Modifying a construction helmet sunshade to fit bike helmet, tips?
July 27, 2024 2:59 PM   Subscribe

I bought a nice, bright AF sunshade designed for construction helmets, but need to adapt it to my bike helmet. Have any MeFites done this?

Got myself one of these Chillits sunshade (Amazon suxors, I know)


My Bontrager helmet and the sunshade: Anyone know how to cut/adapt it to fit? Prefer an easy on/off solution.

Bike helmet-specific sunshades are inexplicably $50, while this one was $10. :)
posted by 4midori to Grab Bag (9 answers total)
 
Can you post a photo of it with the sunshade as "on" as it will go? What's stopping it from staying on, does it slip off the bottom or off the top?

(Also does it fit on your head? Could you just wear it under the helmet? Maybe if you sewed a headband to the top of it?)
posted by mskyle at 3:06 PM on July 27, 2024


Response by poster: Sunshade pushed as far as it will go.

photo

The rigid ring is too small to fit over the helmet. May need to cut.

Can't wear it inside helmet, doesn't fit, interferes with straps.
posted by 4midori at 3:15 PM on July 27, 2024


I'd look for sunshade solutions that go under the helmet rather than over it. I've seen hats with brims that are designed to go under road bike helmets (no link handy, sorry) and I've seen recent videos of cross-country glider pilots wearing basically ultralight balaclavas/gaiters + sunglasses to keep the sun off their faces. That would also work under a helmet..

I suspect by the time you get done trying to adapt this, you'll be out more than the cost of the "right" sunshade in time + materials if not materials alone.
posted by Alterscape at 3:19 PM on July 27, 2024


Can you pull it up from the bottom so that the stretchy bit goes over the helmet and the inner rigid ring sits just under the brim of the helmet? If you do that the stretchy bit might not be enough to keep it up on its own; you might want to attach a strip of fabric tape or something that goes over the top of the helmet

If that doesn't work my first instinct would be to snip the rigid inner ring and try to pull it over the top again and see what happens. If you find that you can stretch it over, you could then reinforce the cut area with a patch of stiff fabric.

I guess another consideration is "how garbagey are you ok with this looking?" because this definitely has the potential to end up functional but ripped and funny-looking.
posted by mskyle at 3:24 PM on July 27, 2024 [1 favorite]


I get that the price is quite different, but maybe you could get one made for bike helmets, like this one. Link.

Or at least look at the construction to see how you could adapt yours
posted by raccoon409 at 4:02 PM on July 27, 2024


We have DaBrim. It's tricky to install, but works well, until the wind picks up.
posted by Rat Spatula at 4:58 PM on July 27, 2024


I have Da Brim. I think it's great, even in wind, and has never come loose for me.

A couple of warnings, though: attaching anything to your helmet, whether it's Da Brim or your own homebrew sunshade, may prevent it from working correctly and could lead to a neck or brain injury you wouldn't otherwise have received if you land on it. Helmets just aren't tested with a big floppy part possibly pushing them out of the way (and Da Brim comes with extensive disclaimers).

It can also be distracting or disorienting to have a big thing on your helmet, even if it's secured--the wind can sort of push your head around, to the extent I suspect it's intended to blow off at some point rather than flop your head to aggressively. Honestly, I'd be a little concerned about using a homebrew version for this reason.

I use it primarily on trails or back roads and wouldn't be super comfortable wearing it in the city. (I also won't attach lights or cameras to my helmet, as they seem like a skull fracture waiting to happen.)

Finally, the sticky rubber pads that help secure it can leave dark marks on a light-colored plastic helmet shell. It seems like something is leaching from the rubber into the plastic and I wonder if it could compromise the plastic's integrity over time (but you're supposed to replace your helmet every five years or so).
posted by pullayup at 6:25 PM on July 27, 2024


Best answer: OK, I know how you do this, and you can totally make it look acceptable!

Horseback riders have been doing this for quite a while.
There are lots of gals here in the west that are smart enough to ride with a helmet but want shade or hate the look of a helmet and want a hat with a brim. The store-bought ones just suck both in looks and weight-wise, so plenty of people DIY.

The two parts of sunshade you have to be concerned with are the 1" circular fabric piece with the elastic and the inner stitched circle on the brim. You're right that you will need to slit the elastic and the circular fabric piece, but only as far as the inner stitched edge of the rim. Don't cut through the fabric on the inner circle! Use a needle and thread to stitch it so it doesn't fray or tear out.

Your pic shows how it would normally fit, with the fabric piece situated up above the brim. Stick the sunshade on your helmet with the elastic and fabric piece tucked under, then use fabric tape on the underside so you don't see the tape from the top of the helmet. I used a hot glue gun on my winter helmet because it has a fake brown leatherette cover over the plastic, and I wasn't going to take off the brim. Not sure if that would melt the plastic on your bike helmet, so I wouldn't do it unless you can test it in an inconspicuous place.

The inner circular piece of the brim should fit down pretty close to where it needs to sit, and you should be able to adjust it slightly higher in the back if need be. The neck shade will hide it if it's up just a tad higher than it would normally sit.

That should look pretty civilized, but if you need to fancy it up, look at the DIY hell-hats page.

I wear my brown cowboy hel-hat in the winter, but it's too warm in summer. I finally shelled out the money on Da Brim for my other white plastic helmet and was sorely disappointed. Da Brim is really too wide and flaps hard in the wind which loosens it up, and then it comes off. I resorted to duct taping it eventually, which makes it look tacky. The plan was to occasionally take Da Brim off the helmet for a show or whatever. Unfortunately, the tape residue is hard to clean up, and it's starting to look like crap. A disappoint. Turns out, I prefer my hel-hat.
posted by BlueHorse at 6:30 PM on July 27, 2024 [5 favorites]


A lot of other people in this thread have discussed some of the where. All I’d like to add is that if you want it to be removable, sticky-backed Velcro on the helmet and sewn-on Velcro on the fabric would probably work well.
posted by Night_owl at 6:26 AM on July 28, 2024 [1 favorite]


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