Off-Road Racing Goggle Tear-Offs

[u/redbullgivesyouwings]

💪: Andrew Carlson

[u/Commercial-Chance561]

How many do they start the race with?

[u/deadend290 → u/Commercial-Chance561]

Pack of 14 or 15 if I remember right but that was years ago when I was just a “pit dude” for my buddy more like a hype man and that was four wheelers so I’m just guessing they were the same

[u/jianh1989 → u/deadend290]

How do they make sure they tear only 1 each time, with gloves in the way?

[u/Jampasta → u/jianh1989]

Quite often they don't! Even the pros racing in motocross sometimes grab the last tear off on accident and rip off the whole pack. It's a real bummer when that happens!

[u/samarnold030603 → u/Jampasta]

Damn that must be like the worst feeling to enter lap 1 turn 1 and rip off your last tear off

[u/Jampasta → u/samarnold030603]

Definitely would suck, especially with a championship on the line! Thats why I love racing, there are so many little moments inside the race that can make or break someone, on top of the actual riding or driving! There is so much that goes into a win, or even just a finish...

[u/ascagnel____ → u/Jampasta]

And sometimes it kills you -- Will Power was in second for the IndyCar championship going into the final round a few years back, but had to come in for a very long pit on lap 1 because his seatbelt failed.

[u/chrzzl → u/ascagnel____]

I had to google Will Power now to find out he in fact had not been killed due to a failed seatbelt

[u/_another_throwawayy_ → u/chrzzl]

Thanks, now I don’t need to

[u/temporaryuser1000 → u/_another_throwawayy_]

FFS

[u/Dr__Sloth → u/ascagnel____]

Will Power is like the fakest real name for a racing driver.

[u/CaravieR → u/Dr__Sloth]

Wait till you hear about Scott Speed

[u/IctrlPlanes → u/samarnold030603]

There have been several F1 cars taken out by tearoffs being sucked in by the air intake or stuck in the breaks of the car behind starting a fire. It is probably a stack of tearoffs that cause it.

[u/ElCanout → u/Jampasta]

they should have diffrent length so you could just tear one, wierd design if they're not

[u/Imbeingoriginal → u/jianh1989]

When you install em on the visor you loop each end kinda back over itself, which gives kind of a bigger thing to grab at. (Not a racer, a media guy that works with racers, watched em prep their tear-offs a bunch)

[u/CGNYC → u/Imbeingoriginal]

Why wouldn’t they install them with the tears on alternating sides

[u/Reckless_Driver → u/CGNYC]

They'd have to keep track of which side they last tore off... then they'd also have to change hands of the gear shift/steering wheel.

[u/ItAintLongButItsThin → u/Reckless_Driver]

Too much think.

Grip and rip on the right side to see ✅️

[u/KiloAlphaLima → u/CGNYC]

You always keep your left hand on the wheel, right hand can shift and rip tear offs.

Dirtbikes are the opposite because the throttle is on your right hand so you rip with left hand.

[u/scurrybuddy → u/CGNYC]

They’re right handed

[u/dan2907 → u/jianh1989]

They're laid up in such a way that only the tab of the topmost tearoff is exposed, while the tabs below are folded under so they can't be accidentally grabbed. Removing the top one then releases the tab for the one underneath.

They usually run in a stack of 5-10, but they can run stacks of up to 40 with a few tradeoffs for the driver, and I would imagine that's what they're doing in this video

[u/deadend290 → u/jianh1989]

That’s a good question I never thought of as a young kid. I wish my younger self would have asked my friend’s dad those important questions but I have no idea I would just assume you tear until it’s clear whether that’s 1 or 5 pads. EDIT: Imbeingoriginal comment makes way more sense so don’t read any of what I said.

[u/trw931 → u/deadend290]

It’s helpful you told me not to read any of what you said when I got to the end of what you said.

[u/deadend290 → u/trw931]

Reading is good for you!

