Armor suits

daught

daught

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I am looking to purchase an armor suit. After a lot of research, I believe forcefield armor to be the best. Now I just have to pick a model. I plan to use the suit on my motorcycle and DH mountain biking.

http://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com/product/extreme-harness-adventure/2347

Extreme%20Adv%20Harness%20front_L.jpg


OR

http://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com/product/pro-shirt/2407

ProShirt%20front%20L.jpg


Which one would be the most comfortable and versatile? Which one would be the easiest to put on and take off? Which one would stay in place better during a crash?

The pro shirt and the harness come with 70J rated armor. The pro shirt can be upgraded to 100J. Is the 100J uncomfortable compared to the 70J?
 
The first one looks like someone took floor mats off a car a put velcro straps on it.

Are you going to be wearing something under or on top of these things? If not, I would probably lean toward the second one just cause **** hurts when it hits you (branches) when you're mountain biking.

+ the armor on the 2nd one looks thicker :P
 
Thanks for the fashion insight. I wish my floor mats provided 70J/100J of protection.

The harness is worn with a base layer. Both should have at least a jersey on top for abrasion protection.

The armor on both is 70J. The shirt can be upgraded to 100J
 
The second one seems like its a lot easier to take on/off (with 1 zipper vs 8 velcro straps) and also offers back protection.
Assuming the one you get fits you, IMO, the 2nd one would be the better choice.
 
Daught needs to be inside a stainless steel ball given his propensity for speed :D

I'd say the second one for staying in place but that does not seem as much forearm protection
In fact the protected area seems smaller all around on the shirt.

Chest is exactly where you'd want some hard armor if riding in rocky terrain or branches to protect against puncture. ( like a small cut stump along a trail or a pointy rock ).

THe soft armor works very well in smooth terrain as I can attest to a couple of times here in Aus with slow speed wash outs in mud and dirt - feels like a feather bed.
But yesterday the hard armor on the knee protectors was useful as something bit a hole in the riding pants ( likely a rock ) but nothing on my shin to show.

Unfortunately my shoulder took the brunt and this time I think the way I landed was just outside the coverage so it took a good wrench - last time it was more a sideways fall and the cup on the shoulder ( both soft and hard armor ) worked perfectly.

In my 15kph washout yesterday I'd say the top would have been better protection...it was somewhat downhill so something like a mountain bike fall losing the front wheel

I suspect the top one is cooler as well and you can vary what's under and over it.
I don't whack around hard at all but twice this year and once last year having some armor on was certainly worth while in low speed wipe outs.
The knee armor moved but that was after it hit...it was rotated around the leg under the bike so whatever bit through the pants snagged in the armor - basically it worked.

For road riding the top one looks slimmer and would go under a mesh jacket with soft armor easily.
Bit more work to put on and off - better protection I think. The mesh jacket would provide the back protector.
 
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For DH riding there's pretty much no need to worry about branches or leaves on the trail --> DH courses are highly groomed for speed, so unless you go off the trail, there's little that will hit you during "normal" runs... as opposed to single track where anything goes.

That being said, do your reasearch to find out how to properly wash these things... after a 4 hour session of "light" DH riding at Horseshoe, my armor is LOADED with sweat & dust/sand/dirt. I have the 661 upper body armor, and it's a bit of a pain to wash.

I think with a perforated leather jacket over either of those suits, you'd be SET... but likely BOILING hot on a hot day, lol.

Holla at me if you're going up to Horseshoe one day!
 
I got a good answer from forcefield

Hi Paul
Thank you for your enquiry. The Shoulder and Elbow armours in the shirt and the Adventure Harness are effectively the same. The main difference is on the harness there are fixing systems attached whereas the shirt armour fits directly into pockets.
The Chest protector on the Adventure Harness is CE approved to EN1621-2:2003 Level 1. The actual chest pieces in the shirts are padding only offering protection, but not certified as such.
Hope this is of some help to you.
Kind regards
Richard Andrews
For Marta Rula
Click to expand...

Any of those plus a mesh jacket should be alright in the summer. I used to ride in a one piece leather suit everyday, even on the hottest days. Now that I have a jacket and pants that turn to mesh I will be comfortable.

I think I will go with the harness. Cleaning the shirt would be a headache and it probably snags easily.

