Body armor, is it rated, or somehow tested for efectiveness?

[Guest]

I guess this may not be the place to ask this, since is NOT GS related, but moto oriented.
Since my accident, when I had my leg broken in several parts, I got curious about this issue. I was wearing AXO hinged kneepads, yet, because of the type of contact, it was only good to keep my bones, contained, and packaged for the ER and not all over the road. But unlike helmets, I dont see any safety institution testing, rating or grading the effectiveness of these devices. In Pants and jackets, the built in pads have some sort of CE approval, but things like over body armor, there is absolutly nothing I can find that would explain why I should spend $15,$25, $60, or $1000 on such "protection". Is there a criteraria to follow? Clearly, my $65 AXO knee pad was not up to the task, but would a $1000 knee pad be able to do better? could it have done better at reducing injury from a piece of anything traveling at 130 km/h towards my leg?
I would like to find out, since I will hope to get back on the bike in 3 to 5 months, and want to be ready for it.

[Buffalo Bill]

Ouch! I found this…

Sounds like you can do some rating based on personal experience. In fact, please have a look at some of the stuff available and tell us if it may have stood up to your crash.
I hope you make a full recovery.

Things I do know is, body armor is more of a new thing and so not much experience from users. It's hard to get people to use it as well. It's hard to get a government to spend tax money on a new rating system.

I found this in wikipedia it may answer your question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_armor

[Richsuz]

Thanks for the wiki link Bill. Based on my "experience", I set myself to gain knowledge on the available products in the market, on people's experiences and expectations, and, in regards to leg and knee protection, nobody seems to understand what they are buying/selling.

Basically all the equipment I have seen in the market are good for scratch protection. Saw a couple of devices for motocross, (in the thousands of $'s) that keep your limbs from bending sideways, but nothing out there provides any impact protection. Not that I expected to find a crashproof device out there, but makes me wonder about spending anymore money on them. About the only use the kneepad had, post-crash, was to keep all my parts neetly bound for the ER team to unwrap.
There seems to be a false sense of security that I bought into by wearing this things.

[Dogma]

I sorta doubt anything wearable is going to protect a knee from a 130 kph impact. For collision protection, I think your best bet would be a late-model Goldwing with an airbag. Otherwise you need the front end of a car to act as a crumple zone. Even so, the knee armor absorbed at least sme of hte impact energy. It could have been worse.

Lowest protection is denim (bare skin is bare - no protection). Imagine walking across a parking lot, trip and fall, land square on your knee. There's a good chance there of a busted kneecap, definitely some pain. Your EXO kneepad would have protected your knee completely in this situation, and it's not unlike most bike wrecks. You're just not that far off the ground unless you high-side at high speed.

Would more money have offered better protection? Probably only in better fit and comfort. If you want the motocross knee brace thing, you can protect the inside of your knee too. Beyond a certain level, more expensive is probably just a better fit. Fit is important of course, because it keeps the protection in position.

My mesh pants are meant to fit on over other pants, so the knee protection was a piece of foam in a pocket inside the knee of the pants. It worked well enough until I sat on a bike. Sitting down, the pad slid off to the side of my knee. Useless. So I wear knee armor similar to your EXO pads under the mesh. Now I have some abrasion protection in the mesh (leather is said to be better), and fall protection on the knee. If I slide off a curve and into a tree, I'm a goner. Maybe that knowledge is what keeps me from cornering near 100% of my traction. Even in a car, that would be a trip to the hospital. In traffic, I try not to give left-turners a chance to get me. You need to be in a car to walk away from those. It's just a risk you have to be willing to manage on a bike.

[tkent02]

Probably the best protection would be getting proficient at any activity where learning to fall correctly is part of the training. Things like skiing, skateboarding, skydiving, hockey, taking Judo lessons, etc. If you land on your arms or on your knees, nothing will protect you.
It amazes me how often pro football players land on their arms or hands and get injured, they should certainly know better but a lot of them don't.

[ukilme]

There is really no rating for body armor in North America like there is for helmets. And it is to bad.

There is rating in Europe for body armor and some American companies will get it tested in Europe. I bought a Velcoity (http://highvelocitygear.com) back protector and it was tested. It helped me in a highside.