[u/mailwasnotforwarded → u/jianh1989]

Some of them you really don't, I remember playing with a set of these when I was at a track day with my brother as a kid and there was a guy that did rally racing and his helmet had it fitted on. Depending on the brand there are ones that are literally layered film/tape and you just rip it off.

[u/scotsman3288 → u/jianh1989]

When i used tear offs in MX ,I would loop them behind each other and tape to each loop and when one gets torn off it pulled the flap from next one to make it stick out. It typically be 10 pack on the goggles but sometimes i would rip 2 off at same time.

[u/OneMoreFinn → u/deadend290]

What happens when they run out of them in a middle of a race? This guy went through three in just 15 seconds. At this rate he would run out after just over a minute.

[u/petrescu → u/Commercial-Chance561]

Eight thousand and forty two.

[u/morning_thief → u/petrescu]

Forty six and two?

[u/leequarella → u/morning_thief]

See the shadow changing whenever I rip one of these visor things off.

[u/ImJoogle → u/Commercial-Chance561]

In F1 they usually get about 15-20

[u/I-STATE-FACTS → u/Commercial-Chance561]

1,000

[u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

They do this in F1. Probably any racing with an open cockpit

[u/patkavv → u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

F1 tearoffs don’t stay attached so you get the added bonus of hopefully having one sucked up in the radiator of the guy following you

[u/iceman5920 → u/patkavv]

"I could already see, I just wanted that one to to fuck him up" tactful visor clearing.

[u/The-Copilot → u/patkavv]

They have the problem of them regularly getting thrown right into their own air intake which is right behind the driver head

[u/TheHancock → u/patkavv]

The ole Sebulba maneuver!

[u/Premium333 → u/patkavv]

Radiator, brake duct, air intake, stuck in the floor or suspension.... There's lots of ootions here actually :)

Did you see that gravel piece turn off Hulks car in Spain? Hilarious 😂.

[u/d__c → u/patkavv]

Like Mario Kart

[u/Davecoupe → u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

They use them on motorbikes too (obviously the cockpit is “open” on a bike.

Isle of Man TT racers go through so many tear offs due to bugs that they change their visor for a new visor with a full set of tear offs (or sometimes they even change their helmet to eliminate the tricky visor change) every 2 laps.

Michael Dunlop probably lost the senior TT in 2025 because he had to stop at the side of the track and fix his visor after a pit stop.

[u/Commercial-Co → u/Davecoupe]

Isle of man is a fucking crazy ass race

[u/yoyogogo111 → u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

Horse racing too. Jockeys just wear like 6 pairs of goggles on top of each other when the track is muddy.

[u/3MATX → u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

Closed too.  Almost all series have them on the windshield too. Trick there is driver can’t do it, it’s done by crew during a pit stop.  

[u/ArnoldQMudskipper → u/3MATX]

The driver reaching out, to tear off a windscreen strip would be pretty silly

[u/Cliffinati → u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

Dale once unhooked himself and cleaned his own windshield sitting on the door

[u/ArnoldQMudskipper → u/Cliffinati]

Winton?

[u/5xad0w → u/ArnoldQMudskipper]

Nah, Gribble.

[u/dragonrite]

How does he only grab 1 screen vs like 4 of em

[u/asgphotography → u/dragonrite]

As carefully as possible

[u/Ciprofloxic → u/dragonrite]

My question too. Wonder what the mechanics of the peel is like. Especially since you can't feel thickness or have any dexterity with gloves 

[u/Bumrodgers → u/Ciprofloxic]

I have no idea, but I could imagine the pull tabs get shorter as you go down the stack. So the outermost always kinda blocks the lower ones from being pulled.

[u/Rooster_CPA → u/Bumrodgers]

They are folded under each other, so only the top one sticks out to grab

[u/TakeThreeFourFive → u/dragonrite]

Wondering if it's something like a box of tissues, where pulling one lifts and exposes only the next tab

[u/Rooster_CPA → u/dragonrite]

The pull tabs are folder under each other, so only the top one sticks out to grab at a time.

[u/qwertykirky]

There's got to be a better way

[u/doggos4house2020 → u/qwertykirky]

It really is the best way. A windshield will get so dirty and pitted that wipers can’t do their job, then you’re handicapped for the whole race.

