Balaclavas

Balaclava or neck warmer, which do you need?

A neck warmer covers the gap between your helmet and your jacket collar, and it handles most days. You pull it up over your chin and lower face when the wind comes up and drop it back down when it eases.

A balaclava goes further. It covers your head, neck and lower face as one piece, sitting under the helmet with no gaps anywhere. That is the difference that matters on genuinely cold days: there is no join for wind to find.

Most riders end up owning both and choosing by the forecast. If you only want one and you ride mild resort days, start with a neck warmer.

When do you actually need one?

Three situations, mainly.

• Genuinely cold, windy days where exposed skin becomes a real problem rather than an annoyance.
• Early season and first chair, when the temperature has not come up and you are sitting on a slow lift.
• Japan and New Zealand trips, where it gets colder than most Australian riders are used to and the wind on exposed lifts is a different order of cold.

The rest of the time it lives in your jacket pocket weighing nothing, which is the argument for having one.

Which material should you choose?

Merino is the most comfortable against skin, regulates temperature well, and resists odour, which matters because a balaclava sits against your mouth all day.

Synthetic dries faster and costs less. The important thing with either is breathability across the mouth panel, because that is where breath condensation collects. A balaclava that traps every breath gets damp fast, and a damp layer against your face on a cold day is worse than no layer at all.

Will it fog your goggles?

It can, and this is the most common complaint. The cause is almost always fit rather than the balaclava itself.

The mouth panel should sit flat against your face and route your breath downward and outward, not up into the goggle. Check that the balaclava sits under the goggle frame rather than being bunched between the goggle and your nose, because anything lifting the goggle off your cheeks creates a channel straight up into the lens.

If your goggles fog every time you pull a face covering up, that gap is why, not the goggle.

Wearing it under a helmet

Try the helmet on over it before you commit to a thick one. A bulky balaclava can change how your helmet sits and push it out of position, which affects both comfort and protection.

A thin, low-profile balaclava is the safer choice if you ride in a helmet, which is most people.

Buying balaclavas in Australia

We carry balaclavas, neck warmers and face masks from Airblaster, Dakine, Buff, Rojo and more. Free shipping on orders over $90, with same and next-day dispatch from our Richmond store in Melbourne.

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