Help with a Stinky Helmet

rockettree

rockettree

Participating member
Location
Boulder, CO!
I got a kask helmet around new year and I love it but it reeks after just a month or so of warm weather. I've had helmets for seasons that didn't smell as bad as this one. Anyway, I've got to do something about it. I thought I'd just blast it with some odor eaters or something is this a bad idea?
 
Dude, I hear you. I will now only wear my Kask in winter. Those things are made for riding motorcycles in a 70mph wind, not for sweating your ass off doing tree work. I love them but it only takes one day in our heat to get rank. I just got a white Petzl Vertex Vent in and it's a million times better in the stanky dept.

Washing the Kask in the dishwasher will do the trick but I'm not going to do it 3 times a week in the summer. Charleston, SC is a hot and humid (but beautiful) place in the summer.

IMHO
 
Thanks for the tips and the link. It's kind of a relief to hear from someone else that its an issue with the helmet, I thought something was wrong with me I'm typically not a smelly guy. It is bad, smells like something died in there.
 
rockettree, there are a lot of people who have given up on the Kask because of this issue. The things that make it such a safe helmet, are the same things that make it such a RANK helmet. Too much padding. Suspensions handle the job well enough and are not nearly as absorbant.

Some other threads that may interest you:

http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/new-petzl-helmet-fail.18182/page-3#post-259770

Take a look at what Blinky says in the one below. I have to agree with him. That's a lot of money to pay for the top-of-the-line helmet, yet to be so disappointed. Yeah, they're pretty helmets, but I wish more people would speak up about them so we could stop wasting our money.

http://www.treebuzz.com/forum/threads/new-kask-plasma-helmet.17959/

Once again, the Petzl Vertex Vent is a great helmet. I just wish i could find a good mesh face shield/ear muff combo for it. I'm done with the plexiglass visors.
 
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I just picked up a kask with visor. This is a very comfy helmet, and the visor is better than the petzl by far. Haven't run it through the wash yet, but I don't see any reason why not.

By washing helmets repeatedly, you avoid them ever stinking in the first place
 
i wouldnt be the best comparison, i do not climb / cut daily. i have another helmet (ecrin roc) for general use , but my favorite getup right now is the sales gear!!!
 
ok so i put my kask away in its bag, wet, once , and I get what you guys are saying about what we'll just call the kask ' stench '

washed it out in the dishwasher

dry it out by setting it out to air dry like your hockey gear, and then put it away

no more stink
 
Check out a product called StuffIt. My coworker has the full size version and it definitely works. The best part is he had gotten the "stench" before using the StuffIt. I plan to buy one as soon as I remember to
 
Try rubbing a little pine sap in it.:D

Well, on a slightly more serious note you could try washing the helmet with tea tree oil extract. We use a drop or two of that when washing our kid's diapers and it does take the edge off.
 
Getting the smell out is not the problem. Having it revisit on a daily basis is.

Before, it was the foam in the earmuffs on the other hats that got aromatic. That foam makes up a very small portion of the helmet, so it took awhile (couple of weeks of hard work maybe) before things got out of hand.

But the Kasks - solid foam on the interior of the helmet, with a heater coil of some sort in there I'm certain, and I believe they come pre-innoculated with odor causing bacteria...geez...petri dish. Day #2 and I'm looking for my other helmet. What's real nice is early in the morning, toward the end of a long week, when you put your Kask on and lower the earmuffs down tight and you get a big squirt of fermented sweat from the days before running down your face and yes...in your mouth. MMmmmmmmmm.
 
On hot days I fill my Kask with water from the clients hose tap. Fill and rinse a couple times. Press it back on my head to squeeze out the foam. Seems to help.
 
Oroboros said:
On hot days I fill my Kask with water from the clients hose tap. Fill and rinse a couple times. Press it back on my head to squeeze out the foam. Seems to help.
Click to expand...

Great idea, thanks. Maybe not a great idea for everyone but where I live it's very dry, like zero humidity.
 
I just got a boot and glove drier (Maxxdry). One of the attachments they sell for 20 bucks is the "Helmet Hog", I have not ordered or tried it yet but it may be the ticket. It has some good reviews from other helmet users from various sports.
 
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