Need Opinions on Body Armor

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Musicrocketman

Member
Ya me again healing from the broken collar bone feeling much better and back on the street bike so far. Now I am planning to get back on the track.

First I am searching for better protection. I realize there are many ways crashes happen and even the best protection can't stop bones from breaking, but I would like to put the odds in my favor.

All opinions would be appreciated, what I have been using is similar to motocross upper body protection. Shoulder padding, elbows, chest and back protector.




Barry
 
J

JDS

Active Member
Good to hear Barry.

I am pretty sure Juan has done indepth research on this. Maybe he will pipe in. Very interested in this myself.
 
racer51

racer51

Active Member
Helimot - highest rating

Good to hear you're on the mend Barry.

Check out Helimot protectors. They are made of a special energy absorbing foam and the back protectors add additional articulating armor. I'm told "all the big guns in AMA" use Helimot.

I've got their chest protector and it is amazing stuff.

The only downside I can see with Helimot is that it is thicker than some of the other options available so you need the room in your leathers to fit them.
 
J

Juan42

Active Member
Body Armor

Hey Barry,
Really glad to hear you're healing up now, and back on your street bike at least. I look forward to seeing you back out on the grid.
As for me, given my recent encounter with an angry Italian, I'm upgrading my protective arsenal.
Sportbiketrackgear.com has some excellent videos on the subject. Naturally, they promote what they sell, however they do come across as genuine guys that are trying to get the word out on the benefits of body armor.
I've got some Knox stuff on the way from the UK, should be making it's way over the Atlantic now, hopefully through customs and here in time for Round 5.
I went with the Knox Contour Race back protector, chest protector, cross shorts, and knee protectors. Not sure how well the knee protectors will work under my suit, but I'm going to try them...after all, I only have 34.99 British Pounds to lose and it seems we racers spend in increments of $100. I've got some shoulder and elbow protection built into my suit, so I decided to spend on lower body protection for which my suit has virtually none. I have a good back protector, which likely saved me from alot worse injury, but one thing it lacks is good shoulder blade protection, so I decided to upgrade that piece of kit also.
There are a number of good manufacturer's out there. CE approval is one measure of a verified testing standard that provides a level of assurance in protection. I'd look for that label, and then it comes down to a balance of weight and compact design vs protection. Obviously it has to be comfortable and relatively non-constraining on the bike to be of any value.

If you end up deciding on Knox, it's actually significantly cheaper to buy directly from the manufacturer in the UK(Planet Knox) than from a distributor in the US.

Hope that helps !
Juan
 
T

twowheeled

Member
you would think more suits would have collar bone armor of some sort considering that's such a common break. The closest I've seen is the RS taichi airbag system that inflates around your neck when you leave the bike. I wonder if that would help?
 
J

Juan42

Active Member
twowheeled said:
you would think more suits would have collar bone armor of some sort considering that's such a common break. The closest I've seen is the RS taichi airbag system that inflates around your neck when you leave the bike. I wonder if that would help?
Click to expand...

That does make sense. I wonder though how easy it would be without being constrictive. I'm not an expert by any stretch, but I would imagine that collar bones usually break not so much from impact on the bone itself, but from the load being transferred from the shoulder. Based on that speculation, good energy absorption in the shoulder of a suit, or via armor seems like it could help. Just thinking aloud here....
 
F

fask

Member
I heard that the most likely cause of a collarbone break is the helmet comming down on it after a head impact... just somthing i heard but once again begs the question, even if it is only remotely likely, why don't our suits have a 1-1.2mm carbonfibre "horseshoe" plate around our necks?
 
M

Musicrocketman

Member
Ya the crash I had wasn't speed related, I was beginning to turn in to turn 2 and bang I was down with my bike coming after me and tearing my knee ligament. I had massive acceleration downward on the shoulder, and I am sure the collar bone couldn't stand that amount of accelerated weight.
All forces seemed to be put straight down into the shoulder, something had to give.

So, from how this happened to me, I would say better shoulder protection would help.


Barry
 
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