I need to wear specs for driving, but find that in the rain driving an open car with aeroscreens that vision, especially at night is at best limited if not dangerous.
Does anyone have a recommendation?
Putting goggles that are wet over wet specs doesn't work.
I too wear spectacles for driving, although I am a bit luckier in that I can pass the exam number test without them - so I do sometimes simply wear safety specs.
ReplyDelete1) Good wipers
2) Good dry wiper pad for inside screen
3) Spare pair of spectacles to be swopped for dry pair your navigator will hand to you/throw past you.
4) Curved safety specatacles - the rain tends to run off them - and wear them before the spectacles get wet.
5) Long, wide, deep wind-wings to the sides of the screen - stops a lot of the spray coming in.
6) Peaked cap
7) I have wondered about the use of RainX or similar to make the water run off quicker - but I've not yet tried it.
8) Give up and put the doors and roof on - which is what I do with the Caterham. With the Dutton, we found the tarp we use as a "roof" stops a lot of the spray and water coming in, which is good as we don't actually have any doors for that car.
Bri
I think the critical word in your post is "aeroscreens". I find that a full hight windscreen is not a problem.
ReplyDeleteYour right, Simon, AEROSCREEN is the critical factor. May be precription goggles are the answer.
ReplyDeleteRainex is NOT recommended for plastic items.
Not having driven upon Aeroscreens would be like having worn waterproof trousers that did`nt fill up with water. At that fun of hitting the ton then knocking down the passengers screen ! ( N.B. do not try this at home, go abroad). Then there is that familiar salty taste one gets driving in the rain when you have been doing 80mph+. Its called bleeding lips ! And your only concern is not seeing where your going. A while back I tried a product similar to RainX applied to just the drivers side of a conventional windscreen - none upon the passenger side. It was possible to drive in heavy rain with no wipers and retain good visibility while the passage was begging for the wipers to be turned on. As a side advantage the fly marks upon the treated side was far less than the non treated side and was easy to clean off.
ReplyDeletebest to avoid smiling whilst driving with aero screen.....or when you arrive.....especially in the summer...no amount of rainex on one's toothbrush will help remove the flies from one's teeth...
ReplyDeleteIn the bad old days when most trials drivers were in their prime, methylated spirits applied to the windscreen, especially inside..[if one was posh enough to actually have a roof] had a similar effect.
Having a windscreen, but not top, might mean having a wiper on the inside as well?
Point to note.....having a windsceen above a certain height [from the scuttle...not up a mountain]....means you HAVE to have a wiper of sorts...plus,screenwasher.....
all of which adds to weight, and complicates one's wiring loom....not forgetting extra fuses...
Aero screens eliminate all this complexity.
I had an ''aero screen'' on my Cannon...actually , half a bus stop timetable...not too bad if I wore motorcycle googles.....didn't get wet...although my backside did, since the rain came in over the top of the car side......
the issue I DID have concerned bright sunshine!
I had to find a hat which [1] had a stiff peak over the eyes....a floppy one would get blown up/down/sideways.......and [2]..stayed on at 60 mph!
Also, prolongued driving with an aero screen wil lead to acquiring what I describe as ''hamster cheeks'' on one's face....
the continual high-speed influx of air into one's mouth will billow one's cheeks outwards..perpetually....
that, plus the ingrained dirty face, with the tell-tale white circles around the eyes, may prove unacceptable...thus leading to the fitment of a full height windscreen [glass, laminated, auto... a tenner from a glass spot]...under pressure from other, less hardy souls...
Not forgetting the Free parking one (could) get with Aero Screens. The technique requires a degee of timing - screens lowered, drive towards the barrier, head down, head up, screens up. Upon an ethical note this is not disimilar to reusing an unfranked postage stamp only it does not require a steaming kettle. Discuss, answers in not under 500 words, on my desk Friday. Sorry had a flash back. Jonathan.
ReplyDeletesorry..not yet reached the required standard...........here's your driving licence
ReplyDeleteComing back to the original question regarding driving in rain with glasses and ignoring fitting small windscreen wipers upon them. I am told that the biking fraternity have goggles that can be cleared by using a slide mechanism fitted upon the side. This can be operated with one hand. This being a fore runner to "rip off strips".It is an item that is used primarily in grass track racing. Better still there is a large version of these goggles which can accommodate spectacle's underneath. This item will require some investigation and may show the shortage of Bike enthusiasts within our Classical Gas community.
ReplyDelete