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Thread: body armor

  1. #51
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    Obviously this thread is self-selecting among body armor users, but are they really necessary for average skiers?

    I like to ski in trees and jump off cliffs up to a max of 15-20 feet in powder, but I'm never going to be straightlining the most exposed terrain or hitting 40 footers. I've of course gotten my fair share of bruises, but is spine protection something that every skier should really have?

  2. #52
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    hey I am just an average joe skier who loves to ski trees and slackcountry. My take is that I have a ton of injuries from past stupidity and I'm 47. I have had shoulder, elbow, back, hand, surgeries and a couple of concussions. I also have nerve issues that stem from neck degeneration. I have no problems wearing a protective jacket if it saves my ass coming through some trees and catching and edge or ping-ponging through some rocks.. At this point I need to keep my parts in as good working order as possible. Gaper? yes......
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  3. #53
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    On the other hand, I'm 20 and my past injuries don't affect me at all while skiing. Is that the main difference between necessity and looking like a gaper?

  4. #54
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    yep g-form it's out on the market since this year, found some good feedback even on the protective way and nothing bad, but again, it's new..today i went to the bike shop, put'em on and ask to the shop guy if he can give me something hard to beat me and test them properly but he relpy nope...not a good seller, if i will buy it he will not see my money, asshole!

  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by Skeeze View Post
    On the other hand, I'm 20 and my past injuries don't affect me at all while skiing. Is that the main difference between necessity and looking like a gaper?
    No, hey its what you decide. It would be nice to be 47 and not had all these injuries. So maybe a little gaperism hidden under your jacket that no one sees may be worthwhile in the long run.
    Be more like your dog...

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Skeeze View Post
    Obviously this thread is self-selecting among body armor users, but are they really necessary for average skiers?

    I like to ski in trees and jump off cliffs up to a max of 15-20 feet in powder, but I'm never going to be straightlining the most exposed terrain or hitting 40 footers. I've of course gotten my fair share of bruises, but is spine protection something that every skier should really have?
    I think so, all of my injuries have come from being complacent on lame stuff....besides think of it this way... would you rather have it and not need it or not have it and need it?

  7. #57
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    Quote Originally Posted by Skeeze View Post
    Obviously this thread is self-selecting among body armor users, but are they really necessary for average skiers?

    I like to ski in trees and jump off cliffs up to a max of 15-20 feet in powder, but I'm never going to be straightlining the most exposed terrain or hitting 40 footers. I've of course gotten my fair share of bruises, but is spine protection something that every skier should really have?
    I never thought I would wear body armor and I will feel self conscious wearing it, but twice last year in the woods I hit an object under the snow and cartwheeled over rocks the first time and over rocks and went under a log the second time. Both of those I had no warning and couldn't control my fall at all. Two years ago I lost a ski and did a poor job of controlling my fall and fell on top of a rock. Nothing broken but it took about a month to heal.

    I still think the most dangerous skiing I do is ripping groomers going 50+ but body armor isn't helping there. Going 15-20 in the woods body armor will help - I think.

  8. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by neufox47 View Post
    I still think the most dangerous skiing I do is ripping groomers going 50+ but body armor isn't helping there. Going 15-20 in the woods body armor will help - I think.
    I think body armor is a waste of money. Anyone have any specific experiences where they have helped (excluding the park where i can see it being useful i guess). What sort of inguries are you trying to avoid? Im not being sarcastic. I have been wondering this for a while.

  9. #59
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    Quote Originally Posted by catfishjon View Post
    I think body armor is a waste of money. Anyone have any specific experiences where they have helped (excluding the park where i can see it being useful i guess). What sort of inguries are you trying to avoid? Im not being sarcastic. I have been wondering this for a while.
    well lets see.....besides the obvious muscle contusions that are avoided. any sort of padded shorts will reduce the risc of sacral, coccygeal, pelvic and potentially femoral fractures. Chest is really only sternal and the ribs. Shoulders will save you from an A-C separation or maybe a broken collar bone. Personally I use just the back protector cause I like to give my spinal column any extra help I can. When you think of it hitting a tree is more of a blunt force impact that the armour will help a bit with but when you hit a rock think of the PSI exerted on your body. Now imagine that hitting the hard plastic shell that distributes it over a much larger area of your body. It will prevent any puncture wounds and any quick biomechanical analysis will tell you that it drastically decreases the risk of acute injury.

