Which armor to choose

[MeltingPoint]

Hey eveybody,

I'm having a dilemma as to which jacket to choose. I'm looking at either the Speed and Strength Under the Radar or the Icon Overlord Textile jacket.

The former includes Vault CE approved armor and the latter includes D3O armor. Which one would be the better choice?

Here are videos showing the armor in each jacket. Its somewhere halfway through the videos.

Speed and Strength: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72WKIpP_s6I
Icon Overlord Textile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDJWB0z-x6I

[Itchy]

IIRC there was a test and a cheese sandwich offers just as much impact protection as motorcycle armour.

This is not to say it hasn't saved me from injury especially on the knees.

Me? I mix and match. I have some Dainese hard ones I stripped out of a leather race suit and some hein gerick hiprotech ones for the shoulders.

I also try not to fall off in the first place.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Beehive Bedlam]

I'm not overly fussed about body armour I buy based on how cool I will look.

[Dave70]

[bamt]

Everything else being equal, D3O is probably the better one.

But I'd try on both jackets and see which one fits best and feels more comfortable on; you'll spend more time wearing it than skidding down the road in it (hopefully!).

[Mattaria]

[Undinist]

MeltingPoint, there are different levels of CE standard, CE1 and CE2 or something like that...I've been meaning to look them up because I'm making some armoured overtrousers...but if you could look them up and post a concise summary, you might teach people something useful!
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Current bike: K1100RS. Previous: CD200, GSX250, GT550, VFR750, K100LT, K1100LT, R1100GS, R1150GS, ZZR1100, Hayabusa, RSV Mille, MV F4 750S, R1, ZX-10, KTM Adventure 950S

[bamt]

Level 2 is the better one, with lower forces transmitted through.
The ones I've got also typically cover more area - the back protectors are wider, the knee protectors longer.

[G]

The one that fits best will probably offer the best protection too - if armour can move around or isn't the right shape for your body it can even cause rather than solve problems.

If you really want to avoid being injured, spend your money on learning not to crash .

[Undinist]

According to wiki there are two levels of euro certification for back protectors but only one for knee/hip etc protectors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_armor

So it's obviously hard to choose between the many protectors which meet the standards - some cost 3 or 4 times more than others. The latest thing seems to be visco-elastic armour, which is soft so it doesn't make your clothes bulky. But it has a magical cell structure which makes it go rigid on impact.

The nearest thing we have to a "Which?" magazine doing serious consumer testing for bikers is "Motorrad" magazine, which is German. They are far more scientific and responsible than the so-called 'reviews' we get in the UK comics. Here's the Motorrad league table for armour - you don't need to speak German to see which armour is in 1st place and which is in 10th https://www.motorradonline.de/motorradbekleidung/nachruest-protektoren-fuer-motorrad-bekleidung-im-test/358979 EDIT: this test is only for "retrofit protectors". Motorrad has zillions of other tests for armoured clothing, including Dainese of course. I think the reason Dainese is not in this test is that in Germany you can't buy individual bits of Dainese road armour. The separate Dainese knee/chest/etc protectors are intended for off-road use. Which means they are intended to conform to stone-protection standards, which are different from the impact protection standards for road kit.

Never heard of the Safe-Max stuff in 1st place, seems to be a German thing, you can buy it on Amazon Germany https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CD8QFjADahUKEwidn8bhxcLHAhXJWRoKHa6LBkw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.de%2FSafe-Max%25C2%25AE-Premium-Schultersatz-2er-Set-Typ%2Fdp%2FB00CXMN9YM&ei=vnzbVZ3IHcmzaa6XmuAE&usg=AFQjCNFVjM8rpZ7in2evQb_QC2OfAcSaag&sig2=1Ae9Q96N0d-nqiemOruNcg

I think the Held stuff in 2nd place is made by Sas-Tec https://www.sas-tec.de/en/protectors/. You can buy Sas-Tec protectors individually all over the place.

And I think the BMW stuff in 3rd place is made by d3o https://www.d3o.com/d3o_products.

Rukka protectors cost 3 or 4 times as much as some others, they come 7th
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Current bike: K1100RS. Previous: CD200, GSX250, GT550, VFR750, K100LT, K1100LT, R1100GS, R1150GS, ZZR1100, Hayabusa, RSV Mille, MV F4 750S, R1, ZX-10, KTM Adventure 950S

[highland biker]

ive always used a forcefield back protector insert in all my jackets since theyre (or at least at the time ) were RiDE reccomended.

as for everything else I just use what comes with the gear as its always done the job so far and i dont usually wear elbow armour either
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past: klx 250, cbr125, SRAD 600, cbr600rr
present: uber practial r1 for the daily commute

[talkToTheHat]

I have a furygan back protector that is pretty much just a large d30 jacket insert and some straps. It's way more comfortable than the inset in my leathers, and I can take the back protector off, roll it up and stick it in my luggage when i'm off the bike. I've d30 hip protector inserts in my ixs trousers. Dont notice them at all. I think d30 wins on comfort, it's just so flexible. I have forcefield net inserts in the shoulders and elbows of my leather jacket, much better than (old generation) stock rst but not quite as flexible and soft as the d30 bits.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[Michelle L]

I like the Speed and strengh , I would be happy to wear that , looks good..
I got a motorcycle leather I bought 16 years ago £300 sqid it cost me , that was a lot of money then I think , Its got all the body armour in it but I only wear it on long trips or if its cold..
other then that I just wear my hoody , not the best thing to be wearing on a bike I no but thats down to me
But yeah I like the speed and strengh , looks cool
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Ride safe , if you can not ride safe , ride free....