Air jackets

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jellybean09

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I've been contemplating buying an air jacket for a while but I admit the cost has put me off going out tomorrow and getting one. I know there is no cost on safety however, a local lady had a simple freak accident at the weekend which resulting in her breaking her neck and very sadly passed away, which had made my seriously think.

I have been looking at either the hit air air vest or the helite interchangeable jacket. I have been doing lots of reading about them but I haven't found much on the helite jacket.

Has anyone got one of these? What are the pros and cons of each one.

Another factor was the noise when it goes off. Is it a loud? I have a relativity green horse who is very nervous of his surroundings

Thank you in advance 🙂
 
I have a hit air. So does my daughter. If you Pm me I can send you a video of her falling off (twice in one lesson!). She has quite highly strung ponies and we wouldn't be without them now. Wear them every ride. Mine saved me when I fell off a 17hh onto concrete and walked away with only a sore elbow.
 
FfionWinnie said:
I have a hit air. So does my daughter. If you Pm me I can send you a video of her falling off (twice in one lesson!). She has quite highly strung ponies and we wouldn't be without them now. Wear them every ride. Mine saved me when I fell off a 17hh onto concrete and walked away with only a sore elbow.
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That turned into an expensive lesson then! :-)
 
I have the HitAir and love it, i've had it since my young horse was learning to jump, i used to fall off alot!

The noise is like a can of coke being opened and has never spooked my horse who is quite sharp. Incidentally at an event a few weeks ago the girl behind me was finishing as I was walking back past the last fence; she fell off at the last in a Point2 and it was quite a sharp bang and Ruby spooked.
 
Please excuse my ignorance but has the price of these pieces of kit been dropping since they first became available? Clearly they are a brilliant idea (as evidenced by what everyone above has said) but I can't help feeling that the £400 cost might mean that they're not being as widely used as they perhaps should be! Are they just an inherently very expensive thing to manufacture, or can you imagine a time when everyone will wear one as standard in the same way that we wear a hat or maybe a body protector?

Edited to say, I can hardly believe how smart the Helite looks, it's quite an improvement (in many ways!) on the Mr Blobby style body protectors I wore as a child fifteen years ago!!
 
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popsdosh said:
That turned into an expensive lesson then! :-)
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It was very expensive, canisters cost more than her space in the lesson :D, however if you saw her tiny form flying through the air you'd think it was cheap at twice the price :(.

My parents bought the jacket and provide the canisters (Mum's insistence!) and my Dad was moaning about having to buy another four - until he saw the video then he shut up and ordered 5!

Told my daughter we would pay her £10 to stay on as it would be cheaper. :D
 
My mum bought me one after I wibbled about the price! (I am no longer a young adult let alone a young person! lol) ... I wore it for months wondering if it was worth it, then got launched through the air by my youngster at her first ODE and landed on like on a bouncy castle. Leapt out, chased mare who had run off but not far, removed jacket and continued in body protector. Was v happy to have it on as landed flat on my back so would probably have been winded + the fall was so gentle it didn't rattle me. I am easily rattled! Def worth it.
 
Widgeon said:
Please excuse my ignorance but has the price of these pieces of kit been dropping since they first became available? Clearly they are a brilliant idea (as evidenced by what everyone above has said) but I can't help feeling that the £400 cost might mean that they're not being as widely used as they perhaps should be! Are they just an inherently very expensive thing to manufacture, or can you imagine a time when everyone will wear one as standard in the same way that we wear a hat or maybe a body protector?

Edited to say, I can hardly believe how smart the Helite looks, it's quite an improvement (in many ways!) on the Mr Blobby style body protectors I wore as a child fifteen years ago!!
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Yes they have come down in price quite a bit.
 
I've had a hit air for over 4 years and don't ride without it now! The canisters are £17-20 ish and annual servicing is about £35. The hit air is great as it makes more of a shhhhh sound rather than a bang like the Point 2, my mare hasn't spooked at it once. I also find it better as it is more lightweight than the Point 2. It does look less like a waistcoat but you'll be grateful of that in the summer! I wear it competing and you can hardly tell you've got it on over the show jacket.
The first time I benefited from it my mare bucked whilst on grass (I stayed on) however she then slipped over backward and fell half on top of me. I got straight up and straight back on. I've had a few falls in it and every time (touch wood) I've come away without any injury.
Just remember to undo it before you get off!
 
I have a Helite. I've got the gilet, normal jacket and show jacket - they are inter changeable.
I'm very pleased with all three and they've worked very well when I've fallen. The sound I find isn't an issue.
Hardly anyone notices that they are air jackets actually. Even when I fell off in the jumping ring I gather people didn't realise the noise was my jacket.
 
I havent got an air jacket but if I were to buy one, itd be the Hit Air as it inflates outwards. Im unsure on the other one you mention but know Point 2's inflate inwards which is why it often winds people.
 
I use the hit air jacket and honestly, it's incredible. I've not yet fallen off, but I feel so safe without the restrictions that I find with body protectors! Definitely worth the price, I'd say
 
MagicMelon said:
I havent got an air jacket but if I were to buy one, itd be the Hit Air as it inflates outwards. Im unsure on the other one you mention but know Point 2's inflate inwards which is why it often winds people.
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P2 don't inflate inwards, they just inflate. You only get winded if you've got them on too tight. I find the looser fit a bonus in summer for ventilation and in winter to alter the amount of clothes I wear them with without changing the fit.

If the P2 is louder than the Hit Air, that's because it inflates faster. That millisecond might be the difference between life and death, or walking and not walking.