  10. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by point it View Post
    well lets see.....besides the obvious muscle contusions that are avoided. any sort of padded shorts will reduce the risc of sacral, coccygeal, pelvic and potentially femoral fractures. Chest is really only sternal and the ribs. Shoulders will save you from an A-C separation or maybe a broken collar bone. Personally I use just the back protector cause I like to give my spinal column any extra help I can. When you think of it hitting a tree is more of a blunt force impact that the armour will help a bit with but when you hit a rock think of the PSI exerted on your body. Now imagine that hitting the hard plastic shell that distributes it over a much larger area of your body. It will prevent any puncture wounds and any quick biomechanical analysis will tell you that it drastically decreases the risk of acute injury.
    padded shorts arent going to do anything for a femoral fracture or any fracture for that matter. maybe contusions but that is why i am saying they are a waste. i can deal with contusions. how do pads avoid AC separation? and the spine protector..... i guess that is true but almost all spinal injuries (especially skiing injuries) are compression injuries which will not be helped by a spine protector. im not saying that they are completly useless. i just think the price and inconvenience of them dont do it for me.

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by catfishjon View Post
    padded shorts arent going to do anything for a femoral fracture or any fracture for that matter. maybe contusions but that is why i am saying they are a waste. i can deal with contusions. how do pads avoid AC separation? and the spine protector..... i guess that is true but almost all spinal injuries (especially skiing injuries) are compression injuries which will not be helped by a spine protector. im not saying that they are completly useless. i just think the price and inconvenience of them dont do it for me.
    ok fine I was stretching on femoral, but shoulder pads I think its pretty intuitive how they avoid AC...Having said that I dont feel like its worth it to wear shoulder or chest pads....and yeah theres a lot of compression fractures of individual vertebrae but I was referring to rocks severing the spinal column from impact....regardless its all personal preference I just took the hint after I broke 4 transverse processes off my lumbar last winter.

  12. #62
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    first, a vote for the flak jacket!
    - detachable and individally usable spine protection (wear jacket and backpack for fixation) and elbow pads (great for long epic bike rides)
    - good slim fit
    - cheap, and replacement parts available

    Some Dainese and 661 don't have very good fixation of the elbow pads which sucks for biking and the 661 I owned had huuuge shoulder pads that made me bend sideways whenever riding a tow lift with someone else.

    Usually, I only wear the spine protection for skiing. Back in the days when I wore a 661 jacket there was one occasion where it was probably very useful (hit a wall in a couloir) but most of the time it's just too burly. So I only wear the full jacket when it's a high risk day (big dump and playing between the rocks in the slackcountry).


    What I try to wear regularly though are protective shorts. My theory is that when you're sliding down some steep chute and maybe over a couple of rocks your tail/hip bones and thighs are going to take the biggest hits. and its pretty unobtrusive to wear, I feel that average touring is acceptable wearing those shorts underneath stretchy pants.

    http://www.backcountry.com/images/it...PN0025/BLA.jpg


    About the spine protection - it seems to be true that most serious injuries are from compression or overextension or rotation. Not much you can do about that except wear a fullface helmet and a leatt brace but who wants to do that while skiing. for me it's more important to protect myself from the stuff thats inside my backpack (shovel edges, crampons) and the occasional hit to the back that would keep me from skiing for a couple of days.
    ~#at night the highway's diesel roar/speaks to me and tells me more/than any book I've ever read/or anything you've ever said#~

  13. #63
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    I ordered the Dianese "Active protection Jacket" lst night after speaking with the store. The equipment is specifically designed for skiing/snowboarding as opposed to the 661 and other stuff that is really designed for biking applications. We will see when the jacket comes in and I will post up pics and my opinion. According to the salesperson, the jacket is very streamlined and lightweight. The materials are top-notch. I really like the back protection; its a wider thinner plate that is desgned to disperse impact over a wider area of the back.

    Said above and I totally agree, the most dangerous place on the mountain is on the groomed. And to add to that, its' going slow on blues/greens and getting ran into. I stupidly fell last season going about 5 mph on a traverse that was very hard and slammed my head with a helmet on and got a concussion.

    BTW- my firend who has a loose shoulder socket skis with armor and swears it has kept his shoulder in place. The armor disperses the impact as opposed to a more direct impact. Bottom line is he has had dislocations before armor and none since.....
    Last edited by BoatBound; 09-29-2011 at 08:19 AM.
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  14. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by BoatBound View Post
    I ordered the Dianese "Active protection Jacket" lst night after speaking with the store. The equipment is specifically designed for skiing/snowboarding as opposed to the 661 and other stuff that is really designed for biking applications. We will see when the jacket comes in and I will post up pics and my opinion. According to the salesperson, the jacket is very streamlined and lightweight. The materials are top-notch. I really like the back protection; its a wider thinner plate that is desgned to disperse impact over a wider area of the back.

