Sun Protection for the follicly challenged

[Danneaux]

Hi All,

I need your help with a problem I face on my next tour.

As I sit here planning my next trip with some extended desert crossings -- either Oregon's Alvord or Nevada's Black Rock again -- I realize I've got to find a more effective solution to prevent sunburning my bald head. The first pic shows my typical setup with helmet and Santini/Headsweats tailed cap. Second pic shows the kind of country I travel through with no cover or shade, and a lot of reflected heat and UV (causing sunburn beneath my chin and forearms). You can see the result in the third picture, despite sunscreen and even zinc oxide; it hurts, takes a good while to heal, and is a big concern because I have fair skin, burn easily, and come from a family with a history of skin cancer and have already had some pre-cancerous lesions removed. My Dad has had an eyelid reconstruction and other sun-damage and skin cancer-related surgeries, and I don't like where I'm headed (sorry).

I have tried nearly every sunscreen on the market here in the States, and none has proven effective for repeated all-day riding in these environments. Though I apply sunscreen on a schedule throughout the day, I simply cannot haul it in great enough quantities to use it in effectively large doses. It doesn't take long to burn through even the large, weighty tubes. I am reconciled to using heavy coats of opaque white zinc oxide on my lips and nose, but it isn't practical for my scalp and presents a real cleanup problem in a dry camp. I really don't want zinc oxide all over my sleeping bag and clothing, and boy does it collect wind-blown dust. I apply sunscreen on awakening, but even getting up at 4:50AM, it is already getting light and there isn't much time for the stuff to soak in before I get blasted with the day's hot early sun.

For my arms, sleeves made from cut-off pantyhose (tights) legs were remarkably effective, but I have now taken to wearing a long-sleeve IDT  jersey from Brazil ( http://www.b2brazil.com/B2Brazil/hotsite/Default.asp?var_cod_assoc=1077 ), intended to filter and protect against the sun (fourth picture). That has helped a lot with my upper torso and arms, but it is my head and face that are really problematic. Because of the heat (124F/51C), I really need to maintain ventilation. I have decided to try a billed cap with detachable tails for neck protection on the next trip. The Outdoor Research cap in the last photo looks like it might work. It just fits beneath my helmet, and the cap portion is ventilated to a degree, but not in a place where I'll get burned.

My bald neighbor tells me, "Son, the Good Lord made a few perfect heads; the rest He covered with hair", but this is scant comfort when I'm going up like a match. Any suggestions for effective sun filtering solutions for the follicly challenged? Perhaps our Australian members have solved the problem, since intense sun is a part of outdoor life there...?

Thanks in advance!

Best,

Dan.

[il padrone]

That OR cap is going to be your best option I reckon, Dan. Halo also make a solar cap with tail that would be less bulky under the helmet. I use a halo bandanna - great to wet it too on a hot day for air-con cooling.




Maybe use it with some sunnies with a nose-guard as well

[JimK]

My main summer hat is a Tilley hat with lots of mesh in the crown:

http://www.tilley.com/LTM8-Mesh-AIRFLO-Nylamtium.aspx

I haven't tried combining this with a helmet - it probably wouldn't work. But this "3D" mesh might be a step toward a solution for you.

[JimK]

Here too is a Dr. Shade item that could be another piece of a solution:

http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___63486

[mylesau]

I've used a standard Buff with great success - looks like you might need the UV version.

I've seen these - Da Brim - but don't have one to say if they are good/bad or other.

[Danneaux]

Oh! The power of the Internet and good friends -- Thanks! You've all quickly come up with some really good ideas, some for things I hadn't heard of or even thought to consider. I think I can draw a little from each and see if I can construct something to meet my needs...perhaps even a series of ride-configurable solutions. A nose guard is something I can make or apply right away (for example http://www.sungrubbies.com/product_index_html/product_detail_html/Nose-guard.htm ), and Da Brim shows promise for peripheral protection, especially around camp. Jim and Pete, the Halo and Tilley's look very promising, and I keep returning to Myles' UV Buff.

Please, if you can think of additional solutions to consider, they'll be most welcome. Meantime, thanks truly for your suggestions!

Best,

Dan.

[il padrone]

I've seen these - Da Brim - but don't have one to say if they are good/bad or other.

Quite a few cycling friends of mine have set up hat brims similar to Da Brim - just a conventional sun-hat and cut the brim out to fasten to the helmet





Or polstyrene sheet taped to a helmet





I think this one Brian has may actually be Da Brim



Three or four of the riders on my recent Tasmania tour were using some sort of brim, for 18 days of riding. No problems that I know of, apart from a certain unconventional appearance.

