Chest protectors

Anyone use one? Opinions?

Lots on here about back protectors and I wouldn't be without mine. Is a chest protector worth the £100? Comfort? Anyone actually road tested one? etc etc etc

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Ed

Anyone use one? Opinions?

Lots on here about back protectors and I wouldn't be without mine. Is a chest protector worth the ?100? Comfort? Anyone actually road tested one? etc etc etc

Have one built into my Forcefield Shirt (as modelled @ the AR)

Dont really know WHEN it would be of use, but it makes me feel like a superhero so thats a benefit :P

I wanted the shoulder and elbow armour the shirt gives, the chest armour is just extra and not noticeable when worn, so I put it back in after the shirts been washed.

[G]

I was always under the impression that full armour/chest armour was more of an off road/MX type equipment.

Girls already come with front 'airbags' fitted as standard...

... though then there's the dilema of upgrading to be really effective in a full-frontal collision... or leave as is and not have a problem with tight fitting leathers.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by K

Girls already come with front 'airbags' fitted as standard...

Not all of them..............





runs and hides

Never used one but that doesn't stop me having an opinion

As I understand it the primary function of a back protector is to prevent you bending your spine past it's working range when you're tumbling down the road. As I understand it, any puncture protection is merely a side benefit and actually pretty small (although I note that BigApe might not be walking without the puncture protection afforded by a back protector).

Again, as I understand it, MX chest protectors are designed with puncture protection in mind - but relatively slow velocity/energy puncture - stones kicked up, errant pointy tree branches - they're designed to protect against bruises rather than make you immortal - they'll push a small tree branch aside and deflect a stone but won't stop you impaling yourself on some solid metal roadside furntiture.

The only armour a biker typically has that can stand a chance against high energy impacts is the helmet, everything else is largely designed for low energy impacts (ie. the energy of a fall from the bike to the road - that's a drop of a couple of feet and is roughly the same energy if you fall off whilst stationary as it is if you fall off at 100mph).

You can tell the difference between high & low energy protection in the squishyness of the energy absorbing material - knee/hip and even back material tends to be easily squishable by hand - the EPS foam in your helmet however needs a real good squeeze (try on an old helmet though because it's largely non-returning). The solid skin found on helmets and body armour isn't really there to add any protection but merely to protect the energy absorbing material from abrasion damage.

So, I would hypothesise that in general, a chest protector isn't likely to make a difference in life or death calls but will probably save you some bruising in non-fatal accidents. That said, I could see how it might dissapate some energy better around your ribs so you'd end up fracturing three ribs rather than just breaking one rib with such force it drives in to your lungs.

There's a good argument that anything is better than nothing of course. Although taken to it's logical extreme that argument would have us all surrounded in a steel cage, and four wheels instead of two for better stability. The other thing to consider is if it restricts your movement or affects your riding on a psychological level. If it restricts your movement at all you could find that any small measure of protection is outweighed by a small restriction in movement resulting in more accidents. And on a psychological level, if you feel safer do you ride more dangerously - it's the same argument as can be applied to cars - ABS, air bags and seat belts havn't reduced accident numbers, in some ways they've contributed to an increase in accidents as people feel safer and drive more recklessly as a result, but on balance they've made accidents less fatal.

EDIT:
Just thought, some of the physics holds the potential for poorly designed armour to do a lot more damage than you would otherwise have sustained. Take for example, falling off with a mobile phone in your pocket and you happen to land such that the phone takes the brunt. Now it's going to take a lot of energy to destroy that phone (well, it won't work after just about any landing, but to properly destroy it) but because it's solid and has nothing to absorb energy, most of that energy is going to get transferred directly to you, but now it's a focal point, all that energy is going to hit your ribs in an area the size of a mobile phone. If you didn't have the phone in your pocket then your body would have to deal with same energy but it would be spread out over a larger area.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Dont really know WHEN it would be of use, but it makes me feel like a superhero so thats a benefit :P

.

try wearing a cape, and your pants on the outside

that will help too

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by hovis

try wearing a cape, and your pants on the outside

that will help too

I might just have to follow your example in this

I use full body armour on the off road bike. Saves lots of pain and bruises. I have tested it on the road and I can confirm it still hurts like heck when you hit the tarmac! I would reccommend them if you want extra protection - why not. If its light weight and serves as extra safety then its got to be a good thing. Where were back protectors 10 years ago...

I wear one of these. http://www.planet-knox.com/detail2.aspx?ID=121
Starting using it after i saw a guy get runover by another bike at a trackday. Only complaint is that it can get a little hot at times. Hopefully they will develop a breathable version.