]

HTFU for sure - back in the days when most of our back roads were gravel we never wore eye protection at all...we were tough as man.I hate using a visor on gravel...so goggles are best,or some good fitting glasses.

[Crisis management]

It's a pain in the arse isn't it, do what I do, ride really slow at the back and you never even see dust!

I use a road helmet with visor and thats fine for me and would do the same with an adventure helmet, I've tried the MX helmet & goggles which is great as long as the weather is fine but you then get a mouthfull of dust, I hate it in the rain as the goggles fog. Maybe try some eyewash or drops and try and keep the eyes clean during a ride which might put off any irritation long enough to complete the ride.

[dino3310]

wileyx glasses

[JATZ]

HTFU, bloody KLR riders.


What were you wearing?

Best advice yet.....

or ride in the front of the pack

[warewolf]

What were you wearing?Sounds like he was wearing panties & a skirt, the blouse!!

[Padmei]

I'd put a post in the aussie forum on Adv rider. If anyone knows about dealing with dust they'd be able to help you.
Eye drops are effecive at allieviating the symptoms however goggles or Wileys may be the go to stop the dust getting in. I find the loss of peripheral vision with goggles & mx helmet annoying after wearing a road helmet however I do feel more harderer core.

[Taz]

I just ensure I'm at the front of the pack - Always :)

[dino3310]

I just ensure I'm at the front of the pack - Always :)

you wont be like the corner man system then...

uglyfish are another type of rider glasses like wileys only a little cheaper

[GPS MAN]

Ride Up Front or use Goggles! I like the up front thing best...........

[Woodman]

Good replys thanks guys. i was just using a road helmet and visor as i lost my sunnies on the motorway coming into Chch.

Are wyliex glasses the sorta sealed type sunglasses? cos i been thinkin about those.

staying out in front seemed to work but got a bit lonely on day 2. Actually quite liked the solitude of just me and the roadbook and a Marc Coma Dakar winner fantasy.

[warewolf]

Goggles aren't the answer. Use 'em off-roading all the time, and on weekend events when you are riding for most of a couple of days, we all end up with 'red eye'. If it's dry, it's dusty... which seems to get in around your goggles. If it's wet, you end up riding without mud- & rain-obscured goggles... They might do the trick for adventure riding, being a little less intense. However every time I ride on-road in an off-road helmet with goggles, and it rains, I curse my own stupidity. Even in dusty conditions I find a road helmet works fine. Some of the reason I wear the off-road gear is to keep the road gear clean. Have heard suggestions of oiling the goggles' foam. Could be worth a try.

[twisty]

Dust plus sun causes wickedly sore eyes. Wearing sunnies will stop a lot of the pain in my experience.

[Transalper]

Well, I pretty much always have glasses on now days... things can get a bit blurry without them for me. They are nothing special in the protection range, just a normal optical pair and as such I can't wear the cool safety glasses I see some using.
I normally choose a helmet with visor and close the dam thing when ever you can. Riding in clear air is also good, either in front or up close above the raising cloud or well back so most of the dust has dispersed.
Hardly ever been bothered by dust irritated eyes. Do recall seeing a couple of people having issues on the DB, they were all riding with open visors or MX helmets.

Oh, and when the visor is too dirty to see through I either stop and clean it with the stuff in my topbox / open the visor temporarily / or just plain wipe it with my glove which don't seem to scratch it as much as I expected.

[offrd]

I run an adventure type Shoei, before that a cheap grex.Visor down in the dust, follow real close to the rider in front but just off to either side. If possible, more spacing between if you cant keep close. I can also run like that with my contacts in, but have had issues with sand and loosing a contact lens while chasing MXNUT on Marks DT230!

Run like that from the start and slowing down the irritation helps.

If not use one eye at a time till its too sore and change over to the other, or if you are really slow rider like me, close both!

[NordieBoy]

Have heard suggestions of oiling the goggles' foam. Could be worth a try.

Baby oil.

[Howie]

I normally ride with a road helmet, just brought an Adventure helmet. I tend to ride gravel with my visor up, and sunglasses or glasses on. One thing I do find helps is to use lubricating eye drops, the type you use with contact lenses as these well relieve dry eyes. I just read the back of a packet or "refresh plus eye drops" the description on the back of the packet says "they provide temporary relief of burning,irritation, and discomfort due too dryness of the eye or exposure to wind, sun" etc. If it's really bad i would also suggest getting your eyes checked out. it could also be an Allergy to pollen's in the air.

[Ally67]

I didn't have to much of a problem with dust on the DB.My helmit is a road one thats got a piece across under the chin which I found stopped alot of the dust getting in and visor down of course.
I've also found that wearing sunnys strains my eyes more and makes them very red and sore for a few days afterwards.
My 2 cents

[warewolf]

I've also found that wearing sunnys strains my eyes more and makes them very red and sore for a few days afterwards.

Good ones, or cheap ones? Cheap fashion sunnies have appalling optical quality. I've got a pair that are only just tolerable, right up until the sun hits them and they flare out! :no: And they are blurry as a blurry thing.

Cheap safety glasses have at least half-decent optical quality, even if they don't last. Can afford to buy a new pair every year (Torpedo 7 sold a 3-pack recently for $20.)

[Ally67]

Good ones, or cheap ones? Cheap fashion sunnies have appalling optical quality. I've got a pair that are only just tolerable, right up until the sun hits them and they flare out! :no: And they are blurry as a blurry thing.

Cheap safety glasses have at least half-decent optical quality, even if they don't last. Can afford to buy a new pair every year (Torpedo 7 sold a 3-pack recently for $20.)

Cheap glasses.But in my work I spend most of the day looking up towards the sky and I've found that safty glasses are better than sun glasses.

