Air jackets

[barbann]

Does anyone use a motorcycle air jacket for riding or know of a reason not to? They would appear to do the same job but are a lot cheaper. The inflation rate is marginally slower but I would have thought being flung from a horse wouldn't be faster than from a motorbike.

 

[PeterNatt]

Not suitable for horse ridings as a horse can get a hoof through the reinforcement bars and cause injury to the rider as well as deflating the air bag. Even the Equestrian ones have this problem.
(I am on the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) BSI (British Standards Institute) committee which deals with equestrian and motorcyle body protectors.

 

[NeilM]

If you mean the Hit-Air jackets, they also manufacture a vest designed for horse riders which has a faster inflation time than the motorcycle models.

However, you need to look at how all the air vest operate and what they are designed to protect the wearer from. From my uninformed position, as a recent horse and long time motorcycle rider I think that air vests are excellent at absorbing the first impact after a fall, after that, they are just an expensive balloon wrapped around the torso and neck.

Give me a decent riding hat and a conventional BP any day.

 

[*hic*]

As a long term rider and motorcyclist and short term motorcycle racer I'd like to point out that they are not just good for the first impact. If you highside your bike and it chases you into the Armco the air jacket will protect you from the first impact with the barrier and the second impact as the bike slams into you. The air jacket does not fully deflate immediately and will protect you to a certain extent should part of the horse land on you. In any competitive situation you would of course be wearing a riding hat up to spec and a conventional BP. If you have an up to spec hat that has not been looked after or updated as necessary (and I'm tempted here to say "on your own head be it") then IMHO you deserve everything you get.

An air jacket will not protect you in every situation but it can tip the balance in your favour - it's a cost/benefit evaluation that each individual who chooses to buy or not to buy makes.

If I were still motorcycling then I'd be wearing an air jacket - we started discussing development of them as far back as 1978 that I can remember.

 

[NeilM]

the air jacket will protect you from the first impact with the barrier and the second impact as the bike slams into you. The air jacket does not fully deflate immediately and will protect you to a certain extent should part of the horse land on you.

How does it do that?

If you look at any of the air jacket designs, they are a tube, filled with co2 that wraps around the body. They have no way of protecting you against a crush impact, as there is nothing to stop the tube at the front being pushed to meet the tube at the back, other than the body of the person wearing it.