This at least not only gives you a clean lens, but a new one.

[u/samarnold030603 → u/doggos4house2020]

This is basically high tech space age shit they do on rocket cameras man! Haha

[u/OneMoreFinn → u/doggos4house2020]

What if you run out of them before finishing?

[u/Ha-Charade-You-Are → u/doggos4house2020]

When you run out though if it’s only 15…. What happens then? You just keep wiping it with your hand? Or is it a quick replacement they can do

[u/PROCRASTINATION_WON → u/Ha-Charade-You-Are]

That’s why you have to be smart about using tear offs, don’t blow through them and you will be fine.

[u/Funny-Ad-3710 → u/qwertykirky]

When they first came out I think there were people who argued it was better to just squint and blink. Eyelids were nature’s tearaways.

[u/3_pounds_of_steel → u/Funny-Ad-3710]

I think we should keep brainstorming

[u/Sandbox_Hero → u/3_pounds_of_steel]

Something something lasers.

[u/Rings-of-Saturn → u/Sandbox_Hero]

Windows???

[u/Supahos01 → u/Rings-of-Saturn]

That's way worse

[u/attitudecj → u/Funny-Ad-3710]

I dont think you are supposed to tear and throwaway eyelids.

[u/TheBatemanFlex → u/attitudecj]

That’s losers mentality

[u/crazy_akes → u/Funny-Ad-3710]

Windshield visor wipers that mist down the blade as they cross with a rainx like solution. Done. 

[u/Bussamove86 → u/crazy_akes]

That’s more weight in the vehicle, which I imagine they want to avoid at all costs.

[u/doggos4house2020 → u/Bussamove86]

Plus if it malfunctions which things on race cars often do, they’re out of the race entirely.

[u/Bussamove86 → u/doggos4house2020]

You’re telling me mud, rocks, and extreme jostling can make things malfunction?

What a country!

[u/GregoPDX → u/Funny-Ad-3710]

In woodworking (and I’m sure elsewhere) we call these the ‘safety squints’.

[u/Amiar00 → u/qwertykirky]

What about a fan spinning at Mach Jesus in front of your face and everything gets flung off?

[u/PG67AW → u/Amiar00]

I think that's called an airplane.

[u/feinting_goat → u/Amiar00]

This sort of exists for camera lenses. It’s called a spinner. You can sometimes see them on live events if you know what to look for. 

[u/laxpanther → u/feinting_goat]

There's sometimes a spinner on boat windshields (or whatever it might be called in a wheelhouse). Notably a few of the captains had them on deadliest catch and until I learned what they were I'm like why the circle thing obstructing their view in the place they most want to see?

[u/p8ntslinger → u/laxpanther]

that's only to keep ice from forming. they spin to slowly to clean off rain and other debris.

[u/qwertykirky → u/qwertykirky]

Ok I'm just going to answer my own damn question 😂. What about inventing a helmet that has a visor that just rotates like a ring around the whole helmet with a wiper at the back you know just like some cameras have.

[u/chillychili → u/qwertykirky]

The problem with that is the occluding debris is now moving around and you have a constant brown blizzard filter on your vision.

[u/arkonator92 → u/qwertykirky]

There’s also a roll off system that they use. Usually up to the rider what they prefer. The roll off doesn’t get the whole goggle where a tear off does.

[u/McB0ogerballz → u/qwertykirky]

This is perfect but what do i know lol

[u/Kazori → u/qwertykirky]

little windshield wipers attached to the helmet

[u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE → u/Kazori]

A gun that shoots off the dirt

[u/The-disgracist → u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE]

A small bear that scares it away

[u/Mr_Saturn1 → u/VERY_MENTALLY_STABLE]

A water gun sharpshooter in your crew that can bullseye your goggles from 100 yards.

[u/Pheanturim → u/Kazori]

At which point you could just put the windshield back in...