[dino3310]

Cheap safety glasses have at least half-decent optical quality, even if they don't last. Can afford to buy a new pair every year (Torpedo 7 sold a 3-pack recently for $20.)

yep thats the one mate, ive been buying the $18 anti fog safty glasses... bloody awesome

[bart]

With my road helmet, I find safety glasses work great . The visor fogs up under about 60kmh, and it gets a hell of a stuffy. You can get some pretty good wrap around glasses these days. You want them fairly close fitting.

I've never liked sunny's or tinted visors on a bike. Don't know why, just not my thing.

With my Shoei adv helmet, I haven't had a problem (yet). This seems to ventilate well, and keeps dust out. I must say that I haven't tried 1000km in a weekend, in dusty conditions. That's gotta be hard.

[warewolf]

Years ago a riding instructor said he only used the tinted visor on the track (road racing) and clear visor with sunnies for touring. Makes sense, however I find the tinted visor is the most comfortable; they stop all the glare. Sunnies cop some brightness around their edges - more or less depending on design - plus the inside of the helmet creates reflective surfaces which adds to the problem.

[Monstaman]

Dunno if there is a perfect solution really. My goggles still let shite through, at best you are only gonna slow it down with whatever approach unless you have a 2025 Dr.who air conditioned, sealed, vented, extendable, retractable, inflatable, deflatable helmet ....there is an opening there for a new product .:devil2:

[XF650]

I prefer visor & safety sunnies, mainly to avoid bee / wasp stings to the face. Better protection from roost too, especially when being overtaken by a bloody 990.

[javahead]

All of the above. Visor's great for touring and deflecting bees and stones. But to stop dust the only thing that works for me is well-fitting goggles that have lots of fine foam over their vents. Haven't tried oiling the foam.

What I've tried so far:
- Scott 87 OTGs (for those who need to wear specs underneath) which were OK as protection, but seemed to let a fair bit of dust in, and fogged very easily.
- Scott Deserts worked really well to stop the dust, but fogged up easily once the going got slow or damp. These have quite dense foam, and limited airflow through their vents. I replaced the tinted lens with clear. They aren't roomy enough for specs inside.
- Scott NoSweat Xi (recommended to go with goggleman prescription inserts) are super-resistant to fogging but breathe so well that dust gets in. They also have a nose shield which is good for preventing sunburn.

I find I can go for a few hours then have to stop and clean the dust from both inside and out of the lenses. The goggleman rx goggle adapter prescription inserts are great for a while, but create two additional surfaces for dust to collect on.

If I didn't need prescription lenses I'd use Scott Deserts for a dry fast ride like the Dusty Butt.

[cynna]

i didnt have too much of a problem wearing contacts on the dusty butt - i hate using a visor most of the time so wear tight fitting sunglasses that keep most of the dust out.

but i do have to stop the dust sticking to my sunblock on my face (especially when transalper is around with his camera)

[thepom]

Your right cynna,you looked pretty hideous with the sunblock on,it turned your face green.

I had safety glasses and close fitting but I too suffered badly with the dust......then again I was always last!!!

[Woodman]

Anyone had any experience, dustwise with those helmets with the cool retractable sun visor thingy.?

[Padmei]

My LS2 helmet has a retractable sun visor. I have found the helmet excellent as it also opens up which is great for reversing, looking down at your bike, paying for gas etc.
I tried a few helmets like this including expensive ones however my one had all the right features, fitted my noggin best & luckily was cheap. There is quite a difference between models. The nolan felt very close with the visor closed - almost calustrophobic - very little airflow. With sSome the sun visor is on the outside & others the sun visor dropped to right on eye level.
In the sun the sun visor comes down & when into the bush up she comes - or leave the shade down & open the clear visor to have fresh air & protection. I have a click in cover over the chin for winter riding however it starts to fog up.

To conclude however in the dust it is better than the mx helmet but dust covers the visors still & if things get bad I use eye drops when I stop.

[NordieBoy]

I tried an LS2 and it just wouldn't fit. One of the few helmets I've not been able to wear for more than 10s.

[That looks like fun]

When I was a boy (seems like a life time ago) placing big long steel holes in the ground so people all over could benefit from the naki,s gas. It got pretty damn dusty working on some of the lines sooooo (now dont laugh) they issued us with swimmers googles. We looked like a bunch of twats in our texan boots, Levis, welders cap and swimming googles but the bloody things worked.
You might get away with them (under a helmet with a black tinted visor that you never open)

[NordieBoy]

When I was a boy (seems like a life time ago) placing big long steel holes in the ground so people all over could benefit from the naki,s gas. It got pretty damn dusty working on some of the lines sooooo (now dont laugh) they issued us with swimmers googles. We looked like a bunch of twats in our texan boots, Levis, welders cap and swimming googles but the bloody things worked.
You might get away with them (under a helmet with a black tinted visor that you never open)
That's what some of the Uglyfish and other ones are like.

[Woodman]

or maybe one of them sucky on masks like the guys in Avatar.

[KapitiLizard]

I totally agree with javahead - the Scott NoSweat Xi is fantastic.
The dense foam stops the dust, even in near white-out conditions - something the cheap goggles dont do.
The anti-fog lense works a treat also.
And you can also get a roll-off system for them which works like a dream if you get a build up of dust, or bugs, and also works well in the rain too.

[pete376403]

I used to use Scott googles when I was riding speedway, with yellow lenses that seemed to cut through the dust haze. Tear-offs or roll-offs helped cope with mud (Te Marua was either dust or mud, they never seemed to be able to compromise)

For gravel road riding I've now got an HJC adventure lid, I leave the visor open enough to let air in but down enough to sheild my eyes.
Prescription lenses are the last line of defence. That and leaving a reasonable gap behind the lead bikes.