BTW if anyone is in to hard armor check out http://www.highvelocitygear.com/juggernaut.html
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/motorcycle-armor/velocity-gear/juggernaut.htm
 
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Since we're talking about armor suits.

What's the difference between dirt bike(?) armor and the street bike ones? They both seem to be made of CE approved armor.

ie. http://shop.foxhead.com/store/products/Roost-Deflectors/detail/Fox-Titan-Sport-L-S-Jacket-/24461/cat20052?defaultColor=001&categoryNavIds=cat20006%3Acat20026%3Acat20052

vs.

street bike specific ones such as the ones from dainese:
http://www.dainese.com/wd_fr/motorbike/thorax-wave-pro-1.html?destinazione_uso=45&cat=41

I ask because I was thinking of wearing something like this on the super hot days. They both seem to be cover similar areas, but one is much more economically priced vs. street bike specific armor suits.
 
On the street you still need to wear a jacket with any armor shirt.

CE rating guarantees a minimum. The armor I mentioned and a few others go beyond the minimum.

A big difference between the fox armor and the dainese armor is the back protector. The dianese is level 2
 
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My son likes the combo of dirt armor underneath but often does not bother with the street jacket.

I use the street jacket ( JR mesh with inserts ) plus the knee protectors but I'm not riding fast at all. Still it helps on washouts in slippy conditions.

As mentioned the under armour positions well and I tend ride ATGTA

all the gear that's appropriate so on a really warm day even the mesh jacket goes but I'd leave the under armor on.

I think you are on the correct track with the first one Daught and given your riding style the armor upgrade might just be the ticket :D
 
I went to GP bikes and I saw the new leatt armor suit.

Looks really good but I can't find any data on 3df armor and how it compares to forcefield.

ry7ysa8a.jpg
 
hard armor works on knees..thankfully - don't know what soft would have done in this case. 15-20 kph low side on forest track ( mixed surface - clearly some rocks in there. )
You might consider that given your multiple use Daught.

I was glad I had knee protectors on last weekend.





That was 15-20 kph on a forest track. That likely would have worked on a low side as well at slowish speeds.

My jacket is 3 for 4 on slow low sides on forest tracks - the last one the armor worked but still have a sore shoulder 10 days later from the impact ( bike dug a peg in instead of sliding ) and I hit the ground faster than the bike was going. The other times it was like landing on a feather bed. Came up grinning.

I'm considering the skeleton style to get tighter coverage on shoulders and forearms/elbows and pull out the inserts.
 
From my experience with similar types of armour for Down hill. The first type with all the velcro straps can be abit of a hassle to put on, and the straps can chafe the skin with sweat and dirt. If you wear a short sleeve shirt overtop you can also get a funky tan.

The second type usually goes on alot easier and no worries about over or under tightening straps. But when you get sweaty they can be abit of a hassle to get off. The material covering the skin can make it a little bit warmer, but its not a problem with a breeze or riding downhill.

Really they offer a comparable amount of impact protection and really comes down to how much you are willing to spend.
 
I've heard good things about Forcefield armour. I have one of their back protectors and it is great (with very high reviews). I saw some of their armoured shorts too... seemed very solid.

Anyway, I wouldn't get the first style of suit. Would be a pain to velcro it up all the time and it might chafe. I had one of these for downhill mountain biking a while ago and it was great:
iTykQqiUo9I3W.jpg
 
That's kinda nice but usually a dry fit shirt underneath would seem to make sense under the velcro style - no friction and let the sweat evaporate.

Kid has something similar - not so extensive and puts a thin shirt under. I would think the mesh would irritate the skin as well.
 
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I've probably,,well I have ,, sold more Forcefield then anybody in Canada.trouble is Forcefield decides every two years to revamp and change everything.
So I'm kind of tired of dealing with it.
But Forcefield wins the Cambridge University independant test in England every year. Hands down. The regular back protector will handle the highest rating of any back protetcor. So becasue they won all the time they came out with a new style the Sub 4 just to beat themselves.
I have sold lots of the jacket style and the harness. The harness is more robust and will take more intense hits. Sold lots to snowboarders and a ton to extreme mountain bikers in BC. The Harness is very adjustable and not hard to put on or take off. But that is relavant to each person. Once the armour gets heated to your body temp it becomes very flexable. Forcefield sets the bar for every type of armour out there. It is what they do,, make armour for extreme sports.
Johnson Leather in the US carrries everything and nice people to deal with.
 
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