Why Wear Visors and Not Caps?
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CadenceGuy posted 42 weeks ago.
Wearing a visor is proven in taking almost a full minute off per mile in an average sprint distance race, 40 seconds per mile in an OLY, 25 seconds per mile in a HIM, and 10 seconds per mile in a IM.
Ok so Im a liar (and a car salesman) Ive used visors before just because it keeps the sun off your face. Ive worn a hat for training but didnt like it, visors work well for me for ventilation and to keep sweat from getting into my eyes without blocking all the fluids from getting to my head at the aid stations. Do you need one? Nope, if youd like one have at it.
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J.Michael posted 42 weeks ago.
Like cadence guy I think it's kind of a preferential choice.
Some people need the added ventilation that a visor allows.
Some prefer the ability to fill the cap with ice and plunk it down on you melon.
I have both. It just kind of depends on how I feel that day when choosing what to wear. (If anything)
Either will definitely reduce the eye fatigue caused by squinting and offer more ventilation to the eyes unlike always wearing sunglasses. (Although, if I run near the water, I'll usually wear both.)
Plus, "When I turn this hat around, it's like a switch!"
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
— Winston Churchill
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CadenceGuy posted 42 weeks ago.
Plus, "When I turn this hat around, it's like a switch!"
Like Sylvester Stallone in 'Over the Top"!!!!
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grlawguy posted 42 weeks ago.
+1 on personal preference.
I switched from a hat to a visor in 2008 and noticed a couple of things:
1. I'm cooler (as in temp wise);
2. less sweat runs down on my face (probably just a better-made visor than my hat);
3. the sweat from my head trickles on to the "bill" of my new visor and collects on either side of the visor and when the beads of sweat drop off while I am on the run, they cross out in front of my face and it is like a little race to see whether the bead of sweat from the right side will cross faster than the bead of sweat from the left side (can you tell I hate running and look for ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING to take my mind off of it????).
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beads1985 posted 42 weeks ago.
J.Michael wrote:
Like cadence guy I think it's kind of a preferential choice.Some people need the added ventilation that a visor allows.
Some prefer the ability to fill the cap with ice and plunk it down on you melon.I have both. It just kind of depends on how I feel that day when choosing what to wear. (If anything)
Either will definitely reduce the eye fatigue caused by squinting and offer more ventilation to the eyes unlike always wearing sunglasses. (Although, if I run near the water, I'll usually wear both.)
I am the same way. I have plenty of both visors and hats. It depends on the day.
I have short hair, but I have hair so I am not concerned about the top of my head so much on a shorter race.
If I am running longer in the sun I will turn my hat "like a switch" to follow the sun to protect either my face or the back of my neck.Plus, "When I turn this hat around, it's like a switch!"
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
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Triguy98 posted 42 weeks ago.
Love the cheesy 80s movie quote. I grew up watching that and all of Arnolds stuff.
As for visors, In the Florida humidity, more ventilation is better for me. Hats retain way too much heat for my taste. Fine in the winter.
Life is short. Play hard and get dirty doing it.
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tri-ac posted 42 weeks ago.
as a head shaver, i wear a hat
but, i also find it's actually better than a visor for keeping in ice, and the fabric stays wet against your head longer, keeping you cool longer...
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stewarba posted 42 weeks ago.
Functionally: Visor = Sweatband
Cool points: Visor > Sweatband
Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body!
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overcome posted 42 weeks ago.
I wear a headsweats hat that I got for free when I went to watch people finish IMAZ at like 11 PM a few years ago. I have gone on runs when it is about 110 degrees. When it is that hot I don't think it matters that much. I have never tried a visor so I can't compare the two.
" 'I hate this day, I hate mornings, I hate the weather' You bring yourself down and others down with you. That's not the way it should be." Jens Voigt in Overcoming
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kylie posted 42 weeks ago.
I just prefer the feeling of the visors and how they absorb the sweat. I just don't like how hats feel - have never had one sit the same on my head. It does mean I have to remember to put sunscreen on the part in my braid (that appears even if I try to avoid it) -- or deal with painful hair brushing for a while after big races when I forget! Ooow!
Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV
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csaf31 posted 42 weeks ago.
