Speaking of helmets, how do you store 'em in the barn?

[Sansena]

Just on a shelf somewhere? Or, diligently in a helmet bag so dust doesn’t get in there?

Haven’t ridden in about a year and mine’s positively disgusting… kept it hanging on the stall door with a rag over it. Funky, dusty, cobwebbed w/shaving stuck too.

I’m pretty handy with a sewing machine and wonder what type of bag I should craft… cotton? Nylon? Simple tight knit mesh to allow ventilation?

I haven’t been able to devote any attention to anything of my own horse related stuff so I’m buying new and making a vow to take better care. What say you? I dread the thought of it living in my car, or worse at home where I can regularly forget it and lose those moments of spontaneity where I squeeze in a ride…

[Twisting]

I keep mine at home, grabbing it is part of my pre-barn routine. It stays with my paddock boots and half chaps.

I tried keeping it at the barn, but the time I put it on and a gecko ran out of it, followed by her two freshly laid eggs, convinced me to take it home. We also have centipedes, scorpions and cane spiders to contend with here. The first two are nasty nasty, send you to the hospital poisonous and the cane spider is just huge (4-5 inches across) and freaky. Keeping it at home decreases the chance of heart stopping freak out moments, even those brought on by harmless geckos.

I don’t think a drawstring bag would keep out creepy crawlies, it might even encourage them. Not to mention the lack of airflow could create a stink fest inside the hat. A mesh bag would increase the airflow, and the bug access, and would do little to keep the dust out. What’s the weather like where you live. Is ventilation more important than the hat getting a bit dusty? Are you at the barn often enough that a days worth of dust isn’t a big deal?

[Kwill]

Mine’s in the cardboard box it came in … but that isn’t much help, is it, because it’s still in a dusty spider-filled tack area. I check every time …

My LFTS (local friendly tack store) had some very nice helmet bags and boxes, but I was too cheap to shell out the money for one of them. Still, it’s probably worth it.

[Training_Cupid]

We have hooks above the bridle hangers for helmets. I keep mine in the mesh bag that came with it - it is a pretty tight mesh but breathable. Most people just have them on the hook w/o any bag or cover.

[cutter99]

I hang mine on a hook to dry or air out and then they go into a helmet bag and back on the hook.

[cuse]

Mine is in my tack trunk - that prevents any creepy crawlers from making it their home. The only issue with that is that it can get stinky in the summer, so it’s best to let it dry out a bit before closing it up in the trunk. I don’t hang my helmet up because I would worry about it falling and hitting the ground hard enough to compromise its integrity. I also have a backup helmet that I keep at home in my closet.

[yaya]

Mine lives in a plastic storage box in the arena. (One of those Suncast boxes for storing garden stuff and can also act as a seat.) I keep gloves, helmet, lunge line and side reins in there so I don’t have to tote them back and forth from the barn.
Bugs can still get in there, though. Just the other day I had a roach tag along for the ride! (Kinda creeped me out feeling him run laps on my head!)

[Anonymoose]

Ever since a kid I knew at one barn picked up her lesson helmet (belonged to the barn, kept in the tack room) and saw a huge spider in it just before she put it on, I have decided never to keep mine at any barn. I keep mine at home, with my boots and other riding gear. And I check inside before I put it in the car!

[Snowflake]

All six of mine (I have a helmet hoarding issue!) are in zippered helmet bags and in my trunk. I haven’t had a problem with any creepy crawlies in them. To combat the sweat smell, I stick a big silica gel pack in the helmet bag along with a dryer sheet.

[toady123]

I keep mine in a bag hung up in a climate controlled tack room. I used to bring it back and forth but I forgot it a few times. Then I kept it in the car but worried about how the big changes in temp would affect the integrity of the helmet.

On a separate but not entirely unrelated note, I used to leave my helmet on after riding in the winter because I didn’t want to catch a chill. Once night I forgot about it and drove home wearing my helmet the whole way (safety first!!). Drivers must have thought I was a wannabe NASCAR driver.

Now I bring a hat and switch right when I get off

[peedin]

We had wall cabinets for our tack, so I kept mine in the string type of backpack that is popular (and given out just about everywhere as cheap advertising). I let it air dry after every ride then put it in the bag and in my cabinet.

[bluemooncowgirl]

When I was actively riding, mine went back and forth from home. Humidity and extreme changes in temperatures are not kind to helmets, not to mention the boarder that found hers with a nice little mouse nest in it after leaving it in her tack locker!:eek:

[Angelico]

I keep mine in my truck. I ride at many different barns in the morning at the track, and it isn’t unusual for me to get somewhere and need to hop on a horse. I don’t have to worry about losing it or anything crawling into it (hopefully) in my truck. I ride too many at too many different places to risk being caught without it.

[see_u_at_x]

Mine has a removable liner, so I take that out after every ride and let it air dry on top of or next to a container of Damp Rid that is sitting on my shelf. I take it home every so often to wash it - more frequently during the summer. The helmet itself either gets stored on the shelf or gets hung up inside the drawstring bag that it came in. I used to worry about mice, but they haven’t seemed too interested and I put peppermint oil on cotton balls all over my locker, which does seem to help deter the little buggers. Bugs and spiders don’t seem to be too much of a problem, but then again, I’m in and out of my tack locker 5-6 days a week.

[SuckerForHorses]

In the bag it came in (Tipperary) and hung from one of those metal tack cleaning hooks in my tack room.

Doesn’t get smelly, and the bag keeps bugs out.

[Sansena]

Has anybody used those silica packets in an enclosed container for helmet storage?

[Rallycairn]

[QUOTE=yaya;7793056]
Mine lives in a plastic storage box in the arena. (One of those Suncast boxes for storing garden stuff and can also act as a seat.) I keep gloves, helmet, lunge line and side reins in there so I don’t have to tote them back and forth from the barn.
Bugs can still get in there, though. Just the other day I had a roach tag along for the ride! (Kinda creeped me out feeling him run laps on my head!)[/QUOTE]

That would more than creep me out TBH - more like send me catapulting off my horse shrieking and tearing the helmet off my head as I went! :lol:

I keep mine stored in a helmet bag. If I have sweated, I do not zip it up all the way for a bit so it can dry out, or air dry it for a while first if it is really sweaty.

However, what I really worry about is the extreme heat, extreme cold, and the changing temps, humidity, etc. breaking down the foam and lining and so forth. I wish I had a climate controlled tack room! That would be so much better for the helmet and other tack, and also enable me to store more OTC meds and things in the tack room rather than in the house.

I am surprised to hear so many keep theirs hung up unprotected and so forth. Glad I’m not the only one keeping helmets outside but wish I could protect them better.

[Snowflake]

[QUOTE=Sansena;7793837]
Has anybody used those silica packets in an enclosed container for helmet storage?[/QUOTE]

Yep. I use these in my helmet bag and tack trunk.

http://www.amazon.com/20105800-4-Pack-Silica-Desiccant-3-25-Inch/dp/B004N6L9PW/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1412702159&sr=8-10&keywords=Silica+Gel+Packet

[Showbizz]

I use zipped helmet bags.

[AmarachAcres]

Ours just hang in the tack room.