Air Jacket - Are they worth the money for just hacking

I should add, I'm 11 months into a whiplash type injury (not horse related, backwards somersault related!), that's 11 months of neck pain, difficulty swallowing, pressure headaches, hypersensitivity to noise, pain and light headedness on extertion so running and weight training is hard, TMJ pain, brain fog, pins and needles and burning sensation in my face and scalp. Months of not being able to drive, not being able to remember PIN numbers or words, typing sentences backwards, bizarre stuff. Months of Physio, chiro, neurologists, doctors, MRIs, x-Ray's, all sorts. It really brought home how debilitating a neck injury can be. I thought if I can do that just with a badly done somersault on the floor, how much worse would it be at speed off my horse? Plus my friend came off her horse at walk just 20m from her yard gate when he spooked at something. She has a burst fracture and crippling sacroiliac pain months down the line, she did have a regular bp on. So i bought one not because I can't take the pain of a fall but because I don't want to waste months or years of my life dealing with the aftermath.
 
Mike007 said:
Pt 2 and hit air,its just a matter of preference in my opinion. Pt 2 did some very negative marketing in the early days but it is still a good product ,as is hit air.
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It's a matter of preference for me that it doesn't inflate in on me hence I got a hit air.

I did buy a p2 a few years ago and took it back to the shop 24hrs later as I knew I wouldn't wear it. Much heavier and flappier than the hit air.
 
I would not ride without my air jacket.

I have a point two and I wear it all the time. I find it comfortable and easy to use. IMHO the best thing is to try out the different models and find the one that fits in to your life style. I'm a big girl and I get cold when riding in the winter and I needed one that would go over all my clothes. The point two did that. In the summer it shrinks down too. They come in all styles now, built into gillets and jackets, so there will be a style to suit everyone. I even wear my when doing dressage, I think it hardly notices against my black jacket.

My point two recently went for a service, for less then £80 I was sent back a nearly new jacket because some stitching had come loose. It took a week. I was delighted with the service.

The one problem I've had was when my horse " bolted" when I was mounting, I never had time to clip on. My first fall in years, air jacket on but not engaged. Luckily I hit a park car and that broke my fall. :D

All in all they are well worth it what ever one you get.

Ps your husband needs a slap ( ;)) to old indeed!!!!!!!
 
Another one here that is a recent air jacket user after a compression fracture earlier this year. I am terrible at trying new things but have found the P2 very easy & comfortable to use. The only thing now is that I use it every ride as I feel it would be sods law that I will fall off if I do not wear it. So far I have only dismounted once with out unclipping but realised as I slid down and managed to hover on her side and unclip.
 
Thanks so much to you all for your positive advice. I really dont want to give up my riding as I love it so much and looking after my daughter and grandaughters equines too I feel keeps me fit. I am 63 years old and didnt start riding till i was in my thirties so want to keep going for a few more years. I do mostly schooling with a bit of hacking and a few pleasure rides. My husband is obviosly worried that I might be seriosly injured in a fall and could end up in a wheelchair, then as he put it he would have to look after me. I assured that no way would I ever let him be my carer! In his defence he has trundled off to muck out for me this morning as I am still incapacitated. So now I need to find a stockist of Hitair vests local to me in Lincolnshire. And try and work out why my usually steady neddy decided to shy so violently at nothing. No pigeon, no pheasant or any other scarey object!
 
This has been interesting as I have been considering whether I should get one too. The last time I came off on a hack my horse shied at some ducks flying up from a stream, he shot sideways and stumbled and I went straight over his head, at a canter. I landed slighly sideways and broke my rib, had I landed smack on my back I could well have broken it I suppose.
 
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