The 5 Best Karting Rain Visors – Ultimate Buyer’s Guide

Due to the open-wheel nature of karting, the driver’s head is fully exposed to the elements. This could be sun, wind or rain. All of these can affect the driver’s vision. So, it’s important to use the correct karting rain visor for each situation, so you can always perform at your best.

The 5 best karting rain visors are:

  1. Anti-fog visor with colored insert
  2. Anti-fog visor
  3. Tinted rain visor
  4. Yellow turbo visor
  5. Clear turbo visor

Rain can be an extremely tricky weather condition for karting as it affects the driver’s vision. There are many factors that impair a driver’s vision such as spray, misting visors and a lack of general ambient brightness. Below, we’ll go into more detail as to why this is so important.

Why Do You Need A Karting Rain Visor?

Many drivers love racing in the rain, and many drivers hate it. One thing that everyone can agree on though is that when you are karting in the rain you can’t see a thing. This is obviously not ideal when you’re traveling at 80 MPH just inches off the ground.

Invention Of Rain Visors

With a lack of windscreen wipers, many drivers have had to improvise in order to aid their vision when the rain starts to fall during a race weekend. These special visors are designed to make racing in the rain a much less daunting experience and it can significantly improve your vision and therefore overall performance on track.

How Are These Visors Different To Standard Visors?

When using a standard visor in the rain you may notice a couple of things happening. You will most likely notice that the inside of the visor begins to fog up, much like a snorkeling mask would as soon as you hit the water. Rain visors are double-glazed and perforated, which helps to prevent them from fogging up.

The visor might be clear, but the ambient darkness from the overcast weather can still make vision tricky. A rain visor has the option of having a yellow or orange tint, which helps to brighten up the line of sight for the driver. You may have also seen cyclists wear yellow or orange tinted glasses before for a similar effect.

The third and final factor you will encounter when racing in the rain is a buildup of droplets on the visor. These can obscure your vision, and wiping them with your gloves will only cause streaks and smudges. Some rain visors are equipped with a spinner which prevents the droplets from building up on the visor.

Alternatives To Using Rain Visors

Sometimes we get caught out by the rain and we don’t have time to change our visors. Other times we forget to even pack a rain visor. Luckily, it’s not the end of the world. There are some other solutions you can try to help improve your vision in the rain.

Rain Drops

The first is a rain repellent spray. You can use this on a normal clear visor or on a rain visor for an extra effect. The spray is simply applied to the outside of the visor which will prevent rain droplets from sticking to the visor.

In addition, there are also plastic tear off strips available for visors which can be applied and easily pulled off when excess dirt or rain droplets build up.

Anti-Fog

In order to prevent the inside of the visor from fogging up there is a spray that can be applied, similar to the rain repellent. Another solution is to wear a Foggy mask which directs your breathing away from the visor to prevent it from fogging up.

5 Best Karting Visors To Use In The Rain

1. Anti-Fog Visor With Colored Insert

These visors are ideal for racing in the rain. They are treated for anti-fog which means there is no need to modify the visor or helmet in any way when the rain starts to fall. In addition, the visor also has an insert which improves the driver’s vision.

Different colors are used to achieve different results. For example, the pink insert helps improve visibility and depth of field, whereas a yellow insert will increase the brightness and clarity of a driver’s vision.

2. Anti-Fog Visor

Although not equipped with an insert to improve the driver’s vision, this visor will at least be able to keep the fog away. A visor that fogs up is much more difficult to see through than one that is darker or has rain droplets on it. The anti-fog element keeps this visor up in second place.

3. Tinted Rain Visor

This tinted visor will help to increase the overall brightness and clarity experienced by the driver. This makes this visor particularly great for heavily overcast weather. The lack of anti-fog treatment on this visor lets it down, but with some RainX Anti-fog in your bag you’ll have no issues out on track.

4. Yellow Turbo Visor

You might have seen these funny contraptions used often in rainy conditions around a karting track. Although they aren’t strictly considered visors, they are more visor accessories. These useful inventions spin in the oncoming wind and propel the rain droplets away from the visor.

This particular one has a yellow tint to improve driver vision. The only problem is that they can be slightly distracting to the driver and may even obscure their vision slightly in some cases.

5. Clear Turbo Visor

The clear turbo visor might be slightly better in terms of improving the driver’s vision. It will be just as effective in preventing a buildup of spray and rain drops as the previous entry. This accessory is easy to fit to any helmet.

Final Thoughts

Racing in the rain is challenging enough on its own. When you throw in the lack of visibility and exposure to the elements it becomes even more difficult. In order to perform at your best, you need to have the tools to improve your vision in the rain. Investing in a rain visor is essential if you are racing in an area that has a lot of wet races.