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what is a better option heavy padding or hard plastic. i ask because as i compare jackets and pants i see lot have foam padding and some have hard plastic pauldrons, couters and some times vambraces.

what are the pro and cons between padding and hard defenses?

ok, let me rephrase this.

wile looking at different protective equipment i have noticed most have soft defenses such as double layers of material/leather and/or foam padding, some have hard defenses such as hard plastic plates. should i ignore the equipment with soft defenses and concentrate on hard defenses if so what are the differences and and/or benefits or negatives of each? what should i look for? i plan on riding as a commuter as a basic means of transportation not racing or off road or anything of that nature. i am looking into getting a cruiser or strait bike.

i guess some people got confused by the terms i used in the earlier message. i used to be in the SCA and the only terms for body armour that i know are historical ones used for steel.

pauldrons are enclosed steel shoulder armour used my knights
couters are elbows
vambraces are forearms and frequently used to refer to the entire are including upper, lower and elbow.

as illustrated in this image. http://www.photosfan.com/armour/

i used these terms out of force of habit.

Look for CE rated armor... in other words, it's probably going to be hard plastic and not soft foam. But anything is better than nothing...

exactly what 'thumper' said. "something is better than nothing". Usually, with the hard armor you will get foam padding too. The thing to remember is 'Hard' armor slides which is good in a crash because if you have some type of clothing that grabs then that will cause you to tumble rather than slide. Other than that you can't go wrong with either because both will protect you better than jeans and a t-shirt will.

I have a Joe Rocket jacket which has some fairly hard armour in it but it's not plastic, it's very dense foam that feels like plastic.

I would say that you have to wear what is comfortable, but I don't think that even the Joe Rocket jacket is comfortable - not like sitting at home in pj's. So anyways, buy what you think will provide you enough protection to feel safe and make sure it feels comfortable enough to sit on a bike for the period of time you will be doing so.

Good luck!

hi nice to meet you guys.

i would like some thing like this. i like the lines and that it is extends below the waist.

http://www.britishmotorcyclegear.com/be ... jacket.asp

the site states that it has "Removable soft CE protectors on shoulders and elbows." and "Protectors meet the requirements of European directive 89/686/CEE and of CE Technical standard EN 1621-1:1997."

which i assume is some sort of foam. every thing else in those two lines completely go over my head and i have no idea what they refer too.

other jackets i am looking at are simular but in cloth.

http://www.leatherup.com/p/Fabric-Motor ... 24545.html
http://www.leatherup.com/p/Fabric-Motor ... 24254.html
http://www.leatherup.com/p/Fabric-Motor ... 94284.html

finding jackets that extend below the waist (i think it is called 3/4 length) seems to very difficult. not very many options.

is there a practical reason for so many waist length jackets or is that just the poplar style.

i was wrong and or misunderstood the advertisements i was looking at. seems hard defenses/armor are separate from jackets, i assume worn over jackets or under over sized jackets. the jackets i had been reading about that i had thought had hard defenses don't. they are waist jackets which disqualify them for me any how.

thanks for the help in understanding this stuff.

Strangely I remember reading something about this when I put together some work for a Motorcycle Safety Class earlier this year.

Apparently the use of harder armor is controversial over softer armor. Supposedly softer armor disperses the force better. I'm not sure if this can be attributed to advanced polymers like D3O or not but I found the siting on wiki that first started my search.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_armor

Summary: The protective gear is the one between your ears: Learn to ride safely, to predict, find and remove yourself from trouble spots before you are ever in danger, to stay away from drivers with psychological issues that want to kill you, either benignly or with intent. In the unlikely event that your head fails and does not keep you safe, your riding gear will act as backup. For best protection you need both soft and hard armour, in leather. CE rated padding is good.

Protective gear can come with no armour, hard and/or soft armour. When a rider crashes s/he will hit the ground for the initial impact. There may also be a slide, where the ground acts as sandpaper. Gear also have to be comfortable for regular riding, shield the rider from the weather and environment (rocks, dust, sun) as well as protective from crashes.

Hard armour, in the form of plastic plates, are great for the initial impact, in that they will spread the initial shock over a wider surface area, therefore reducing the pressure of the hit. Reduced pressure is good for your body. Hard armour alone is uncomfortable against the skin. Hard armour also does not absorb the hit.

Soft armour is great for absorbing the hit but not as good for spreading the shock over a larger surface area. Soft armour is more comfortable for everyday riding.

storysunfolding wrote:Strangely I remember reading something about this when I put together some work for a Motorcycle Safety Class earlier this year.

Apparently the use of harder armor is controversial over softer armor. Supposedly softer armor disperses the force better. I'm not sure if this can be attributed to advanced polymers like D3O or not but I found the siting on wiki that first started my search.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_armor

thanks, wile brief it dose explain the basics.

TorontoBoy wrote:Summary: The protective gear is the one between your ears: Learn to ride safely, to predict, find and remove yourself from trouble spots before you are ever in danger, to stay away from drivers with psychological issues that want to kill you, either benignly or with intent. In the unlikely event that your head fails and does not keep you safe, your riding gear will act as backup. For best protection you need both soft and hard armour, in leather. CE rated padding is good.

Protective gear can come with no armour, hard and/or soft armour. When a rider crashes s/he will hit the ground for the initial impact. There may also be a slide, where the ground acts as sandpaper. Gear also have to be comfortable for regular riding, shield the rider from the weather and environment (rocks, dust, sun) as well as protective from crashes.

Hard armour, in the form of plastic plates, are great for the initial impact, in that they will spread the initial shock over a wider surface area, therefore reducing the pressure of the hit. Reduced pressure is good for your body. Hard armour alone is uncomfortable against the skin. Hard armour also does not absorb the hit.

Soft armour is great for absorbing the hit but not as good for spreading the shock over a larger surface area. Soft armour is more comfortable for everyday riding.

hi

the first part of your post is a bit condescending but i guess there are a lot of dopey people out there and need that spelled out. the rest is useful information and is simular to my experience with wearing armour wile in the SCA. although the materials are very different and i wasn't sure of how they would work in the real world. so thanks for the info.