The Importance of Baffles To the Editor: Concerning the letter titled "Leaky Ridge Vents" (7/90) and the subsequent response, you were correct in stating that "vertical baffles below vent openings…deflect windblown snow and rain upward past the vent." However, most in the building industry are not aware that this beneficial action has been documented through independent research and testing. As early as 1960, Herb Hinrichs, one of the country's leading ventilation experts, was conducting infiltration research for HC Products Co., a ridge vent manufacturer in Princeville, Ill. At about the same time, the Small Homes Council at the University of Illinois conducted tests on a full-size home. Both studies drew the same conclusions: an external wind baffle is needed to prevent infiltration. In 1987, Construction Research Laboratories