Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Helmets and Gear Dust Bandits

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Just got my order in today, these are reasonably priced, keep some crap off of our faces, and make us more visible to other drivers (if it's a brightly colored one). I wear a reflective orange vest to meet DOD/USMC cycle safety requirements so I got the orange paisley one to avoid looking too much like a clown while I put more orange on me to stand out on the road. I also got a red one for my red 3/4 helmet and the USMC one.

Do you peel off that orange vest as soon as you leave the post?

Back in the dark ages when I was in the military we did not have to wear the vests on base or over the ankle shoes etc. We just had to have a helmet on.

Ft Irwin. Now thats a garden spot of Kalifornia if ever there was one. I spent a few weeks there way back in the late seventies with some O2-A FAC aircaraft working out of those dry lake beds.

If ever there was a dry hot dusty place that'd be it. Do they still use it as a primary desert training center for Armor and war games?

When we were there there were elements of various Armored units, Air Cav, and Airborne infantry all training at the same time with our FACS there interacting.

Do you peel off that orange vest as soon as you leave the post?

Back in the dark ages when I was in the military we did not have to wear the vests on base or over the ankle shoes etc. We just had to have a helmet on.

Ft Irwin. Now thats a garden spot of Kalifornia if ever there was one. I spent a few weeks there way back in the late seventies with some O2-A FAC aircaraft working out of those dry lake beds.

If ever there was a dry hot dusty place that'd be it. Do they still use it as a primary desert training center for Armor and war games?

When we were there there were elements of various Armored units, Air Cav, and Airborne infantry all training at the same time with our FACS there interacting.

No, I keep the vest on (Icon's Mil-Spec vest) to A) set the example to younger guys and B) avoid headaches by meeting our simple requirements. That's why I like the dustbandits and icon vests...they help us meet our requirements without looking entirely clownish.

Depending on the command, servicemembers who take off any required PPE can be found "not in the line of duty" if they get in an accident. We're doing the 2nd annual High Desert Heroes Ride here and half of the purpose of the ride is to show our young warfighters that meeting our cycle requirements is easy.

My wife is in the Army here at Fort Irwin and Im stationed at the Marine base in Barstow. Yeah, Fort Irwin is THE premier training base for pre-Iraq deployments. The NYT just did an article about it, actually. We also saw Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed) out here teaching actors how to act like soldiers (huh? I dunno!). The Wall Street journal is doing an article on him soon, I think. So it's great training here.

Yea. I saw that the Patriot Guard riders who went to Fort Huachuca had to wear vests and over the ankle shoes and full fingered gloves plus have proof of insurance and registration to get on the post for the funeral of a soldier killed in Iraq whose funeral was last Monday morning.

He got a nice sendoff.

When I was at Hood and Ft Sam, everyone was wearing orange vests. I found a blue one. It was just as reflective but I thought it was a little less... dorky... sorry!

At Fort Bragg and Fort Lewis you only have to wear a reflective belt. Lots of guys just attach them to their sissy bars or throw then over the shoulders. It doesn't look that much better but is easier to mess with than the whole vest.

I ordered mine on the 15th or 16th and got it today! Looks good. I'm always skeptical of "one size fits all" but it does in fact fit my XXXL melon.

Where did you find a blue one? Send us a link. Yeah lots of guys use gloworms (PT belts) out here too. Ben glad to hear that it fit your grape!

grape doesn't begin to describe it...

Okay....SuperMelon.

Close but I've seen weather balloons that were smaller...

I picked up one of these....a very handy and practical bit of headgear whether you wear it alone as a skull cap to keep the wind from completely blowing your hair amiss or simply under the helmet to absorb sweat and save the inner liner of your helmet. I find that installing a pair of ear plugs and then using the dust bandit skull cap fashion under the helmet and over the ears.....does a great job of eliminating excess noise during longer rides.

They are very comfortable. The do-rag look comes with a perceived "stereotype" though. It seems that all the Harley riders sport do-rags. On hot days like today it seems that about 60% or more of the riders I passed were helmetless and wearing a skull cap of some sort.

Kat from DustBandits is joining us for the 2nd Annual High Desert Heroes Ride out here in the Mojave Desert (going to Big Bear and back). She seems like a nice gal, even offered to give some dustbandits for a raffle during the ride. All of us organizers are Marines or Soldiers so we don't have time for that stuff, but that's a cool offer on her part. Any of you Triumph riders from LA or San Diego, feel free to join us, it's a GREAT ride to Big Bear and back from here. Plus, don't you want to see a little bit of Barstow?????!!!!

Best part of this ride is...will be led by a Speedy and there will also be a '65 Bonne on the ride, one of the Marine Sergeants from USMC Base Barstow has it and is taking it out....he has a 155 artillery shell as the oil tank....cant wait to see it!

Wow......too cool. Wish I could be there. Now you know Barstow is the garden spot of California.

I wish! My wife and I have been cataloging pop-culture stuff that uses Barstow to describe a middle-of-nowhere sh*thole: Too Fast Too Furious, Kill Bill 2, Carlos Mencia, The Doors, and a couple others that I dont recall at the moment.

I know you are not going to forget your camera, right?

I'd love to see that oil tank!

...A note on these dustbandits. When using them as a skull cap make sure you push them up inside your hairline as opposed to a mid forehead ride. After a four stop poker run in town starting at noon and finishing mid afternoon I have a tan line right in the middle of me freaking forehead.

Just tell all the chicks its the new style. And everybody is doing it up in Laconia.

LOL Kevin. Hope you had a good time on the poker run, it was good to see you again. At least you got out to see some of Tucson's finer drinking establishments. Did you stick around for the bands at Berky's, or did you cut out early like we did?

Nope. I left early to go home and pray to the God of safety for my lack of good judgement in not wearing a lid.

I am condemned to everlasting damnation by the Gods of safety for my obvious lack of WISDOM in this clearly hot button topic.


I also had one beer during the run so that means I was potentially RUI. (riding under the influence.) Ya know it appeared some of those fellas and girls were having a beer or two in each bar along the way....

Not good. Beer plus no helmet equals doubly whammy.

it was an interesting little sojourn.

Thanks Big Bill, my pipe-chain distance is the same. Just wanted to double check.