Advice for being able to see in the rain

[PaulSB]

I wear a peaked cycling cap and no glasses. With regard to your glasses fogging up are you wearing a buff covering your mouth? I do this sometimes and if I'm wearing glasses they will fog up. I presume the buff in some way sends my breath upwards as if I pull it down the glasses quickly clear.

 

[KneesUp]

Interesting that people recommend hydrophobic treatments such as Rain-X - I use one on the glass in the car and it's highly effective if you make sure the glass is very clean first (I recommend Autoglym Glass Polish as a first clean) I've thought about putting it on my glasses, but have always assumed it would ruin the coatings? (Having said that I wash them with washing up liquid or shower gel sometimes, so the coatings might well be knackered anyway!)

 

[Dogtrousers]

I wear varifocals and have a pair of cycling glasses with prescription lenses. But in winter I wear my normal glasses (actually I wear an old pair that are a bit knackered) as the cycling glasses are much more prone to fogging and getting covered with rain. My distance vision is OK-ish so I just push my rain covered specs down a bit and look over the top.

 

[kingrollo]

Some form of peaked cap to keep the worst of the rain off? It worked to some extent for me this morning.

This ^^^^ - It is amazing how much difference this makes - Don't stop at a cotton cycling cap either - get a normal baseball cap with the biggest peak you can find.

 

[andrew_s]

I also use a long-peaked cap, but it doesn't work in fog or fine drizzle, which just gets in underneath.

I've found that rain-x type stuff copes with the misting you may get at traffic lights, but doesn't help when significant amounts of water are getting on the glasses.

The only thing I've had that works in contacts rather than glasses.

 

[mjr]

I just remembered that my ski mittens have leathery palms/fingers and that I sometimes use that to wipe the worst rain off one lens, then a few minutes later, the other - I do one at a time to try to even out wear, plus avoid having both lenses smeared (or scratched?) if it goes wrong!

 

[T675Rich]

Tbh the fogging in the biggest pain as I can wipe the lenses on the front. I'm going to get a cap, hopefully I can find one for my massive head, sure I can. I'll give rain x a go.

I don't know why I mist up the lenses of my cycling glasses so much, I'm not wearing a buff or anything, I think it is just because I sweat buckets at the slightest exercise.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don't know why I mist up the lenses of my cycling glasses so much, I'm not wearing a buff or anything, I think it is just because I sweat buckets at the slightest exercise.

Possibly because, being cycling specific, they are quite close fitting so the air in there is trapped. That's certainly why my cycling glasses fog up but my ordinary specs don't.

 

[Blue1]

I wear Oakleys, I'm not sure which model they are, but they are clear lens when I start my commute and they darken up as the sun comes up in the morning, but they are vented so they don't mist up. I clean them with rain ex, any water beads right off them.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Got some Rain X wipes for a fiver today to experiment.

 

[VeloMule]

As others have said a cap under helmet, sometimes I'll don my MTB helmet on too for a bit of extra protection as it has a visor.
Never thought of trying rain-x, thanks for the suggestion folks

 

[mjr]

As others have said a cap under helmet,

I'm pretty sure no-one in this thread said to wear it under a helmet. Doing so is a bad idea and against several helmet makers' warnings because it would enable the helmet to slide around, fail to protect the top of the head and dig into the side of the head or possibly the neck. I wear a cap or peaked hood but no helmet. Wear a helmet with a peak or visor if you use a helmet but please don't wear one dangerously with a cap underneath. I'd hate to hear you've been injured by it.

 

[Illaveago]

When I used to ride a motorcycle I used to put Rain X on the outside of my goggles and an anti misting liquid on the inside . Some people used to say that rubbing tobacco on the inside also stopped misting . I'm not sure about that !
I can remember back in the 60's that some riders wore a spinning disc type visor which gave vision .

 

[newfhouse]

 

[rogerzilla]

Rain on glasses isn't much of a problem in the day, and a cap helps. At night it's awful. I can ride without glasses as I'm only moderately longsighted* (+1.75/+2.5) and my 50 year-old eyes can accommodate about half the dioptre error. If you're shortsighted then contacts are the best way to go.

*not presbyopic - really longsighted following corneal grafts