Halo Headband

I like my Specialized Decibel helmet.  I even did a review of it on MTBR.  Even though the fit was great I felt that the minimal padding was a distinct disadvantage, especially during hotter weather (and my Australian friends know how hot summers here can get).  I had a couple of options to try and remedy this.  Buy another helmet, or look for something that would either wick or divert sweat away.  As much as I would've liked to pony up for a new helmet, the budget wouldn't stretch that far, so I went with plan B.


I had been looking around for sometime for some sort of headband.  I did see the Gutr but that didn't appeal but found the Halo headband (www.haloheadband.com) which I felt would be a better bet.  I found they were reasonably priced too so bought the Halo II Pullover version in a plain old black. Mind you they come in other colours too if that floats your boat.


The Halo is made with a fabric called Dryline which according to Halo is a "high performance material that quickly evaporates moisture so you stay dry and comfortable".  It's also "lightweight, durable, and abrasion resistant which will not lose shape".  Dryline also includes something called Visaendurance which is a polyester fabric embedded into the Dryline fabric to prevent your headband turning into a science experiment.  The thing that really sets this band apart from others is the Sweat Block technology.  Basically, this is a water tight seal that runs from temple to temple on your forehead that channels sweat away and stops it from getting in your eyes.  Nice!


I've been using the headband for nearly 3 months now.  I picked up the band in late Summer so unfortunately haven't really had the chance to test in the height of the Summer heat.  However, I do tend to sweat pretty heavily, enough to leave the Camelbak pack I use for commuting pretty crusty after a hot day's commuting.  


The fit was very good.  It was instantly comfortable and with no elastic to make things overly tight and give you a headache, I was a happy rider.  This is the first time I have ever worn any type of headwear under my helmet so to not notice it whilst I was riding was also a good sign.  Since using it I've never had sweat stinging my eyes so the headband does what it claims to do, which is great.  No muss, no fuss.  Just the way I like it.  The only negative, and really, I am seriously nitpicking here, is that I have to readjust my helmet retention device each time I put my helmet on when I use it.  Seriously though, it's no biggie.


Overall I'd give it 4.5 out of 5.  It does everything it claims with the minimum of fuss.  Happy days...