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Anyone wear armor underneath jacket?

9K views 26 replies 21 participants last post by  bighammer 
#1 ·
I have a decent Olympia jacket, and I know it would protect me pretty well in a slide, but I am wondering if I should consider some sort of chest protector?...I have been thinking about an airbag vest but those things are expensive.
 
#2 ·
I use this


without the kidney belt.
The back armor is removable as well.

I often ride with it alone.

I have ridden with it under my Joe Rocket jacket and the armor on the shirt stays in place and is more extensive than the pocket armor in the jacket.

However unless your jacket is a loose fit you will need to remove the pocket armor.

On a hot day an armored shirt is terrific....I'll often throw a loose fitting fishing shirt over it and wear it next to my skin.....then I look like the hulk :D
 
#12 ·
I use this


I often ride with it alone.
I have ridden with it under my Joe Rocket jacket and the armor on the shirt stays in place and is more extensive than the pocket armor in the jacket.
However unless your jacket is a loose fit you will need to remove the pocket armor.
On a hot day an armored shirt is terrific....I'll often throw a loose fitting fishing shirt over it and wear it next to my skin.....then I look like the hulk :D
Agreed. I wear it all the time and when it's hot I just wear it over a t-shirt. I'll admit to feeling guilty when I ride with guys who are cooking in the heat even with all the vents open. I tuck away a windbreaker and a E-vest for when the sun goes down. I'd like to underline MacDoc's point that these units stay in place when things go wrong including on the second and third bounce.

I have a different brand but essentially the same. https://www.bohnarmor.com/catalog/proddetail.php?prod=BGCRM IMHO there is no need to skimp trying to find the cheapest one. I had a cheapy and it barely made a whole year before the zipper and mesh went separate ways.
 
#5 ·
I have the Force Field Elite chest protector. It just covers my breast plate to about the collar bone. I bought it for driving after cardiac surgery as airbag protection. Its a little bulky and warm feeling as it straps on. I would prefer something built into a jacket etc and havent been using it very often. It feels like a good area protector but its not doing much sitting on a work bench. I DO wear my armor jacket pants and boots.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Off-road armor is for impact protection (primarily) vs. road armor that is mostly for abrasion protection.

Typically you don't slide very far in the dirt when you hit the ground. A hard shell chest protector might have you spinning down the road like a turtle!
 
#13 ·
The armor in jacket/pants can slip during an accident, and often does, causing some damage. This kind of armor will stay put and protect as long as it has surface, you still need abrasion proof fabric over top otherwise it is pretty pointless, that plastic won't last long against pavement.

I think it would be an improvement over other armor, but then you have to wear it and possibly look a little silly.

MX riders use this armor exclusively.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Just picked up a new Vanucci protector vest VAN 1. Read a test in MOTORAD where this one came in on a good 2nd place to 40% of the winners retail price. Very good ventilation and a Level 2 protection (whatever that means) but it got very good test results.

Anyone got experience of this brand or others regarding comfort?

 
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#15 ·
otherwise it is pretty pointless, that plastic won't last long against pavement.
Your helmet is plastic too...the armor would not wear through...it's thick. Of course a ballistic layer is useful but when it's hot the shirt does the trick and most come offs are slow speed stupids and any thing fatal level ...well you have other issues.
 
#17 ·
No need to overthink this. Auxiliary armor is rarely worn when using purpose built riding gear. Olympia gear has armor. Aerostich, Joe Rocket, etc. Adding armor under this, especially if only in places where it already is, isn't likely to make a huge difference. Number one problem with armor is whether it stays in place or not, assuming it is in the correct position to start with? Plenty of real world testing on brands like Aerostich, MotoPort, etc shows that armor IS needed for impact as much as abrasion. Tumbling down the road puts terrific forces on the body. Lots of times armor is seen having been worn down by sliding. Doing its job.

I have the Bohn Armor for my legs. I use it with Aerostich khaki pants and some jeans that have kevlar linings. While it fits and should work, it is very hot and rather uncomfortable on longer rides. They make it for the chest area as well.

My Motoport gear has chest armor as well as all the other places. Even has thigh armor on the pants. Coverage of armor is likely 3-4 times as much as my Aerostich gear.
 
