Cold Tested: Castle No-Fog Deluxe Mask

Castle’s No-Fog Deluxe Mask combines a conventional over-the-head balaclava with a neoprene mask and a flexible nose bridge that directs the wearer’s breath down and away from the helmet shield or goggle lens. I tested the mask last winter with a helmet that wasn’t specifically designed for snowmobiling.

The mask was uncomfortable at first because the bridge would press against my nose when I wore goggles, but after a few uses I figured out that if I made sure the mask was correctly positioned on my head it would generally fit pretty well. Sometimes the goggles would cause uncomfortable pressure, too, but if I took an extra second to set the goggles in the eye port just right, all was well. I wore a pair of 100% goggles and Klim Radius Pro goggles with the mask and helmet combo – perhaps a smaller goggle frame would cause less interference.

There are pros and cons to everything. Your candidate might win an election and things could go your way for at least the next few years, but you’ll also probably have to put up with all of the antis blaming your guy or gal for the world’s problems. Snowmobile helmet set-ups are similar because they, too, come with negative side effects.

Castle No-Fog Deluxe Mask review
The Castle No-Fog Deluxe Mask combines comfortable head protection with the anti-fog face mask. Click to enlarge.

Helmet breath boxes – the type that connect to a helmet in some manner – are generally comfortable, they protect the face from wind chill and prevent lenses or goggles from fogging, but the down side is that they often make a helmet difficult to remove by catching on the forehead between the eyes.

Wearing a face mask like the No-Fog Deluxe Mask is another option. It’s stretched over the head – before a helmet is strapped on – to protect skin from the cold and help keep goggles fog free. This circumvents helmet removal problems, but their downfall is that the material that touches the face inevitably ends up wet and slimy from the wearer breathing through it. That’s my biggest complaint about wearing a set-up like this, but if you can get beyond having wet material against your face while riding or you have a helmet that lacks a breath box, this is a viable setup that completely protects the face from the wind and cold.

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