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Rib protection recommendations

Joined
Sep 4, 2019
Messages
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Location
Santa Fe TX
This seems to be the year of the broken ribs on TWT. Maybe that’s just a dual sport thing. I’d like to start wearing some protective gear. I’ve been wearing Klim Carlsbad for about a year and a half. Maybe a back/chest/rib combination vest would be best? Any recommendations would be appreciated.
 
The forcefield looks like it might fit under a jacket if sized correctly.

I have a leatt 6.5 that has ce2 armor along with hard shell pieces. It is fairly bulky but I like the protection. I don’t generally wear it for dual sport riding. I usually wear it when riding off-road over my jersey or shirt. I have thought about trying to get a traditional enduro jacket without armo to wear over it.
 
I'm going with the 90% Rule for the rest of the year.
I've got the track. You can just wait for me at the next intersection.
 
I’ve been wearing airbag vests for years now. Klim has the Ai-1 with Adventure mode that supposedly works better on dual sport scenarios. Could’ve definitely saved a couple of ribs from the crashes we’ve seen lately.

However this is more for the adventure riders than the enduro crowd.

For road riding it’s great.
 
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caution, I would still recommend wearing pants even with this jacket

I would probably blow this thing first trip out of the gate
 
I’ve been wearing airbag vests for years now. Klim has the Ai-1 with Adventure mode that supposedly works better on dual sport scenarios. Could’ve definitely saved a couple of ribs from the crashes we’ve seen lately.

However this is more for the adventure riders than the enduro crowd.

For road riding it’s great.
Interesting.... I can’t find any videos of these things going off even with other brands. You think it’ll actually work? I’m all about living and what not so I hope it does.
 
Interesting.... I can’t find any videos of these things going off even with other brands. You think it’ll actually work? I’m all about living and what not so I hope it does.
I had an Alpinestars that definitely popped when I crashed. I also seen it demo’d live at Cycle Gear.

My Helite also popped when I slid on a slick water crossing.

In&Motion is the brains for the Klim vest, I would look for videos of that (they license their algorithms to multiple brands). I have yet to crash with my Klim tho.
 
Yeah, I am one of those people that broke ribs this year.

It was a high side, at about 40ish on gravel. Good gear. It did its job. I hit helmet and shoulder first. Hard. What did me in was my arm jamming into my ribs as the rest of me came down. (being under my ribs as I landed on my side)

Outside of airbags, I am not sure that more pads/armor would have helped much. My ribs did not break where my arm was under them on impact. They broke (front and back) midway around the front and back, from bowing out and "giving/snapping" from the bowing. I knew I broke ribs when I hit.

Odly enough, I thought my neck would hurt a lot from the impact. Not at all.
 
Yeah, I am one of those people that broke ribs this year.

It was a high side, at about 40ish on gravel. Good gear. It did its job. I hit helmet and shoulder first. Hard. What did me in was my arm jamming into my ribs as the rest of me came down. (being under my ribs as I landed on my side)

Outside of airbags, I am not sure that more pads/armor would have helped much. My ribs did not break where my arm was under them on impact. They broke (front and back) midway around the front and back, from bowing out and "giving/snapping" from the bowing. I knew I broke ribs when I hit.

Odly enough, I thought my neck would hurt a lot from the impact. Not at all.
Are you back..65, 87, 90% ?
 
Are you back..65, 87, 90% ?

It has been over three months. I am 90%. It has sucked. I still can’t lift weights like I want (something I do) and my racquetball game is off (something else I do). I have put on close to 20 pounds because my activity level is Sooooo much lower. I despise that this has happened.

I am starting to ride again. I detailed the Triumph the other day and replaced the battery. I also made my first post COVID public appearance Saturday at the areas biggest car show and signed autographs all day and felt fantastic.

...but, my ribs do occasionally remind me “you hurt us and we want to remind you of that.”

I still need to get the DR 650 fixed. (bike I went down on). I started it for the first time a few days ago and it fired right up.

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you hurt us and we want to remind you of that.”

I still need to get the DR 650 fixed. (bike I went down on). I started it for the first time a few days ago and it fired right up.
😄
Yeah, its a suzuki. Hard to kill
 
I’ve seen demos of air vests and believe their effectiveness.

(These vests were being used in the horse world, esp 3 day eventing, and their value proven before being adapted for mc use.)

I need one that would protect my hips...it’s always a hip taking the hit.
 
This is of GREAT interest to me at the moment. Sitting here completely immobilized for several month after a pretty serious off in AR I'm getting a LOT of pressure from my wonderful wife to reconsider my riding habits. A LOT of pressure. If I could bring something to the table that would help her feel would minimize the risks a bit she 'may' relent. Hopefully time heals all and diminishes the memory a bit and this passes but I'm really quite concerned about my future in dual sport, which is by far my favorite riding style.

We'll see
 
It seems like most of the falls that cause rib fractures involve landing on the shoulder and the shoulder driving in/down and breaking the ribs.

Would any of these protect against that?
 
Doubt it will stop rib fractures completely. My get off from a couple of years ago - airbag probably stops the collarbone, maybe the scapula fracture, but don't think it would have stopped the ribs. 200+ lbs coming down from about 5-6 ft in the air is going to create some flex hitting the ground. Just no way to completely stop that..
 
Doubt it will stop rib fractures completely. My get off from a couple of years ago - airbag probably stops the collarbone, maybe the scapula fracture, but don't think it would have stopped the ribs. 200+ lbs coming down from about 5-6 ft in the air is going to create some flex hitting the ground. Just no way to completely stop that..

My worst crash I highsided and landed on my shoulder/side. Broke my collarbone and my left side hurt for days, but no rib fractures. I was wearing my Alpinestars Tech Air Street. Maybe it helped, maybe it didn’t. I don’t think I flew 5-6 ft in the air though.
 
It seems like most of the falls that cause rib fractures involve landing on the shoulder and the shoulder driving in/down and breaking the ribs.

Would any of these protect against that?
I did not know that was the primary cause. So probably wouldn’t help. Hmmm.... I could get new gear and only accomplish being more hot. I don’t like that idea.
 
I'm not sure of that, it just seems like the main issue I've seen.

I've also seen a number of people come off bicycles at 10-20 mph and break ribs. My GF fell from her bicycle in September and broke her arm and dislocated her shoulder. She wasn't going fast at all.

Granted they wear less protection, but if you can break ribs in that slight of a fall, its hard to imagine how much gear you'd have to wear to stop it from happening at much higher speeds and impact.
 
I broke 2 ribs by doing a belly flop on my ARM. It tweaked my ribs so hard they snapped in the BACK. I had this same result back in the late 80s on the track. Did I learn my lesson?
 
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