#19 ·
When its really hot or cold here in the MidAtlantic, I also wear pads underneath a really warm jacket when cold or a jersey, etc, in summer. I even wear a neck brace as I broke my neck/back on duty as a police officer and was retired. My cspine and lower back is all fused solid which means its difficult to look up, so no sport bike for me. Every time I say geez, I'm just taking it easy riding the paved trails through the mountains today so I will just be really comfortable and go w/o pads. I then get that nagging though, well, what if the worst happens and my gear is hanging in the closet? I just go and put it on. Boots, knees, elbows, shoulders, chest, neck and helmet with cool or warm armored gloves topping off. On modest warm or cool days I have the armored jacket/pants combo. Just in case. Then I pass someone in a tshirt/shorts/flipflops. I wave and say a little prayer for them. When I was a teenager I was zipping down one of our Michigan gravel roads at right around 70 when a black lab jumped out of the weeds on the side of the road and put me down hard. Hospital for a week. Unable to run for a year. So I always pad up. In my nearly thirty years as an officer I have been to MANY motorcycle accidents. Most padded guys got up. Just sayin'.
 
#20 · (Edited)
Yea! What Terry said.

I just want to put on my jacket and go. So I make sure before I buy it that my jacket (and pants) are waterproof and have armor built in. So as long as I'm not stupid enough (again) to ride without my jacket I'm good to go.

The "again" refers to breaking my shoulder and arm by sliding into a corner to avoid an 800 foot cliff on White Pass and a very large oncoming car that had taken the middle out of the road and my jacket in the trunk. I was moving at at about 25 mph when I hit the pavement. Which was a very good thing. Because there nothing but air in the other side of the guard rail.

Winter jacket, all season jacket, vented jacket, get the armor built in. And wear the jacket.
 
#21 ·
Last summer I bought the Fox Titan. Got it mostly for riding my DRZ400 and use it over a tee in the warm weather(Its cooler than my mesh jacket). If its chilly enough to need more I have a spare older jacket with its armor removed to go over. I find it no more inconvenient than putting on my heated jacket liner in winter.
The armor coverage is superior to any provided in my regular jackets. The built in kidney belt is a plus for me. It not only holds the gut area, but also helps support my back. Plan on using it more often on the Strom now.
 
#22 ·
Leatt body armor and neck brace

I wear the Leatt body armor and I have a Leatt neck brace as well. I've broken my sternum before and been laid up in bed for a month trying not to move. So yeah, still riding, but a lot more protected. Apparently most motorcycle deaths happen when you neck gets snapped, so I added the brace to keep that in place, thank you very much.

I have an Oxford jacket that I've taken all of the armor out of, and went up a size, which I use in the fall/winter/spring. Maybe should have gone up two sizes. In the summer I use just the body armor over a well breathing long sleeve running shirt. Maybe my KLIM XXXL jersey if it's cooler.

At first the setup seemed a bit rigid and stiff, but things loosened up and I got used to it. I ride off-road a lot and took 2 decent spills on my KTM with all my gear on, old logging road at about 35mph for the harder fall. That one I bruised some ribs pretty bad and hurt for about 3 weeks. There's no armor protection on the side of those jackets, but anywhere that I had signs of where else I hit/slid, I was fine.

Long story short, I won't ride without armor for my kind of riding. If you like to scare yourself, make sure you have proper protection because you will get bucked off at some point. Maybe if you are a cruiser or tourer, sure, but if you enjoy sliding around dirt roads and jumping your V-Strom off-road, you're gonna go down and will wish you had more protection when you do.

I do exactly what this hillbilly does:

go to yooootoooobe and type in 4kn48vuCUJk in the search. stromtrooper won't let me post links or pics as i'm new. yay.
 
#23 ·
Hi!

I used BMW armour jacket underneath my clothes on warm days. It sit tightly and felt better riding with it then just with jacket (protectors in pockets). I grow wider at shoulders about 15cm at one point and had to change my gear.

At the moment wearing extra back protector under normal jacket with protectors in pockets.

I have times when I work out and periods I don't have time for it so my body measures change quite much over longer period of time.

I wanted to buy another armour jacket an looser jacket on top of it but mentioned reason above I didn't go for it.

At the moment I'm planning to buy Helite Turtle Hi-Viz vest.

https://youtu.be/MWQbMfx8rOU

It is expensive but I could where it on top off every gear (even when body measurements are changing) and be visible at the same time.

It protects back and neck and holds your upper body fixated turning the accident.

Regards
Martin

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
Cold/cool weather I go with the in jacket armor ...Scott or Honda and separate knee armor ( always )

Hot weather Fox armored shirt either under an overshirt ( I like to wear oversized fishing shirts with big pockets for camera's etc.
or under my Joe Rocket mesh jacket.
 
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