    Said above and I totally agree, the most dangerous place on the mountain is on the groomed. And to add to that, its' going slow on blues/greens and getting ran into. I stupidly fell last season going about 5 mph on a traverse that was very hard and slammed my head with a helmet on and got a concussion.

    BTW- my firend who has a loose shoulder socket skis with armor and swears it has kept his shoulder in place. The armor disperses the impact as opposed to a more direct impact. Bottom line is he has had dislocations before armor and none since.....
    Were you able to try one on? I would think that fit is incredibly important, so my jong advice would be to send that shit back when it gets in if it doesn't fit perfect.

    Your friend look into skiing with a real brace that won't let his arm move beyond a certain range of motion? I played football with a kid who had one of those. It worked well. It wasn't cheap, but worth it.

  15. #65
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    Just a couple tree skiers, but when my buddy broke three ribs and punctured his lung we both immediately got body armor. Now I never ski without it. Call me what you want, just don't call me late for dinner.
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  16. #66
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    I wear the POC VPD elbow pads when I snowboard. I bashed my elbow pretty bad on some ice last season and realized I was exposing myself to some potential trauma. The pads are great and harden up fast. You can't even tell I'm wearing them.

    I'm probably going to get the hard shell VPD knee pads for snow/skate at some point this season. It hurts when you crash on your pointy bits.

  17. #67
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    ahh come on' your missing the joys of an ulner nerve transposition (yeah, not so much fun- I chipped the bone on my elbow and tore out the ligament that held my ulner nerve in the groove)

    Quote Originally Posted by BigHerm View Post
    I wear the POC VPD elbow pads when I snowboard. I bashed my elbow pretty bad on some ice last season and realized I was exposing myself to some potential trauma. The pads are great and harden up fast. You can't even tell I'm wearing them.

    I'm probably going to get the hard shell VPD knee pads for snow/skate at some point this season. It hurts when you crash on your pointy bits.
    Be more like your dog...

  18. #68
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    no, I will take your jong advice and be sure it fits properly! I assume that means a pretty snug fit? I should have it next thursday. the shoulder brace is probably a good idea for my friend


    Quote Originally Posted by neufox47 View Post
    Were you able to try one on? I would think that fit is incredibly important, so my jong advice would be to send that shit back when it gets in if it doesn't fit perfect.

    Your friend look into skiing with a real brace that won't let his arm move beyond a certain range of motion? I played football with a kid who had one of those. It worked well. It wasn't cheap, but worth it.
    Be more like your dog...

  19. #69
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    Bumping this thread.

    After landing too far forward on a 40 footer and tomahawking pretty hard, I'm definitely thinking some body armor might be in order, specifically a back protector. Lower back is still a bit sore 2 weeks later (I'm pretty sure it's nothing major), but it could have been much, much worse. Any thoughts on softshell (POC VPD stuff) vs a hardshell spine protector? I'm not sure if the softshell stuff would really prevent much in terms of restricting movement (ie, hyperextension) whereas the hardshell would (?). I think I'm more worried about injuries coming from a motion rather than a blunt impact - I can't remember the last time I was bruised from a crash, but I definitely would like to avoid dislocated shoulders, etc. Obviously, the major advantage of the softshell is that it DOESN'T restrict movement, but I'd definitely prefer to keep the armor as low profile as possible, hence why I'm looking at the softshell stuff. Also, I'm probably gonna go for the full kit rather than just a spine protector, so I've been taking a hard look at the POC spine VPD 2.0. Any thoughts? Other comparable armor I need to look at?

    Also, any body know shops in the Seattle area that carry this kind of stuff? Is evo the only one? I'm not opposed to buying online and returning if it doesn't fit, but I'd prefer to avoid the hassle and shipping costs.
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  20. #70
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    If all you need is a bit of back and chest protection - get a used hockey protector and cut off the shoulder pads. You can get one at a Goodwill store for $5 and it will probably be just as good for upper chest and back. I did this years ago when first getting back into skiing.

    The soft-shell POC prevents sudden flexes. It protects you against a baseball bat but not against your big brother putting you in a slow painful wrestling back breaker.

    I'm looking for one too. Post what you got and how you liked it.
    Last edited by Garbanzo; 03-12-2012 at 11:27 AM.

  21. #71
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    I bought a Demon Snow spine protector from BC.com last year to replace the 661 one I did not like. The Demon Snow back protector has been great; super comfortable, not that hot and great support on the few spills I have had with it on. My back does get a little sweaty wearing it, but after putting in close to 100 days with it the spine protector does smell at all. For the price I highly recommend the Demon Snow stuff.

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