Raincoat Water Repellent

by Rick for webBikeWorld.com

More:  wBW Reviews Home  |  Owner Comments (Below)

Summary:  Applied to a motorcycle visor, Raincoat repels water.  After a helmet visor is treated, the water will bead into tiny drops and roll off.  When riding a motorcycle, the air moving over the helmet quickly evacuates the water droplets from the visor.

Roll your eyes to the right-hand column on this page and you'll see a gaggle of reviews covering everything from motorcycle helmet visor cleaners to anti-fog treatments to reviews on tinted and photochromic visors and even a report describing how motorcycle helmet visors are manufactured.

Think that's enough?  Hardly...  Here's another product to add to your arsenal: Raincoat motorcycle helmet visor water repellent. 

Raincoat is a new product from MotoSolutions, the company who brought you Fogtech visor anti-fog coating (review).  Raincoat is applied like a wax or polish to the outside of a visor.  Wipe it on, let it dry, buff it off.  The coating is hydrophobic; that is, resistant to wetting, so any water that hits the visor forms little tiny beads and rolls off.  Add a little wind blowing across the visor and the little droplets quickly to disappear.

In comparison, the water on an untreated visor seems like it "sticks" to the visor in larger drops or sheets.  On a visor treated with Raincoat, the water doesn't veer away like the visor had some kind of ion anti-matter protection barrier -- depending on conditions, a few drops may stick here and there, but compared to an untreated visor, the effect is pretty dramatic.

MotoSolutions has been working on the Raincoat formula for several years; I know this because they would occasionally send me a sample for an opinion.  I'd get a sample and try it and then I wouldn't hear anything for several months; then another sample, and another... 

You'd think it would be easy, but apparently not.  "What about Rain-X?", you might ask -- and I did too.  But apparently Rain-X is designed to be used on glass only, not polycarbonate motorcycle helmet visors.  Raincoat is just the opposite: it's specifically designed for use on polycarbonate motorcycle visors and goggles, not glass.  In fact, MotoSolutions says that Raincoat will not work on glass.

We usually try to take photographs or video to illustrate the products we review on webBikeWorld, but Raincoat poses some unique recording difficulties.  Treat a visor and drip some water on it and the effect is apparent, but how to capture that effect on film?  UPDATE:  See video in Comments section below.

Dripping water on the visor through a pipette in the kitchen doesn't really do justice to the product and doesn't really illustrate the effect.  Burn, who is Mr. Video, couldn't quite work out how to capture it when we're riding.  After some head-scratching, we thought we'd wait until a rainy day, then hold the helmet out the back window of a car while someone took the video out the front window and third person drove. 

Well, you can imagine trying to get three willing and able people coordinated and ready to go at a moment's notice whenever the "perfect" rainstorm swept by... We just couldn't get it done.  Finally, I threw on the helmet and took off on one of the wildest, rainiest Spring days I've ever seen to check it out for myself.  So this will be a subjective analysis; i.e., you'll have to take my word for it!

Raincoat seems to me to be the motorcyclist's equivalent of Rain-X, the automotive glass water repellent product.  I've been a Rain-X user for many years; after I wash and dry the car, I apply it to the side and rear windows and the mirrors.  After an application, the water beads up and rolls off very nicely and, I think, provides better visibility.

I have tried it on the windshield of the car, but I've learned that it doesn't last as long, because the wipers will eventually rub the treatment off and the rubber wiper blades will stick and chatter until all of the Rain-X is completely gone.  However, it works great while it lasts.

Raincoat comes in a box with 5 packets; each packet will treat three visors.  It comes with a soft polishing cloth and a microfiber applicator, although the instructions are specific about not using microfiber with Raincoat. 

They read: "Important: Do not buff the coating with any microfiber cloth or the included microfiber sponge.  Microfiber materials may remove the Raincoat.  Buff with only a soft cotton cloth for best results."  Hmmm....so why is a microfiber applicator included?  And is the cloth cotton?  I assume so...  UPDATE:  See the Comments section below for the explanation.

It was nearly impossible to take photos of the Raincoat effect in the "lab" (i.e., kitchen), but here are a few that I hope illustrates the process. 

The right side of the visor (the side nearest to the Raincoat box in this photo) was treated with Raincoat.  The water drops can be seen sticking to the untreated side of the visor on the far right, with just a few drops on the treated half.  Note that dripping water on the treated visor with a pipette doesn't really represent the way raindrops hit the visor in nature, so this isn't really a good representation of how the product works.

Raincoat is a soft white paste, much like toothpaste.  One packet treats three visors, but once the packet is opened, all of the contents must be used.  I'm not sure why it doesn't come in a bottle, or a screw-top jar, or individual squeeze packets.  If you're not treating three visors, 2/3 of the packet is wasted.  UPDATE:  See the Comments section below for the explanation.

Raincoat is applied in a thin layer (left) like a polish or wax.  It takes 3-5 minutes to dry and then it can be buffed with a clean, soft, cotton cloth.

Just for kicks, I applied some auto polish on the left side of the visor to see if it would have any effect.  You can see in the photo on the right that the Raincoat treated side of the visor repelled the water, while the left side, treated with auto polish, shows the drips.

I happen to know from using some of the prototype Raincoat treatment that several different carriers were tried.  I'm assuming there is a scientific reason why the final version was packaged in 2.5 gram foil packets.  It's too bad it couldn't be packaged either in, say, 1 gram, single-use packets or in a bottle.  The leftover Raincoat dries up into a powder when the packet is left open; I'm not sure if it can be reconstituted with water.

Conclusion
Raincoat definitely works to repel most water from polycarbonate motorcycle helmet visors and other plastic visors and goggles.  The effect is very noticeable when riding in the rain, where the water simply beads up and rolls off the visor, greatly assisted by air moving over the visor.

MotoSolutions claims that Raincoat can also help keep the visor clean because water drops that may contain dust or dirt don't stick to the visor.  It doesn't seem to have any effect on bugs sticking to the visor initially, but it does seem easier to clean the visor afterwards.  I use lukewarm tap water to clean the visor by simply rub ing the water on the visor with my fingers.

I think the product might not be something that would be required for every day use, but I definitely plan on keeping a couple of packets under the seat to have on hand in case of rain.