I switched from a hat to visor after not being able to cool down at several races. I was able to release a bunch of heat off my head. I have very short hair in the summer and did not get burned. By the time the sun was super strong I was thankfully done. The only thing I like better about a hat is that you can stick ice under it to cool off.
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jsk85 posted 42 weeks ago.
I guess I'm one of the few devoted hat guys here. I'm just used to wearing a hat, and have yet to see a reason to go the other way.
This year I will be advertising for Trifuel with the hat I got last fall (as long as I don't lose it, which I'm notorious for)
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SueR posted 42 weeks ago.
I like stuffing sponges under the hat in races, the cool lasts a bit longer. I also have a white hat hoping that keeps me a bit cooler. Honestly, here we only get one or two weeks of hot and the rest is rain, so a hat is a bit "warmer". That being said, my main reason is of course vanity as my hair sticks off everywhere in a visor and I think I look stupid! I already look stupid by being in the middle of the pack worried about how I look, but hey!
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RV posted 42 weeks ago.
I go with hats - especially when hot - nice to be able to put ice in the hat - great cooling effect.
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Kwschs posted 42 weeks ago.
I like both, but visors are nice. I seem to have itchy hair.
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gfd posted 42 weeks ago.
If I wore a visor my head would end up being two very different colors. Nature has taken the gift of the visor away from me. I have been happy with the Nike moisture wicking hat I got a few years ago. It started as a black hat, but now it is getting closer to a light gray in certain spots. I will retire it when there is no black left at all.
"If we help someone else up a steep hill, we get nearer to the top ourselves." ~Unknown~
~Garen~
http://baldhungariantriproject.blogspot.com/
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mdittfurth posted 42 weeks ago.
I tried one of those "French Foreign Legion" type desert caps once in the Wool Capital Olympic Distance in West Texas. All that hanging cloth got wet and sticky on my neck when I put water and ice in at the aid stations. . I had thought that would feel good but it was more of a nuisance to me. And my head got hot, much hotter than with a regular cap.
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tri-ac posted 42 weeks ago.
white hat in the summer also has reflective properties too, keeping you cooler
so, unless you're very blond, i still think hats win out performance-wise...
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NotAsFast posted 42 weeks ago.
Mesh hat over a visor. Just in a half alone 2 hrs+ with no cover will bake anyones head, and your head is the worst place to get sunburn. Plus, as already stated, you can fill it with ice, cold sponges etc to keep cool.
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Tamara posted 42 weeks ago.
I've never been a visor girl, can't figure out what to do with the hair, frankly.
Rotate between three hats (now two)...my Trifuel hat, my "lucky" pink race hat from JMcGlos, and my DC Tri hat which got snagged by my tri-noob cousin as a good luck charm before she moved to Italy last fall.
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Captain Mal posted 42 weeks ago.
I'm not a shaver, but I'm pretty close to the natural equivalent. Sometimes I wear my old visor for runs when the sun is not out or strong, but I wear the Nike drifit hat otherwise. There's just too much skin cancer in my family to go without it.
As far as fashion goes, it looks pretty funny when your hairline doesn't start until about two inches above the top of the visor.
"Faster would be better!" -Captain Mal, Serenity-
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beads1985 posted 42 weeks ago.
TriSooner wrote:
tri-ac wrote:As a bald dude (not by choice) you better not have a full head of hair that you voluntarily shave. :) Regardless, I try to avoid the sunburned scalp, so visors aren't even in the rotation.as a head shaver . . .
I do have a full head of hair but I keep it crew cut short.
If I am using a visor sometimes I'll slather sunscreen on my head.
'Nothing to it, but to do it!'
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tri-ac posted 42 weeks ago.
TriSooner wrote:
tri-ac wrote:As a bald dude (not by choice) you better not have a full head of hair that you voluntarily shave. :)as a head shaver . . .
no one will ever know one way or the other...that's one of the things I like about shaving...it's a very proactive and natural "haircut". ultimately there's no shaping, combing, poufing, or moussifying :)
and, just to spite my bald pate, I've got a beard for the winter...
I see a lot of the pros and some of the folks on pictures on this forum (Kylie) wearing visors. The advantage of being able to put cool stuff on the head easily and more ventilation, I can see. But, what about the sun cooking the top of your head? Yeah, it is cold now and January but it seems a lot of triathlete who have do a lot in the heat are using visors. Should I go out and get me one?