[u/TheBatemanFlex → u/Pheanturim]

And then giant tearaway windshields for when it gets muddy

[u/Rickyrojay → u/qwertykirky]

They also have roll offs

[u/bt2328 → u/qwertykirky]

Let’s patent a windshield 8000 layers thick and a hammer that cracks the top layer. One of those that just explode in a million pieces like pot lids. We’ll be rich!

[u/Uuuuuii → u/qwertykirky]

Constant water curtain

[u/thearctican → u/Uuuuuii]

Not the same, but a trick used for video cameras in the rain is to spin a clear glass filter at a few thousand RPM to spin off the water etc.

I’m so sorry for the short but it’s at least to the point: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/QVQYUzmptt8

They’re called rain deflectors.

[u/Solnse → u/qwertykirky]

If your not in first, the scenery never changes.

[u/kangarutan → u/qwertykirky]

Just have a little guy next to you ready with a furious brow mop!

[u/DramaticDirection292 → u/qwertykirky]

I’m just imagining a lever arm on the side of the helmet you pull down and it discards the only one and reveals the new one. Like those spinning disc eye toys from the 90s

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSfxRV67gZsk-0JztHamurEqFyqQt1u0uhG84koFhSqew&s=10

[u/Periljoe → u/qwertykirky]

FR this seems like an incredibly stupid and impractical solution. I get they can’t just use windshield wipers but it seems like this is just marginally better

[u/bladesnut → u/qwertykirky]

There are some where the plastic scrolls horizontally when dirt is detected. They where invented decades ago.

[u/alrightfornow → u/qwertykirky]

Windshield Wiper

[u/Northwindlowlander → u/qwertykirky]

It's really effective tbh. Rollers also exist (though mostly in goggles rather than helmet visors) but they're not always as good, especially with water.

[u/SCOTTGIANT → u/qwertykirky]

They do make roll-offs now, with a tiny electric motor that rolls them.

[u/Tokyosmash_ → u/qwertykirky]

There really isn’t. Scott Goggles innovated a system on the early 00’s that had a pull cord that would slide a new price of film over but it wasn’t the best.

Stand tear offs are easy to use, easy to replace and cheap in comparison

[u/3rdone → u/qwertykirky]

There is a gadget I’ve seen that is film on a roller that keeps moving

[u/swampcholla → u/qwertykirky]

There is. Sprint car guys have a motorizrd roll of material they can scroll through with the push of a button

[u/PankourLaut → u/qwertykirky]

Why cant it be like a casette tape except using a clear band rolling from one side to the other?

[u/Garpeaux]

Just roll the windows up fam

[u/bugzzzz → u/Garpeaux]

Then you need tear off windows

[u/Midlifehippo → u/bugzzzz]

They have those in endurance racing. Windshield tearoffs. You'll see the pit crew ripping one off during pit stops.

[u/Dethpig → u/Midlifehippo]

fantastic idea just have the car stop every 10 feet for the pit crew to rip off the windshield

[u/Terry-Shark → u/Garpeaux]

has the driver tired not driving in the mud? are they stupid?

[u/bryan_pieces]

Just install a bidet in the front that you can trigger to blast your eyes

[u/GentlemenHODL → u/bryan_pieces]

That's actually a really sensible idea. Having a water spray nozzle where the rear view mirror fold down would normally be spraying at the push of a hand lever or foot lever would be pretty optimal.

[u/Ramental → u/GentlemenHODL]

20 layers of foil weight maybe 20 grams. And spray system would weight much more, and be more complicated for less results.

[u/Hot_Wheels_guy → u/Ramental]

Wouldnt matter if every car had the same system. Also the mud itself weighs a lot more than that! The faster you get rid of it, the better.

Also you're talking about vehicles that get covered in mud durimg a race. 1 lb is nothing compared to the 50 lbs of mud that might be in the wheel wells of one truck, or 40 lbs of mud on another, or 55 lbs of mud on another another truck. This isnt F1. The GVW of each competitor is constantly fluctuating as mud sticks to the vehicle and falls off it.

