Fitting a helmet and goggles together, before the tags come off

Why the gap matters beyond how it looks

Skiers call it a gaper gap and treat it as a styling problem. It is two real problems wearing one name.

• It is cold. A strip of bare forehead at the front of a moving body is the coldest place on you, and the forehead is not somewhere you notice getting cold until it aches.
• It causes fogging. Warm air rising off your forehead goes straight over the top vents of the goggle, which is precisely where the goggle needs to be pulling cold dry air in. Close the gap and a surprising number of fogging complaints go away. More on fogging here.

The check, in order

1. Goggles on first, then the helmet over them. This is also how to put them on at the resort. Pulling a helmet on and then forcing goggles underneath is how goggle foam gets torn.
2. Look at the brow line. The goggle frame should touch the helmet. Any visible skin between the two is a mismatch.
3. Check the strap. It should sit flat around the outside of the helmet and clip into the retainer at the back. A twisted strap or one that rides up will pull the goggles off your face on a chairlift.
4. Check the foam seal. Press gently on the goggle frame: the foam should be in contact all the way around your face, especially at the bridge of the nose. A gap at the nose lets warm breath up into the lens, which is the second most common cause of fogging.
5. Look down and shake your head. Nothing should move independently. If the goggles slide down your face while the helmet stays put, the strap is too loose or the goggle is too large for your face.

What to do when the two do not match

You have three options and only one of them is any good.

• Change the goggle, not the helmet. Goggle frames vary far more in height and curvature than helmet brows do, and goggles are the cheaper of the two. A slightly larger frame usually closes the gap.
• Adjust how the helmet sits. Some helmets tip back on the head when the dial is loose, opening a gap that closes as soon as the fit is corrected. Worth checking before you buy anything.
• Do not fill the gap with a hat. This is the common workaround and it is a bad one: it lifts the helmet off your head, which undoes the fit you measured for, and blocks the goggle vents.

On buying the matching brand

Helmet makers who also make goggles design them to sit together, and where a brand publishes that integration it is a real advantage rather than marketing. It is not required, though. A goggle from one brand and a helmet from another can fit perfectly, and the way to find out is to hold them together rather than to trust either logo.

Two habits for the mountain

• Never push goggles up onto the front of your helmet. The warmest, dampest air on your body rises past your forehead, and parking a cold lens directly in it is the fastest way to fog a goggle for the rest of the day. Take them off entirely, or leave them on.
• Never wipe the inside of the lens. The anti-fog treatment is a coating on the inner pane and a glove removes it permanently. Shake the water out and let it air dry.

Children, where it happens most

Youth goggles and youth helmets are sized independently, and a child at the top of one range and the bottom of another very often ends up with a gap. Check the pair the same way, and the children’s goggle picks list frame sizes so you can match them against the helmet size you measured.

If your child wears glasses, that adds a third thing to fit and the answer is an over-the-glasses goggle rather than a bigger helmet. The over-the-glasses guide.