What Kind Of Armor Do You Wear?

I've been thinking about finalizing my warmer riding gear setup with some armor.

Knee pads/chest/shoulder & elbows?

What do you guys recommend that won't break the bank? Oh and don't bother with the "You can't put a price on protection" comment...I know...I Know.

Focker, I had a Rock Garden upper body protector at one time but didnt like it. My friend has one and loves it. Its made of mesh and the pads are attached to it. They make you look like a super hero!

Typically I use:
Klim Renegade pants
Olympia AST jacket with armor or
an MSR jacket/vest no armor
and knee braces if its a dual sport ride with lots of miles in it

EVS Ballistic Jersey, one piece, plenty of protection, I wear it underneath everything and don't even know it's there most of the time. I've crash tested it too on big chunky gravel and it works great. I needed something that is one piece as I didn't want to take time to put on several seperate pieces of protection. I won't recommend something that is crap. Dave from GL reccomended it to me and I love it. (get it a little tight as they will stretch a little).

http://www.mxmegastore.com/EVS-BJ22-Ballistic-Jersey-p/evs-bj22-ballistic-jersey.htm

I just sold my RockGardn too. Very restrictive but man it had a lot of protection. Now I run:

Moto jersey and pants
EVS (Leatt style) neck protector
Asterisk knee braces
Tech 10's
Helmet and goggles

No chest protector....I'm crazy like that. I run with scissors.

I've got various bits I dont use - knee braces, full CE armour shirt etc, but I prefer easy movement. Problem is I cramp up easy, so can't run tight and therefore secure protection!

Current faves are an MX style chest/back plate with upper arms, and soft semi armour underneath., sleeve style elbow guards, simple knee/shin bits and a foam collar "neck brace" bit, just for show I think!! I do have 661 impact shorts which are a gentle fit, move a bit on impact but hey! Generally here a friction resistant coat can also be worn, it's rarely that hot!

Thor Impact Rig SE
Leatt Brace
Knee braces, can't remember what kind. Made by EVS though.

Gaerne boots
Thor Quadrant Knee/Shin Guards
SixSixOne Elbow Arm Guards
Klim Dakar Pants
CE Armored Teknic Monsoon Jacket

MSR Pants/Jersey
MSR ISDE Jacket
661 Knees and Elbow/ForeArm
Fox Boots
Fox Chest
HJC Bucket

Been looking into one of those one peice upper body jobs, EVS most likely. Maybe a New Years gift to myself.

husky123 wrote:
EVS (Leatt style) neck protector

How do you like it?

HRP Flak Jack chest protector
A-star and 661 2X4 elbow/forearm guards
661 wrist brace (tattered throttle wrist)
Thor knee/shin guards
Leet brace restricts too much for trail riding but I know they do their job.

crash7 wrote:

husky123 wrote:
EVS (Leatt style) neck protector

How do you like it?

Crash, I will be racing in my EVS neck protector this weekend for the first time. I will let you know how it does.

Doug wrote:

crash7 wrote:

husky123 wrote:
EVS (Leatt style) neck protector

How do you like it?

Crash, I will be racing in my EVS neck protector this weekend for the first time. I will let you know how it does.

Or hopefully NOT let you know how it really does...

husky123 wrote:

Doug wrote:

crash7 wrote:

husky123 wrote:
EVS (Leatt style) neck protector

How do you like it?

Crash, I will be racing in my EVS neck protector this weekend for the first time. I will let you know how it does.

Or hopefully NOT let you know how it really does...

LOL...... Good luck with the race!

EVS Ballistic Jersey
EVS Kneepads

So far I'm very satisfied w/ the EVS equipment. I have a really expensive set of Fox kneepads that aren't as comfortable as the EVS ones, however the Fox ones DO offer better protection...

As for the jersey, heres my opinion. I've had some good crashes where its saved me, so its nice to have. It does limit your range of motion a little, so it can make putting on a jacket/jersey or backpack kinda difficult at times. But, after your geared up, it doesn't impair your riding at all, from what I've noticed, and I've been using it for over a year now.

I'm glad I have it; it works well.

Alpinestar Tech 10 boots
BMW Motorad protection Jacket or Motoport real Kevlar and armour padding jacket
Asterisk Cell Knee brace
Leatt Brace
Klim Dakar pants
Shoei vfx-w helmet
Scott goggles
Gloves

The EVS neck brace is barley noticable. I went down twice in the race and it didnt do anything weird. It never seemed to be out of place. The only time I noticed it was when standing going uphill and looking far ahead. It was not hindering, just noticable.

I use the epidermis,breaks easy though.

This is a cool breakdown. If you right click and save it to your computer you'll see the original size.

nice discussion
Aurora, You have the "BMW Protektorenjacke" with the leatt brace?! Nice, I have the protektorenjacke also and I was wondering if the leatt brace can be used in combination? How do you wear it? First protektorenjacke, then yearsey and/or enduro jacket and the the leat brace??

Any info wil help. You can also PM me if this is to off topic

Acerbis Koerta

kjazz wrote:
Acerbis Koerta

Me too. It's saved my hide a few times when I went down pretty hard.

Bell helmet, Klim pants, 661 Knee protectors, good MX boots of your choice. I leave my shirt tail hanging out to clean my glasses with when it's humid.

If I could offer you another perspective ...

Consider the weight of all this stuff. Some stuff is worth a lot of weight. Back protection and hand protection and head protection for example. But I think the armor stuff has gone way too far. There's a reputable study out there that found a lot of the protection caused more injuries than it prevented. I have the Alpinestar Bionic 2 Protection Jacket, Gaerne SG 10, Arai lid, Fox Shortcut pants, Moose Sahara Jersey,\ and really like it. But things like boots have gotten really too heavy. As have packs, hydration, tools, and so forth. That doesn't even count all the armor available for the bikes. Some riding areas need it perhaps. Other do not. I ride mainly in the desert and have never had any armor on my bike. Team Honda didn't use any armor on their BRPs either. My meandering point is that all this armor adds stress to the knees. The bike gets harder to control with the squeeze, and the knees are also taking a lot more pounding with the added weight of various bubble wrap protection trends.

My favorite pieces of gear are my Arain lid and my Kriega hydration. Particularly the Kriega. The stuff is made in the UK, absolutely best standards, and it fits perfect! I also dig my Gaerne SG 10s but I see that one of the vintage MX companies is selling old style MX boots that are about half the weight of the new stuff. These knees aren't getting any younger and I have pushed them pretty hard over the decades. I've looked at a lot of possibilities to lighten up my BRP but it all is far too expensive ($5K to save 4lbs with the Titanium bolt kit for example - although it is easily gotten at the racer price) that at my current pace has marginal value.

In any case, just consider that if you load up on the weight and the armor you may lose a lot of the feeling of freedom and flying that this desert flyer bike excels at without compare.

Here is a picture of me all suited up:

AURORA wrote:Here is a picture of me all suited up:

I reckon I had something else I was referencing.



BUT I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK!

sheeeeooooowww!!! I DO NOT wanna be around when they break out and start putting on the sunscreen!!!!

I've got to go rinse my eyes out.