Virtually all bike helmets made these days are designed with as much ventilation as possible. This is a good thing, when you're riding in the summer and you don't want your noggin to hard-boil like a breakfast egg. Ventilation is a bad thing, when you're riding in the rain or across the Canadian Arctic. You may as well be wearing nothing on your head at all, as far as protection from the elements is concerned.

Fortunately, it's quite easy to modify almost any standard helmet so that it protects you from cold, rain AND major pavement-impact catastrophes. All you need is a helmet, some waterproof material, a plastic visor and some glue. It can be done in about one hour (plus 24 hours drying time), for between zero to $45.

Materials:

• A regular bike helmet, either bought new or pulled from the back of your closet
• A flexible, waterproof material such as nylon fabric, a really strong plastic bag, or even used packing material
• A home made or store-bought windscreen. This example uses a windscreen made by Louis Garneau.
• Strong glue that is compatible with fabric, plastic and rubber. Don't use anything that dries instantly.
• A roll of electrician's tape

Tools:

• A sharp knife
• Scissors
• Something to apply glue with (like, a stick)
• A metal shim (may or may not be necessary)

Directions:

1. First gather all the materials you will need. The helmet you selected should have a plastic shell, that can be separated from the styrofoam core. Some models of helmets, like a Giro Indicator that I own, are not separable and cannot be used for this modification.

2. If your helmet has a visor on the front, detach it by gently pulling out the plugs that hold the visor onto the plastic cover. Set the visor aside for now.

3. Next you will separate the plastic cover from the styrofoam core, by cutting the band of tape that holds the two together. Try to cut right next to the edge of the plastic cover.

4. The plastic cover may be secured with some double-sided tape, as with my helmet. Sever the tape with a metal shim. Make sure you don't force anything, since it is easy to puncture the plastic cover with the shim if you're not careful.

5. Lift off the plastic cover and set it aside for now. You should now have the styrofoam core of the helmet sitting before you.

6. The waterproof material you chose should be flexible, yet resistant to puncture. That is, you shouldn't be able to do a lot of damage to it by pushing your finger through it. I used nylon for this example, it cost about $3 at a fabric store and I got enough to make four helmets. Take the piece of nylon fabric, or whatever you chose to use, and lay it across the helmet. Cut out a piece that easily wraps all the way past the edges of where the plastic cover will be.

7. Push the plastic cover down on top of the fabric, so it is pressed against the core of the helmet. Make sure there are fabric edges sticking out on all sides. You will notice that the fabric wrinkles in most of the ventilation holes. While holding the plastic cover down, attempt to smooth out these wrinkles by tugging on the protruding fabric edges. Get as many of them as smooth as possible, especially around the top. You'll notice that you can often fold the material over in some places, and hide the fold under a raised rib under the plastic cover. This will help eliminate wrinkes.

8. That was the practice round. Remove the plastic cover and the fabric from the helmet core. Observe that the core has higher and lower ribs that run across the core in both directions. You will be applying glue to these ribs, as well as the outside edge just above the tape. This step must be done quickly. Make sure you use a glue that doesn't dry instantly. Don't use hot glue or 5 minute epoxy, or this won't work.

Apply a bead of glue to all the ribs and the edge just above the tape. Make sure you don't miss any of the ribs. As soon as you're done, immediately place the fabric centered on the core, and slide the plastic cover on top.

9. Just like you did in step 7, hold down the plastic cover and tug on the edges of the material. Do this quickly, as the glue is probably starting to dry. Remove as many wrinkles from the material as you can. When you're satisfied, you still have to sit and hold down the plastic cover as the glue dries (in the case of contact cement, about 15 minutes). During this time, run a finger along all the ribs, pressing hard so that the fabric is pushed against the glue.

10. When you're satisfied that the glue is reasonably dry, you can remove the plastic cover. The fabric should stay in place over the core.

11. For added strength and water resistance, you can apply a bead of glue around all the inside edges of the vent holes in the plastic cover. These edges make the most contact with the fabric, so sealing them will add to the weather resistance. Again you must act quickly to apply glue to all these edges. When you're done, press the plastic cover onto the core, making sure everything is as centered as possible. Again run your finger along all the edges where you applied glue, to make sure they are making contact. You will not be able to remove the plastic cover very easily, if you do this step.

12. After the glue on the plastic cover has dried, you can trim around the edge of the cover to remove any excess fabric. You don't have to get right up to the edge, 1/4" or less is fine.

13. Re-tape the edge of the plastic cover using electrician's tape. Don't stretch the tape too much or it will pull back over time and leave a sticky mess. Try to keep the tape as smooth as possible.

14. If you are going to attach a windscreen to the helmet, now is the time to do it. The Louis Garneau windscreen used in this example attaches using three self-adhesive velcro strips. Center the windscreen and stick it down, holding the sides for a few minutes so the glue can take hold.

If you are building your own windscreen, choose a sturdy, transparent plastic that can be cut with scissors. Cut it to shape, and secure it to the helmet using strong self-adhesive velcro.

15. You can now reattach the visor, if your helmet came with one. Carefully push the visor's plugs back into the holes on the plastic cover.

16. You're done! Wait 24 hours for the glue to fully dry, before venturing into the cold, wet barrens. If your helmet has additional ventialtion holes on the back that are not covered by the plastic cover, you can cut out small pieces of fabric and glue them over the holes on the inside of the helmet.

Additional Suggestions:

• If you really want to go all-out, you can install a layer of heat-reflective mylar instead of nylon fabric. You may not need to wear a hat on cooler days.
• Take this opportunity to permanently add an LED blinkie or three to the back of the helmet for added visibility.
• Cut out strips of reflective tape, and stick them along the raised ribs of the helmet.

This article is copyright Rebel Cycles, 2006.