However, body armor will not protect from every situation during a crash. Just look at Rossi with his broken ankle. I am sure he had the best boots available or Wayne when he broke his back. It wasn't his gear that 'failed' but the environment (gravel pit and his bike) that help cause his injury.

You can look to gear that passes the Europe testing and see if it available here in NA.

[gs scott]

Does anyone have body armor they wear and like? I haven't seen much here in the forum other than ATGATT. I know it can help with road rash and that's very valuable, but who has what that they consider comfortable?

[Buffalo Bill]

Hey, I'm protected and comfortable…

Does anyone have body armor they wear and like? I haven't seen much here in the forum other than ATGATT. I know it can help with road rash and that's very valuable, but who has what that they consider comfortable?

All my body armor is comfortable.
I have a mesh armored jacket for temps above 70º, an armored leather jacket for below 80º. I have leather pants for the Elvis look, armored knee pads I can wear under any pants, and leotards with armored knee, tail bone and thigh pads for when I want to dance, or ride on cold days.
Bill

[kdo58]

sweats don't work,

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57309

[bwringer]

The CE rating is a Euro standard that measures energy absorption, and it can be a useful guide, but there are still lots of impacts and accidents where injury cannot be prevented.

In my accident, I whacked a curb with my thigh, and nothing short of a magical momentum-cancelling "Iron Man" suit could have prevented the snapped femur.

However, my knee, elbow, back, and shoulder armor did its job, long with my boots, helmet, and gloves, and kept a bad situation from being far worse -- I didn't have a scratch or a bruise other than at the fracture site. The elbow armor in particular took a hell of a shot as I fell, but I didn't even have a tingly elbow. My knee armor also absorbed a big hit, but there was no bruising or damage to either knee. (At least a dozen people in the ER wiggled my intact patella in wonder... not too many people around here wear more than a t-shirt, ratty jeans and a scowl when riding.)

The Joe Rocket Ballistic jacket and Firstgear HTII pants also held up quite well as far as abrasion. The pants were cut off and discarded, but I had a small hole in the elbow of the jacket repaired and wore it for another year.

Armor and protective gear works surprisingly well, but it can't repeal the laws of physics. Falling off or getting hit at road speed is gonna hurt no matter what. But decent gear will definitely minimize the damage.

[marvinsc]

To back up Brian's point, this is my gear following my High Side at Brown County 2008. Notice the scuffs on the jacket and pants which would have been my back and a$$ without them. That was a hard fall as anyone who was there will testify and I did break my Left wrist but no gear in existance could have prevented that. The Joe Rocket Jacket and River road pants came from newenough.com as did the HJC helmet that saved my noggin as I tumbled across the pavement after flying through the air. Can't tell me gear doesn't work!

[gs scott]

Oh I believe it works - no question there! I'm looking for some recommendations as to what folks like and why. Glad it worked for you and Brian!! I'm sure anything is better than nothing - but these items can be pricey, so before I take that jump, wanted to hear what people have and like - what they don't like, stuff like that.

[steve murdoch]

RichSuz, there is an armor grading system but i believe it applies only to imported goods. Back protectors included.
I know some racers upgrade to Level 2 or 3 armor.
This is a bit of a long read and at times confusing but it will give you idea

http://highvelocitygear.com/home.html

[Richsuz]

RichSuz, there is an armor grading system but i believe it applies only to imported goods. Back protectors included.
I know some racers upgrade to Level 2 or 3 armor.
This is a bit of a long read and at times confusing but it will give you idea
http://highvelocitygear.com/home.html

Yeah, Steve, someone already sent me to this site. I want to just learn about the expectations and how to cut the crap, between what is realisticly useful and affordable and what is just companies cashing in on neurosis.
I am thinking to replace my AXO kneepads, with fieldsheer Armadillo. No idea which is better. or if there is something actually better in the market, I just came to the conclusion that $60 is about the right price. Both AXO and Fieldsheer sell for the same price, and I need a new pair (hope to be riding by Feb.

[Buffalo Bill]

Useful video demonstrations here

This outfitter has slightly higher prices but, the demonstration videos are very helpful!

http://stores.sportbiketrackgear.com/Detail.bok?no=4152

Myself I found some construction worker knee pads for $30 that I'm convinced will do a very good job in a crash. They payed for themselves already, because I used them while installing 2 skylights last week!
If I was going to spend more money, it would be for these Knox knee guards.
Bill