Does the wide brim really help with keeping the sun out of your eyes and face? It’s time to replace my 5 year old Trauma Void Lynx and I’m considering the Charles Owen Kylo with the wide brim. Also…is the wider brim a bit more (or less) flattering, looks-wise?
It can help, yes. The visors that you can velcro on always fly off of my helmets, so I do like the wide brim. I have a OkeK MIPS with a wide brim and a GPA wide brim. I think the OneK makes me look slightly less like a Lego construction worker.
Instead of replacing the whole helmet, maybe check out this gal’s offerings. Totally customizable and very well constructed: hideahelmet.com
My old helmet is over 5 years old and I’ve dropped it a few times…so I’m going to replace it, regardless. Just wondering whether or not to get the wider brim model of the Charles Owen Kylo or not.
2 Likes
Makes a surprisingly big difference. I have a GPA First Lady. No more helmet harness tan, so the coverage is reasonable. I wear glasses and the wide brim reduces glare. Also very useful for riding in the rain.
1 Like
Nope, not much of a difference at all when you consider the brim is about 1" wider than a regular one. Is it MORE sun protection - yes. Is it good coverage? No. I don’t consider a baseball cap much coverage and that brim is about 3" and I still get face burn. I use a visor called DaBrim. It’s very secure in front and back and gives a ton of coverage all around!
1 Like
Ooh, that looks interesting! My previous horse didn’t care at all when it flew off and bounced off her butt. New horse, who is pretty dang safe, bolted when the same happened with her. At least she has very, very excellent brakes we only went a few strides before she stopped, lol.
I also ride in a Lynx. I was looking into the Kylo and it did not sound like it would be the right shape for my head so I bought another Lynx. So if the Lynx fits you well, you might want to look into fit (unless you’ve already tried one on).
I had the same problem. I oh so much wanted a wide brim Kylo b/c my older Charles Owen’s fit my skinny oval head so well. DH got it for me for Christmas last year and it didn’t fit AT ALL. When I contacted CO, they said they had changed their models “to fit both round and oval heads”. (They don’t.) So bummed I had to send it back. I ended up with a Tipperary Royal wide brim. I need as much sun protection for my light sensitive eyes as I can get, but the large equivisor-type brims are a little too big & bulky.
1 Like
I use a Da Brim on my helmet (as does my husband, and also a close friend). Never a problem with it coming loose and flying off.
1 Like
On the Da Brim visors, I added a short piece of velcro (the kind sold to bundle cords together, 6") to the back strap of my Brim and wrapped the velcro tail around the helmet harness in the back. Tying the Brim down on the back of my head prevents any “lift effect” so the Da Brim stays firmly in place at any speed! No coming off to surprise me or the horse!
The front pocket for helmet brim keeps things in place on the front side!
I grew up wearing western hats, want the eye-shade their wide brim provides. I had never been happy with my safety helmet’s skinny brims. But I needed to “set the good example” to my kids by wearing my helmet every ride! Getting the Da Brim on my helmet makes me feel like I have a western hat on these days! All that lovely shade for my eyes and face!! Longer back shape covers neck, sheds rain. I do still wear high number sun protection on face and neck with the Da Brim.
Very easy on or off if you want the traditional look of a helmet to compete some where. I like that Da Brim needs no glue to stay on. I was taught that adding stuff to the plastic outer shell could cause chemical interaction, reduce protection to the head. I was on my Company Safety Comittee over 20 years, always were told “No add-ons to your hardhat, written or glued to the plastic shell.”
I think got the Mustang model, it threw the most shade and the galloping riders modeling had it staying on! With the added velcro strap it does stay on very well!! Even in very windy conditions. I bought another Da Brim for DD and she likes it too.
1 Like
ARRO has an optional wide brim if you want to be able to swap between skull cap, regular brim, and wide brim. I have an equi-visor that I will try next summer (just got my ARRO this fall) and will then consider whether or not to order the wide brim to attach directly to my ARRO helmet instead.
I have the wide brim ARRO attachment (after having a wide brim Kylo, lol) and I definitely notice a difference with it. Not sure how much it helps from a skin protection perspective (I’m very pale so I basically have to cover every inch of my body to actually avoid any sunburn) but it helps a lot when it comes to keeping the sun out of my eyes compared to my old regular-brim One K.