[Danneaux]

Oh, man...this will ensure Danneaux never produces an heir. Fetching! Doesn't look good like the Aussie brim hats. Sigh.

Appearance aside (and who really cares in the middle of the desert, a good 100mi/161km from any other human being), I have found a couple problems with this setup:
1) The cape on the OR cap attaches to the brim with brass snaps. Unfortunately, the rear edges of those snaps contact my forehead, and standing under the bathroom heat lamp as a test, they heated up right away and became uncomfortable. What were the designers thinking?
2) If I dial-out the adjustment on the my helmet's occipital strap, I can plunk it down over the hat. The problem is at the front. The helmet drives the brim down onto my glasses, and they in turn press really hard on the bridge of my nose. My nose has already been broken five times and doesn't like this. The problem is caused by the curvature of the hat brim. It also sets the helmet up pretty high...higher than I'd really like for forehead protection.

I think the basic idea has promise, but needs better execution. I can look for another hat of this general type, or try to modify this one by removing the snaps and replacing them with velcro spots, using a heat gun to remove some of the curvature in the brim. If I mod it, I'm stuck with it, so I may buy a second hat to compare before I decide.

Please, keep the suggestions coming! Thanks!

Best,

Dan.

[il padrone]

Use the Halo solar cap and tail, with good sunglasses and nose-guard. Sunblock on rest of your face and if you keep the Halo wet it'll keep you nice and cool  .

[Danneaux]

Pete,

The Halo Solar Skull Cap & Tail does look like a really good option, and I thank you for suggesting it. I have several more questions for you, if I may:
1) Does the little sweat-diverting "gutter" they refer to and the side/top seams dent your head when you wear it under a helmet?
2) By any chance, do you have a photo showing you wearing it under a helmet?
3) Does the tail cover most of your ears?

I surely appreciate your thoughts and efforts, Pete, especially coming as they do from your experience in similar conditions to what I ride in.

Best,

Dan.

[il padrone]

1) Does the little sweat-diverting "gutter" they refer to and the side/top seams dent your head when you wear it under a helmet?

This sweat-diversion is a rubber rand about 4mm wide and 1-2mm thick. It works very well and does not cause any pressure on your forehead. It sits below my helmet brow.

2) By any chance, do you have a photo showing you wearing it under a helmet?
3) Does the tail cover most of your ears?

Sorry, no photos of me wearing it. I rarely get good photos of myself. I have their bandannna, without the tail. However the brim of this covers a good proportion of my  ears. With the tail I'd expect you'd get ~60-75% coverage of the ears.

[edit] Googled for a picture (not many with a helmet) and found this one (as I said, I do find it covers the ears quite well, despite this picture)

[in4]

You need an Araphat! I use one of these in the top end of Australia where the sun is fearsome and the UV similarly so. I particularly like being able to draw it across the face via velcro although I would not use it in certain parts of the world, one can look 'well dodgy' Here's a link to a supplier. There are others of course. http://www.happymicks.com.au/prod138.htm

[JimK]

Yet another option:

http://www.headsweats.com/products/Protech.html

[JimK]

or

http://www.headsweats.com/products/Skullcap.html

with DaBrim

[Danneaux]

Outstanding, guys!

I'm working my way through the links and looking in wonder; there's a vast array of options I hadn't considered 'cos I didn't know about them!

Jim, I have a Headsweats Skullcap...found it, forgotten, in one of my gear lockers. That opens up some possibilities with other options, as you suggest. The snapless version of the Protech is a bit like my OR tailed cap...without the snaps that scorched me. Great! Will check it out.

Ian...the Araphat shows some promise! Oh, no worries about appearances now; I think the OR tailed cap in the photo above has killed my chances for finding a girlfriend, so the field is wide-open to consider other options. Can this be worn beneath a helmet? If I could reshape the brim to a flatter curvature, it could work.... If I can balance the sun coverage with ventilation (looks possible by varying the amount of "wrap"), it looks the most protective wrt the sun's rays.

Pete, thanks so much for digging up that photo; it helped so much. I now see it is the lower part of the cap that covers the ears, and not just the tails. There's a lot going on in that location (ears, cap, tails, glasses temples and helmet straps), but I think it could all be juggled pretty nicely after a couple initial tries to try it all out.

I so appreciate your efforts; keep 'em coming, guys! I'm looking to send off an order Monday or Tuesday so I can send for some of these and try and get things sorted and road-tested. I'm about 3.5 months out from departure, and that time goes by in a wink (soldering-up USB adapters for my gadgets so I can get the Tout Terrain charging fully sorted, breaking down dried foods for the food locker, etc.).

Best,

Dan.