It’s summer. The days are hot. And you sweat. The sweat drips into your eyes. It stings your eyes and smears on your glasses, impairing your vision.

Standard helmet pads just aren’t enough to soak up all the sweat. And you can’t stop sweating. But you can keep the sweat out of your eyes!

Here are eight different ideas I have tried out to keep my sweat at bay:

1. Cotton Bandana

I wore those good old fashioned cotton bandanas (a.k.a handkerchief, do-rag, etc.) when I was a kid because I thought they were cool. Being cotton, I never wear them while riding, although I see some people who do.

The bandana soaks up sweat, but the cotton doesn’t do a good job of wicking the sweat away from your skin so it can evaporate. It is also a bit too thick, making it get very warm, and that thickness might interfere with your helmet’s fit.

Pros: Cheap; easy to find.

Cons: Bulky; warm; cotton is not a performance fabric.

2. Wicking Do-rag

A wicking do-rag is just like the old-fashioned bandana, but it’s made with a wicking material such as Coolmax so it actually works for cyclists. It is a lot like a skull cap, just with extra material hanging out the back.

It can still be a bit too bulky, although the extra surface area allows it to absorb more sweat and spread it out for easier evaporation.

Pros: Wicking material; more surface area for sweat evaporation.

Cons: Could be too much material.

3. Coolmax Headband

I used to wear a terry cloth headband while playing basketball, to keep the sweat out of my eyes. I always liked it, so I started wearing mesh headbands while cycling. They work well and are thin enough to fit under my helmet (unlike terry cloth headbands.)

They are very lightweight and don’t take up much space, and they cost around $3. The Coolmax material, while there isn’t much there, will still soak up your sweat before it hits your eyes.

Just be sure to get the ones that tie in the back though. Ones that just slide onto your head will usually get pushed out of place when you put your helmet on.

Problem is, on very hot days, eventually the headband does get saturated with sweat faster than it can evaporate, so some sweat might still drip down.

Pros: Cheap; lightweight; no ventilation issues; Coolmax fabric is great; easily fits under helmet.

Cons: Eventually it will get saturated with sweat, rendering it useless.

4. Skull cap

The skull cap is a cross between the old cotton bandanna and the Coolmax mesh headbands for cycling. Most of these thin caps are made of a Coolmax-type mesh material that is great for wicking sweat away.

Having more material than the headband, it takes much longer for it to get saturated. Your sweat soaks upward toward the top of the cap while the bottom end on your forehead soaks up new sweat.

Problem is, covering your entire head can restrict airflow to your scalp. That’s not great on super hot days. You also have to find a skull cap with the right fit. Some come down over the tops of your ears, which I don’t like (that’s a bit too warm for me.) Although it keeps the sun off your ears, so that’s a good thing.

However, it all depends on the particular cap. Brands will vary – for example, Headsweats and SweatVac caps are quite different.

Pros: Great sweat absorption.

Cons: Can’t feel air on your scalp; can be too warm.

5. Halo Headband

The Halo is like a regular headband with something extra – it has an inner channel that redirects sweat away from your eyes.

It is comfortable because it is still fairly soft, small, and thin, but you don’t have to worry about it getting too saturated with sweat. That’s because instead of just absorbing sweat, Halo’s sweat channel redirects sweat from your forehead to the sides of your head, so it doesn’t end up in your eyes.

Pros: Comfortable; redirects sweat away from eyes.

Cons: More expensive.

6. Sweat Gutr

The Sweat Gutr is interesting – it’s a plastic headband. It doesn’t absorb sweat; rather, it acts as a “gutter” to collect sweat and channel it to the sides of your head. That way, the sweat runs down the sides of your head instead of into your eyes.

The concept works, but you might have to play with the fitting system a little bit to make sure it fits comfortably. It’s very low-profile and will sit just about your eyebrows, so it’s not actually under your helmet.

Pros: Cool design; concept works.

Cons: Expensive; not exactly soft.

7. Vaseline

If you hate the idea of getting a cap or headband, try this – you can wipe a little streak of Vaseline across your forehead, right about your eyebrows. It will be like a unibrow.

When done correctly, your sweat runs along that and down the side of your face. It is a lot like a single-use Sweat Gutr.

Just don’t take your glove and wipe off your forehead. There goes your headband!

Pros: Cheap; easy to find; convenience of a “single use” product.

Cons: Wipes off easily; can be messy.

8. Towel

As seen in the very first picture, you could wrap a towel around your neck and use that to wipe sweat off your face. This method works, but it’s really only feasible while riding your trainer. (You don’t want to drop the towel into a spinning front wheel…)

Pros: Lots of absorbency; you probably own a towel already.

Cons: Doesn’t work while riding outside; dangerous.

My final verdict is…

In the end, I’m a big fan of the SweatVac Ventilator cap. It soaks up a lot of sweat but doesn’t make me overheat, so if I had to choose just one option, that would be it.

Want something a little different? Opt for the Halo or Sweat Gutr. They both work, but your choice depends on personal preference.

But no matter what your favorite product is, I think we can all agree that sweat dripping into our eyes sucks!

Tip: Whatever you get, make sure the edge of the headband, cap, etc. is pulled down almost to your eyebrows. That way it collects all your forehead sweat.

Photo credit: alex_lee2001

I absolutely hate sweat running down into my eyes. First, it stings. Second, it destroys my contacts. Third, it creates nasty streaks on my sunglasses which impair my vision.

So I have purchased multiple headbands and skull caps to conquer this problem, and one of my favorites is the SweatVac Ventilator cap.

At first I didn’t see the need for the SweatVac cap, since I already had plenty of headgear, but once I got a white helmet, I figured I should have a white skull cap to match! Since the SweatVac Ventilator Cap looked really cool, and was on sale for $15, I grabbed one.

And it was even better than expected…

Technology and Construction – The first thing I noticed about this skull cap was the advanced construction. Instead of a single layer of Coolmax, SweatVac uses multi-layer technology, so there are basically two layers (TRANSPOR dry layer and DriSmart Performance Fabric) to this cap. The inner layer channels moisture away from the skin to the wicking outer layer where it evaporates.

It’s kind of like having an extra sweatband built inside the cap.

Fit and Comfort – As soon as I placed this cap on my head, I knew it was the one for me! It slid down nicely; I could pull the cap down snug and it would sit just above my ears!

The Ventilator cap feels great, even under a helmet. It seems to have a better fit than other skullcaps I’ve used (perhaps it’s a bit more round.)

Performance – The layering system mentioned earlier is nice because it keeps your skin dry and comfortable even though you are still sweating. You keep sweating, it keeps transporting that sweat away.

The nice thing with skull caps is that they take longer to saturate with sweat than a headband, although at some point most of them will get saturated and start to drip a little. (So even if it’s 95 degrees, it can be more comfortable to cover your whole head.)

But the SweatVac Ventilator blows away the competition. I have only used it for one season, but on no occasion has it let me down. It just keeps wicking the sweat and evaporating it.

Having the more open mesh (the black layer) on top is great, too. It allows more air to hit your scalp, making good use of your helmet’s air vents.

Durability – I have used this cap for about three months now, and so far there has not been a single durability issue.

My final verdict is…

The SweatVac Ventilator cap gets a very high recommendation from me. It beats out my Headsweats coolmax skull cap and is certainly my favorite piece of summer headgear.

If you are thinking about getting a skull cap or headband, this is a wonderful choice.

Official website: sweatvac.com

Buy online: www.nashbar.com (about $15)