armor – Motorcycle Words

Summary:
The AR Knee Protectors from Forcefield offers an alternative to integrated knee protectors in motorcycle riding pants. Fitting snugly against the knee (under or over riding pants) they will stay in place better in the event of a crash than armor installed in most protective riding pants. Unlike many standalone knee protectors, these can be used for street riding as well as off-road.

For many years now I have employed “ATGATT” when I ride. In my case, especially when commuting, this means I am wearing over-pants or other riding pants that will fit over work clothes. Being roomy enough to handle this situation means that the armor in these pants might not be held securely enough to remain in place in the event of a crash.

To mitigate this situation, for the past several years I have been removing the installed armor in my riding pants and have instead used MX style knee protectors in their stead. I’ve had protectors from Alpinestars, Thor, and Shift Racing over the years and they’ve served me well.

The problem with the aforementioned protectors is that they are not designed for street riding. I have used them with the idea I would rather have protectors I know will stay in place offering some protection, rather than the risk of suitable protectors not remaining in place when I need them.

So is there a better way?

WebBikeWorld was recently offered a chance to review the AR Knee Protectors from Forcefield and I jumped at the chance to try out some armor that might be the best of both worlds. Hit the link here to check out the full review.

Product: MLV-C Airbag Vest
Manufacturer: Hit-Air
Sizes: Medium (covers S – XL), Large (covers XL-3XL)
Color(s): Black, White, Red, Blue, Brown, plus special edition colors
Made In: Japan
Price: $479.00 base ($509.00 as tested)

Introduction

Recently I posted that I had purchased an airbag vest so as one can tell from the title of this writing, I chose to go with the Hit-Air MLV-C Airbag vest. Here’s a look at why I chose the Hit-Air brand and why I chose to go with a vest instead of an airbag integrated jacket.

Why Hit-Air over Helite?

The two major players in the motorcycle airbag vest/jacket arena are arguably Hit-Air and Helite. There are also a handful of others making vests using a tethered system like the one used on these devices. After a lot of research I chose to go with the Hit-Air brand.

(Note: There are options from Dainese and Alpinestars that use electronic sensors to activate their airbags but I wanted to focus on the tethered systems for this review)

Deciding wasn’t easy as both manufacturers offer a quality product. Helite, for there part, does a bit more marketing than Hit-Air so their name may be more familiar. Marketing isn’t everything (but sometimes it is, I’m looking at you Betamax) and I wouldn’t have guessed that Hit-Air got started several years before Helite based solely on name recognition alone.

In terms of options, Helite has three with their Turtle vest, a race version, and a custom leather option. Hit-Air has several offerings for vests, seven by my count, and that is just the vest options. There also appears to be 13 jackets available from Hit-Air that include their airbag technology so Hit-Air has the most variety of options.

The Helite Turtle vest has an integrated back protector that sits over the inflation bags in the vest. This is a great feature for impact protection. The Hit-Air vest offers optional back protectors for their vests that installs via hook and loop fastener on the inner side of the vest under the airbag.

I like the optional nature of the back protector in this case, especially since I have CE level 2 back protectors installed in my riding jackets already. This last point I would consider a toss-up so no points either way. In the end I chose the Hit-Air, but then I had to answer the next question…

Which one?! Read on to find out.