armor Articles
Interviews
23 October 2013
Crash Tested: Vanson AR2 jacket and Alpinestars Bio Armor
If you’re a regular HFL reader then you’re familiar with the Vanson AR2. Over the last year and a half that I’ve been wearing, it’s become utterly synonymous with who I am. There’s a good reason for that. I wear it every day, everywhere, on and off the bike. And I was wearing it when I crashed last week too. Can a good looking jacket with no logos, no day-glo colors and, gasp, no speed h...
12 October 2012
This is the city gear that saved my life
About a month ago, I had a terrible motorcycle accident here in LA. Six broken bones, a week in the hospital and three surgeries. About as bad as it gets, right? Well, not quite. That's thanks to the gear I was wearing — head-to-toe protection. But, I wasn't in leathers or ungainly Cordura or anything like that, I was in jeans and a jacket; the kind of thing I wear to go to a meeting or a bar. C...
25 February 2012
Aerostich TF3 armor explained
The recognized benchmark for protective motorcycle gear is CE approval. If you buy a jacket from Alpinestars, Dainese, Icon or any of the other common brands, it will almost certainly have CE approved armor in the shoulders and elbows. The amazing viscoelastic TF3 armor in an Aerostich Roadcrafter isn't CE certified, so is it safe? Just like a Snell or ECE 22.05 sticker on your helmet, a CE certi...
09 September 2011
This is the dirt gear that saved my life
Making bad decisions on motorcycles (or Russian sidecars) has consequences. I’m able to ameliorate the consequences of frequently awful decisions by wearing the best safety gear available. This is what I was wearing when I crashed last weekend, it, in addition to Sean, is the reason I’m able to type this (slowly) today. Alpinestars Tech 10 Boots These are bulky, heavy, look ridiculous and...
19 July 2011
News
How safe is safety gear?
In the first study of its kind, researchers in Australia have applied hard numbers to the safety gear we wear below our helmets. Surveying motorcyclists who had crashed both with and without injury and with and without items of clothing like boots gloves and jackets, the team was able to piece together a statistical analysis of the benefits of each individual piece. For instance wearing real motor...
24 June 2011
Alpinestars Bio Armor explained
We’ve been making a big fuss over thin, flexible D3O, but it’s not the only choice if you’re looking for slimmer motorcycle armor. This Alpinestars Bio Armor may not be bright orange or come with science we hardly understand, but it is safe. 100 percent safer than traditional Alpinestars foam armor, for example, while only measuring about 1cm in thickness. It’s this that we’re installing...
13 April 2011
Why can’t we look good when we ride bikes?
Conventional motorcycling wisdom states, “Dress for the crash, not the ride.” But why does being safe have to involve dressing up like a DayGlo sausage, a European hairdresser or a large nylon pillow? Why can Dainese make an airbag racing suit that can tell the difference between a high and low-side crash using a GPS sensor, three gyroscopes and three accelerometers, but not offer a jacket I
12 April 2011
Gear: Icon Field Armor Stryker
This new Icon Field Armor Stryker armor is nearly perfect for its intended customer. The thing is, that’s not me. What I have to remember about HFL is that, despite our fascist insistence on all-black leathers and expensive jeans, we actually have a really diverse readership. Most of you guys don’t look and dress like Grant and I, so with that in mind I expanded my safety gear horizons with th...
11 April 2011
Icon Field Armor Stryker series: d3o!
Icon’s new Stryker Field Armor is the first mass-market, commercially available motorcycle armor we’re aware of that incorporates d3o — a new impact-absorbing polymer which stiffens on impact, deflecting impact energy to the sides. d3o is exciting not only because it provides full CE-level protection, but because it does so in an incredibly slim, flexible package. Impressively, Icon didn’t...
15 February 2011
Labrador: Wes’s gear
Everyone told me that wearing this level of safety gear on an adventure touring trip was overkill and it was kind of a pain in the ass. But when it was 45 degrees and raining, I was warm and dry; when it was 95 degrees and we were stuck in a traffic jam, I didn’t sweat to death; when I head butted the road at 50 or 60mph, I walked a way a bit woozy and unable to remember what happened, but not e...
27 October 2010