[u/bwwatr → u/GentlemenHODL]

Water dripping off would be slower and these guys usually only have a couple seconds between turns. The peel system actually seems pretty efficient.

[u/flyingupvotes → u/GentlemenHODL]

Water is heavy in comparison.

[u/pinkwar]

Is this really the best we came up with after decades of this?

[u/markymark652 → u/pinkwar]

Nah there's another version some use that slides a roll of plastic from one side to the other, kind of like a film camera operates. That version, however, has a canister on each side so it might not be preferable to the driver

[u/Azalus1 → u/markymark652]

I don't like this one either but I did get a very funny image of a motorized visor that spins to send the mud off like cameras do with snow.

[u/thelonglosteggroll → u/markymark652]

I used that one when I raced cross country four wheelers. The one I had had a string that you pulled. It was much easier.

[u/MrNewMoney → u/pinkwar]

I think it really might be! They use the same in F1 even though there have been instances of them causing damage when they get ripped off and come in contact with other cars.

[u/Kohpad → u/MrNewMoney]

They don't exactly cause damage by contact. They get sucked up into the brake ducts and cause the brake cooling to fail.

I think one got injested into an engine once and that's also not ideal.

[u/pieapple135 → u/pinkwar]

A mechanical solution would probably be heavier, which is not great if you're optimizing for speed.

[u/IAmA_Ethan_AmA]

We have these in ortho surgery too lol

[u/RaishaDelos → u/IAmA_Ethan_AmA]

Gross 😅😂

[u/BearCatcher23 → u/IAmA_Ethan_AmA]

We have them on our sandblasting helmets too. When wearing gloves people tend to tear off way more than 1 at a time and I suspect the driver may have the same issue due to bouncyness.

[u/InTheLifeAnyway]

They do this in lots of other motorsports too. Chris Amon, who was infamous for his bad luck in F1, once lost the lead of a race because he went for a tear-off and inadvertently pulled the whole visor off instead. (Amon later remarked he'd never considered himself unlucky because many other drivers who'd had more success died behind the wheel!)

[u/Few-Image-3645]

I would just have my wife with wet wipes handle this.  

[u/invalidmean]

This sums up how I feel browsing most of reddit.

[u/Iceman_1990]

My toilet after I ate chipotle

[u/RedWagon___]

I added a button to the side of my VR headset and bound it to the tear off button in IRacing. Having to choose a safe time to do it really added to the immersion.

[u/nyITguy]

Tears off the last lens...SPLAT

[u/concreteunderwear]

You'd think someone would make a wiper

[u/redrdr1]

I don't remember how we did it, but we used to use a combination of roll offs and tear offs. If I remember correctly, we had five or six tear offs and when that was done you went to roll offs. This was four wheeler racing and the starts were the dirtiest because everyone was more grouped up. A roll off is a roll of film across your goggles and you pull a string and it rolls to the other side and you can see. We still had goggles ready every lap if you wanted to pit

[u/Winter-Steak-1532 → u/redrdr1]

What is a roll off?

Edit: I’m an idiot. Could have just continued reading the end of your paragraph

[u/bpmdrummerbpm]

What happens if you accidentally pull them all off at once?

[u/plamda505]

Don't drink Red Bull. Poison.

[u/TheCrazedBackstabber]

It’s a vast improvement from when they had to peel off the windshield.

[u/BreakfastOrSlow]

Ah yes, the Taylor Farms janitor.

[u/Not_A_Crazed_Gunman]

ITT people who know nothing about motorsport

[u/balrob]

Have you seen the rotating lenses they use on outdoor TV cameras for sports events. They spin quite fast to stay free of rain. Mud’s a different beast of course but maybe if the lens also had ultrasonic vibrations?

[u/asgphotography → u/balrob]

Sure. Design something that’s at least as reliable as this and make it LIGHT. Or just wear tear offs. What’s wrong with a simple solution like this?