The Hit Air had, and I think still has, a gap in the air bags at the base of the neck. That reduces stability and gives a 'hole' where you could strike your backbone on a pole or sharp edge. Personally, I would be unhappy with that.

But all three are fantastic safety devices, I have one horse I would never ride without my P2.
 
I've got a Hit Air. Came off my young horse earlier this year. He's a special kind of stupid, fall over his feet and spook type, leaps away at the cat and the imaginary cat....

He didn't really see to notice but it was also the first time anyone had ever come off him, so the extra noise wasn't anything new....
 
I've got a hit air resererved for me to pick up now. I had a look at the point two and they didn't do a size which fitted me 5'7" chesty mainly legs. The hit air medium fits very well and I was waiting for the extension straps to come in before picking it up as then it'll be more adjustable if I change bp's when I come off on my mare I'll report what it did.
 
Are the hit airs as heavy as the point 2s? having lugged the latter round as groom I was left unconvinced on that basis. I also think I am of the prefer closer fitting as less irritating group.
 
ester said:
Are the hit airs as heavy as the point 2s? having lugged the latter round as groom I was left unconvinced on that basis. I also think I am of the prefer closer fitting as less irritating group.
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No where near. I bought a P2 a few years ago and took it back the next day because I knew I wouldn't wear it as it was so hot, flappy, unflattering and heavy. I never ride without my hit air.
 
J_sarahd said:
I use the hit air jacket and honestly, it's incredible. I've not yet fallen off, but I feel so safe without the restrictions that I find with body protectors! Definitely worth the price, I'd say
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You're supposed to use them as well as a body protector - not instead of.

Before anyone says anything - I KNOW that people use them instead of. It's just not how they are supposed to be used.
 
I have a hit-air, bought it after coming off wearing my Racesafe & still cracking a rib. Tried the airbags out a few weeks ago when I slipped off the pony backwards after trying to hold a bridleway gate open :rolleyes:
It explodes outwards so no winding, just a few minutes of Michelin Man before it started to deflate. The new canister cost about £23 including postage, but it has given me confidence in the jacket, that it would help if I fell on hard ground or at speed.
Now I have to persuade my 79 yo mother to buy one, she fell off last week without her BP on cracked her ribs & broke a collar bone.
 
Auslander said:
You're supposed to use them as well as a body protector - not instead of.
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I think they were developed to be used as an alternative however the various bodies eg BE did not permit this. Anywhere a standard BP is not mandatory then its perfectly fine to use an air jacket on its own
 
Auslander said:
You're supposed to use them as well as a body protector - not instead of.

Before anyone says anything - I KNOW that people use them instead of. It's just not how they are supposed to be used.
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it definitely is how they are supposed to be used. The first ones made weren't BE ready, they were like a sleeveless safari jacket, I had one. They only started making them BE type to go over a body protector when they realised that was a core market.

It is BE regulation to wear them with a body protector and that's where it came from.
 
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Auslander said:
You're supposed to use them as well as a body protector - not instead of.

Before anyone says anything - I KNOW that people use them instead of. It's just not how they are supposed to be used.
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Based on what? I use mine instead of nothing not instead of a body protector unless I am going xc where I will wear both. I've never heard any manufacturer say it can't be worn on its own - indeed I don't think motorcyclists where the technology came from, wear body protectors.

It is far safer to wear only an air jacket, than to wear nothing. I would also say in my opinion, it's far safer to wear only an air jacket compared to only a body protector. I've fallen off in both and I know which one prevented serious injury and it wasn't the BP! Surely the only thing a BP can lessen the risk of is being impaled or I suppose for a while if you were dragged it may provide a bit of protection!

Any time I've fallen off previously I've suffered whip lash to my neck. Whether or not I had a BP on. However with my air jacket my neck and torso was completely uninjured after a fall from a very big horse onto concrete. I'll take that!
 
I wore a P2 for a couple of months, and then bought my own Hit Air. I have fell off in both and the P2 was horrible, I could still move my neck quite freely and it actually hurt as it inflated inwards. A lady out hunting cracked her ribs after falling in a P2 and was airlifted to hospital. I have fell off a few times in my hit air and it's certainly saved me! and I can still easily roll away in it. The hit air certainly feels nicer to hit the ground in :D The P2 looks messy in my opinion and flaps around, the hit airs fit snugly and are very smart.

I wouldn't use a P2 without a body protector as they can crush you, but for showjumping and hunting where I would never usually wear a BP, my air jacket is brilliant and so comfy. I should add that the hit air is pretty easy to wipe clean when plastered in mud ;)
 
ycbm said:
Agree completely FW. I'd wear an air jacket of every make before I'd wear a body protector.
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Same - but not that weird robinsons one that inflates like a spinal board!!

Perhaps you need to have a serious fall wearing an air jacket to truly appreciate the difference between them and a BP.
 
Auslander said:
Why do you think that BE won't allow them to be used without a body protector?
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That's obvious, air jackets provide little or no puncture protection.

No-one disagrees that belt and braces is the most safe you can be.

But you said they were designed to be used with both and they certainly weren't because I had one of the first and I would never have evented in it, there was far too much material!

If you got one, you would find that you are much more likely to wear it than a body protector, they are so much more comfortable.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Same - but not that weird robinsons one that inflates like a spinal board!!

Perhaps you need to have a serious fall wearing an air jacket to truly appreciate the difference between them and a BP.
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I forgot that one! Weird, eh, do they still sell it? I saw someone fall off (at Badminton?) in one. Fell straight into his unprotected side and bruised his ribs!
 
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