Helite

ferdi said:

you mean "on the right side"

in Europe only women-zippers are like US ones

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I'm afraid that we have it right:

"The product debuted at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, but it didn't have much success. The modern zipper was eventually designed in 1913 by Gideon Sundback, who worked at the Universal Fastener Company in Hoboken, New Jersey. He received a patent for his "Separable Fastener" in 1917."

So in Europe y'all zip the other way... hmmm.

Real men use velcro....

... What about the rest of you?

Air bag vests are great ... will save lives for sure ... now and in the future. Right now racers will benefit the most. Products will get cheaper and better in future.

But don't forget to protect the most common areas for injuries in bike crashes.
The Hurt report (1981) and several more recent studies, indicate lower leg, ankle, foot and knee injuries are the most common injuries.

Not as life threatening as head or chest impact, but injuries to lower extremities appear far more common.

How many out there ALWAYS wear good boots? Knee/Tibia armor? I don't always ride ATGATT, but on longer rides I do.

CE armor is crap ... but we all know that, right? I've replaced my CE armor with Aerostich pads and use custom made Knee/Tibia armor.

I have a Ti plate in my leg so try to protect that leg. Hands, wrists and collarbones also tend to take a beating in bike crashes.

Even though the Hurt report features a small sample and is now ancient, many of its patterns still seem to hold up. Not bad, considering. Motorcyclist magazine always has done a good job on safety. They interviewed Hurt years ago and have published many studies and data relating to rider safety.

I like the part in the Hurt report that says dirt bike riders (That'd be ME) were NOT represented among crash victims.

Hyp Noob said:

CE armor is crap ... but we all know that, right? I've replaced my CE armor with Aerostich pads and use custom made Knee/Tibia armor.

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Aerotstich pads look like armor from 10 years ago. I think my CE2 level stuff will do what they're supposed to.

appliance821 said:

Aerotstich pads look like armor from 10 years ago. I think my CE2 level stuff will do what they're supposed to.

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Andy Goldfine has upgraded the pads he uses a few times over the years, AFAIK.
Maybe not the best, but in the real world I live in ... it's not bad protection.

I've witnessed some fairly horrific get offs where rider(s) wore Aerostich ... and the riders came out remarkably well.

Here is a good collection of reprobates from around here. Lots of collective experience (and hospital time) in this sample group. Could all these guys be wrong?

RSL said:

1 - Protect your brain.

2 - Protect your spine.

3 -Protct your vital organs.

Everything else can be fixed.

I'm living proof of this.

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Good advice! ... and pretty much true!
Sounds like you've got some scary stories to relate. Glad you've made it to the other side and are still riding. Our sport is a bit risky. Like you, I don't bounce so well anymore ... that air bag jacket looks better and better.

When I tell the Doc's/Nurses my stories they always say " .. and so you've given up riding, right?" :roll eyes: Uh, no! Sorry Doc!

That is some really nice gear you've shown above. Rukka does outstanding gear. Who makes the blue armor?
I also like Motoport, but never owned it. I met Wayne Boyer (owner/president of Motoport years ago) Had an early iteration 25 years ago.

Ride (UK) is hard to find in USA. Borders and Barnes & Noble used to carry it but I've not seen it there in years. I met one of the editors once when in UK.
(at the Triumph factory) One of the best of the Brit mags, IMO.

Motorcyclist has done some great work on safety and riding over the years. Nick Ienatsch did perhaps best riding article ever ... The Pace.

I helped out with big helmet test they did ages ago. (Noise tested 30 helmets) These days they've gone off on another track with the new EU owners.

Hyp Noob said:

Andy Goldfine has upgraded the pads he uses a few times over the years, AFAIK.
Maybe not the best, but in the real world I live in ... it's not bad protection.

I've witnessed some fairly horrific get offs where rider(s) wore Aerostich ... and the riders came out remarkably well.

Here is a good collection of reprobates from around here. Lots of collective experience (and hospital time) in this sample group. Could all these guys be wrong?

Click to expand...

Looks like cult of some sort 2 kinds of people in the world, those who wear aerostich and those who don't.

I buy armor from people who specialize in it (knox etc.) and stuff it in the gear I have. One thing I did last year was to buy a ce 2 single piece chest protector (A-star), and attached it with velcro on it and my motogp grid jacket.

The chest is the neglected part, and if you think about it, is a most likely first impact, and this impact is the major cause of survivable death. $40.00 well spent.

Knees: I use fox racing knee guards. They fit under jeans, stay in place, really comfy. A compromise in some ways, but don't trust in pant knee armor to be there.

The reason I'm thinking of the hit air air bag, is that I ride alone in remote-ish places and want to not be immobilized. One area it can really help is the ribs. Hard to find street armor that prevents your elbows from being driven in and cracking them. The neck protection is nice too, but I have a brace currently.

No one answer here - comes down to what a person is comfortable with, and what you'll really wear all day every day.

Aerostich is 4 hours from my house. I'd love one of their suits, if I could afford it.

So after close to 2000 miles with my Helite Adventure Jacket I must say I am extremely pleased with this jacket. First of all the jacket is very very well made (would only change one thing more on this later). All the pockets are very usable so much so that I have developed a system to compartmentalize the storage and designate pockets for specific stuff (insert your loving OCD remarks here ). I rode in the rain and temperatures of 9C and the jacket with the warm layer on has proven to be quite good (for reference I also wore a plain long sleeve shirt and a thin cotton pullover under the jacket). The ventilation is excellent ... with all this gear on when I hit temps of 19-22C I just opened the vents and kept on going ... The vents are quite well placed and selective opening of the vents allows one to control the ventilation and temp inside the jacket ... The jacket is very heavy ... I have thick leather racing suits that weigh less ... This being said its like a knight's armor ... you put it on ... bitch that its heavy ... get on the bike, ride and you forget all about it ... The velcro strips around the waist and the arms are also very useful and well placed and once again selective opening allows the cooling of the arms but not ingress of cold air in the body of the jacket ... the velcros around the waist allow the back of the jacket to be tight against the lower back and for the ones that have lower back problems like myself you know how nice that is ... So now to the only thing I would change ... there is a little "snap button" (dont know the proper term) at the lowest end of the jacket ... when you click that and try to swing your leg over the bike that button will either raise the entire jacket up or pop open ... after a few of these instances I broke the button off and although it didn't come clean off ... still there and haven't lost it yet I resorted to not use that anymore ... To conclude ... this is an awesome piece of kit ! If anyone is thinking about getting one I would say without hesitation it is a great investment ...

As an addendum ... AGV Telluride pants (50% crap)
Puma Goretex boots (90% crap)
LS2 Carbon Helmet (90% crap ... visor mechanism screws came loose during the ride had to stop and snug them up ... noise isolation ... what noise isolation .... decent airflow and very light )

Migrane

Is it something that can be repacked or is it a one use item?

Picked up a used hit air with 3 extra cartridges. Nice vest - more of a skeletal design so it's light and hopefully not warm on a hot day.

Going to have my GF pull the cord to test it - that should be fun.