Sun protective clothing interfering with bike mirror

Question

I have had a "third eye" type bike mirror on my helmet for years.  However, recently I have learned of some genetic predisposition to certain types of skin cancer which affect the skin on the face/head and have become more cautious about how I approach the sun.  As a result, I have taken to wearing a protective "sun drape" but I wound up having to modify it because even with my helmet and the drape, part of my face is still exposed to the sun at times.
Anyway, the consequence of this is that when my face is fully protected from the sun the protective drape sticks out a bit and I can no longer see the third-eye mirror.  I'm not okay with using sunscreen instead, so I have been experimenting with other ways of mounting the mirror, but have not been able to find any that work - for instance, mounting the mirror on the side of the helmet away from the sun results in my not being able to see the important part of the road due to my back being in the way, and all the mirrors I have tried that attach to the bike I can't see when I'm hunched over the bike for speed and in most need of a quick check of the traffic behind me.
One idea I had was perhaps a strip mirror under the top of my helmet's visor might work, but I haven't seen anything like that.

from
https://www.coolibar.com/unisex-trailhead-hat-drape-upf-50.html

Goodbye Stack Exchange · Accepted Answer

I have a balaclava that's somewhat loose, and gives me the same problems. I assume the fabric of the sun drape is both interfering with the mirror as well as cutting out a bit of your peripheral vision? If this is the case, then we have the same problem. You have, essentially, three choices:

What works for me is to simply pull the clava tighter against my head. This pulls the fabric out of my peripheral vision and allows unobstructed view of my "third eye" mirror. This may not be completely optimal for you, as it may expose a little more skin outside of your eyes, but it's a very slight difference. 
Another option is to simply get a better-fitting sun drape. Just as tighter clavas don't cause this problem with me, I assume it will work for you too. 
A third choice is to simply use another kind of mirror. A helmet-mounted mirror with a longer arm or a bar-mounted mirror may work. You'll find more about other styles of mirrors in this question about mirror options, helpfully linked to in the comments above.

Daniel R Hicks · Answer

This is complicated.  The farther from the eye a mirror is, the larger it must be to provide an adequate field of view.  This is one of the (several) reasons that bar-mounted mirrors are often unsatisfactory.

Assuming you stick with helmet-mounted, you do want to get the largest mirror you can find, and one with a relatively long arm, so you can get it as far out to the left as possible.  But I find that even without any helmet covering, this doesn't quite allow me to see around the helmet.

What I do is aim the mirror so that, when I'm looking straight ahead, the mirror gives me a view of the left shoulder of the road.  Then, when I want to observe traffic behind me, I turn my head slightly to the left.  This give me a view behind, and the turning of the head adds sufficient leftward extension to the mirror to allow me to clearly see past the helmet.

Sun protective clothing interfering with bike mirror

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