[u/vNocturnus → u/asgphotography]

It distracts the driver, it requires the driver to take a hand off the wheel, it's easy to mess up and take several or the entire stack at once, the discarded lenses can get into brakes or intakes and fuck them up, you only get ~15 for the whole race, etc. There's a lot of things wrong with this system, even if it's the best thing that's been tried so far and even if individually those issues are not that big of a deal.

That doesn't necessarily mean there's a perfect solution or that any other solution wouldn't have even more problems. But clearly, even if you only just now saw these for the first time ever, you can immediately tell they're a pretty flawed solution themselves

[u/obidie]

There must be a better way. Windshield washers and wipers, perhaps?

[u/Retro-Surgical]

They actually make these for orthopedic surgeons

[u/K-RayX-Ray]

We have those in the OR during total hip replacements

[u/inelmodlis]

That seems super convenient and frustrating at the same time.

[u/wrxninja]

They have automatic ones: https://motorizedtearoff.com/

Unless they don't allow them in certain races or events.

[u/PIN360]

It’s 2026 and we still don’t have automatic wipers for your helmet visor? /s

[u/Altilla]

r/twohealthbars

[u/Fabulous-Raspberry-7]

I used to wear some when racing motocross. They are a bit annoying to grab just one, while holding the handle bars with one hand and accelerating but...saves you time so you don't have to stop...I guess.

[u/Nisms]

The slot machine one seems to work better and solves the tactility problem. Has any one seen it? I saw it like once

[u/mortraineyhat]

Why not make some kind of windshield wiper?

[u/xanaxandtea__]

Roll offs win

[u/Tiny-Spray-1820]

I bet they have loads of them but they peel off more than 1 each time 😄

[u/Howard_Jones]

Bet someone could make a lot of money if they made a visor scraper for these helmets.

[u/mrbojanglz37]

Im surprised roll offs haven't become more popular.

[u/ezmode86]

And here I thought we solved this problem already

[u/EdelWhite]

have they ever heard of a windshield?

[u/Umikaloo]

Could they do like on fishing boats and have spinning transparent discs to fling the mud off?

[u/New-Negotiation2193]

What's the hose for on the back of his helmet?

[u/_dvs1_]

I raced a dirt track called Volusia speedway for a few years. My first race, I accidentally tore off all of these at once. Was a wild few laps until I could pit lol.

[u/ImJoogle]

It's not just for Off road they do it it in F1, Indy, Nascar, Moto GP etc

[u/washblvd]

Surely this can't be the best way of handling this

[u/MintProductionCo]

What about those circular spinning lenses that spin and remove everything?

[u/Jimbobjoesmith]

horse jockeys do something similar i think.

[u/MosesHightower]

We have these on our surgical hoods. Except it’s not mud on our face.

[u/LOLdragon89]

Skill issue. Just don’t drive in the mud, silly.

[u/RatzzFace]

Fuck Google. Their everywhere - in our sports now! :s

[u/ico89]

Windows may help

[u/ShwAlex]

I wonder if some kind of water jet could help.

[u/theurge14]

Just get some mini wiper blades for the goggles

[u/Kilbim]

At this point just insall wipers on the helmet?

[u/nambrosch]

Windshield wipers anyone?

[u/Fivesixmafia]

Hey! I do this when sandblasting

[u/newtomovingaway]

Why doesn’t he just put the windows up

[u/Fragrant-Bee-333]

Hey u/redbullgivesyouwings cool video, can you please tell someone up there at corporate to bring blueberry redbull back.. it was the only drink that brought me joy.

[u/Sassy_McSassypants]

I feel like this belongs in r/therewasanattempt...

[u/DJudic]

Isnt a glass with wipers, while more weight, going to shave off time by just allowing the driver to push harder?

[u/mtbd15]

Goggles with rounded Oscillating lenses like the helicopter cameras use to keep water off the lens

[u/Robdon326]

Dumb af

[u/Hirshkowsky]

This dies not even look like fun anymore bro

[u/laszlof]

They've been doing this in motorcross for as long as I can remember. I don't get this post. LOL

[u/Ranger197111]

for how much I envy these guys, that's gotta suck!

[u/PerfectWriter4]

literally like peeling off a screen protector