• Hi everyone,

    As you all know, Coffee (Dean) passed away a couple of years ago. I am Dean's ex-wife's husband and happen to have spent my career in tech. Over the years, I occasionally helped Dean with various tech issues.

    When he passed, I worked with his kids to gather the necessary credentials to keep this site running. Since then (and for however long they worked with Coffee), Woodschick and Dirtdame have been maintaining the site and covering the costs. Without their hard work and financial support, CafeHusky would have been lost.

    Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been working to migrate the site to a free cloud compute instance so that Woodschick and Dirtdame no longer have to fund it. At the same time, I’ve updated the site to a current version of XenForo (the discussion software it runs on). The previous version was outdated and no longer supported.

    Unfortunately, the new software version doesn’t support importing the old site’s styles, so for now, you’ll see the XenForo default style. This may change over time.

    Coffee didn’t document the work he did on the site, so I’ve been digging through the old setup to understand how everything was running. There may still be things I’ve missed. One known issue is that email functionality is not yet working on the new site, but I hope to resolve this over time.

    Thanks for your patience and support!

Protective gear advice and preferences

I bought an EVS evo neck brace when they came out. I had a few very light get-offs, and promptly got 2 concussions, one bad enough that I'm still feeling the consequences of it 3 years later. Was it the neck brace? 100% it was. I have since switched over to a neck roll, and may try an Alpinestars, or Atlas brace in the future. Just something to keep in mind.

I bought a 661 body armor but didn't like it. It was the heavier white one. I found it way too heavy, and the back protection was (IMO about 4 times thicker and heavier than it should have been. I settled on this and I love it.

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/p/45/68/164/863/-/7294/Nemeses-Racing-Body-Armor

I like EVS glider lite knee pads. They're not cheap, but comfortable, protective, and they don't go all the way down your shin, and into the boot (I don't understand those)

http://evs-sports.com/store/product.php?productid=17649&cat=263&page=1

I typically run hour long motos and 1 1/2 - 2 hr hare scrambles and never found a need for any hydration pack.
 
Like anything in life it's about preferences. You will need to get gear that meets your needs. I use EVS SX02 knee braces that have a removable cup for the knee cap. Given the prices that you can pay for knee protection they were reasonable. I also use an EVS neck roll and like it a lot because it fits well and is not real bulky. A set of bark busters is a must for woods riding. Bang off a few trees and you'll really appreciate what ever you spent on them. I use a set of Acerbis bark busters and I love them because they are very durable. I use a Shift chest protector which is not the best thing out there but it works. I should get a better one and while I'm at it, buy some elbow pad too. As Boogie said dress for the crash not the ride.
 
I do mostly trail riding and I use Alpinestars Bionic Neckbrace and Armour plus all the usual stuff. The armour is made to work with the brace so there are no annoying rub/pressure points on your chest from the brace. I brought the armour first so if I ever went with a Neckbrace it would fit. So came the time so I borrowed a brace to see if it would annoy me or not. After 5 mins of riding forgot I had it on. Needless to say the combo probably saved my neck and back on that ride after coming off the back on a steep rocky hill climb. I would highly recommend a Neckbrace if it doesn't annoy you, and make sure its a proper fit otherwise its useless and could cause more injury. All my mates use AStars or Leatt, a worthwhile investment even if it saves you once.
I always ride within my limits but accidents do happen, sometimes when you forget to do bolts up :S .... sometimes when you are not even moving!
I have vid of the crash on youtube. Search gavcan01.
 
Tekvest!
http://tekrider.com/rm_1.html
I broke my ribs in an enduro wearing a roost protector when my elbow smashed into my side. Now I wear a tekvest as they have wrap around side protection. It works with a neck brace and holds my drink system. Very light, well vented and great factory support. I got run over in a xc race crash and had very serious damage to my vest (likely a footpeg, exhaust and chain/tire). I can't imagine what my side would have looked like without it. I got up uninjured, finished the race and didn't realize the damage to the vest until the next day. My vest is now hanging in their factory showroom. Btw, they make the klim vest as well.
 
I love the Acerbis Cosmo Suit I bought. the shoulder/elbow pads are sleeves that can be removed from the chest protector itself. It also has a zipper so you can remove the elbow pads separate from the shoulder pads. I don't even notice I'm wearing it while I ride. Also has removable panels to accommodate a neck brace.

I'm pretty sure it's already saved me numerous bumps and bruises - ive only crashed once (knock on wood) while wearing it, going 6th gear pinned (no lie) - and I got up without a scratch.
 
K5PL5 said:
I wear an "under the jersey" chest protector from Troy Lee. Works nice. I DO NOT miss my old, hard plastic one.
I wear Troy Lee elbow pads and like them but they do slide down during rocky hare scrambles.
Knee pads..Ive got some sixsixones and theyre like a lycra material. Real nice and they flex good with you knee when youre..ehem..picking your bike up of the ground haha
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Have a question for you. It would seem to me that the hard plastic ones would distribute the crash force over a longer distance as they are supported away from the body, thus lowering the impact force. How does is feel in comparison when one crashes as you have, I assume, crashed in both designs? I have crashed many times to just walk away while wearing my hard plastic one.
 
Nordic said:
Like everything else, the type of riding gear that is available now is vastly different than when I raced MX 30-plus years ago. That is a good thing, especially considering how modern tracks have evolved. My plan is to start riding some hare scrambles on my TE 310 and perhaps vintage class mx once I decide on a machine.

I have the basics (a good helmet, goggles, gloves, and boots), but should acquire some other protective gear. After these basics, what would you suggest and in what order of priority given my intentions? Are there specific brands that provide a good product for the money?

Many thanks
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As always, you CH people deliver on the expertise. Thanks. Based on your input I went shopping and am riding with EVS knee braces, some AS shorts with hip protection, and. Fox upper body armor with integrated elbow pads (in addition to helmet, goggles, gloves, boots and leathers). Tumbled down a steep hill when I missed a shift last weekend and did not even get a. scratch.
 
JeffV said:
Have a question for you. It would seem to me that the hard plastic ones would distribute the crash force over a longer distance as they are supported away from the body, thus lowering the impact force. How does is feel in comparison when one crashes as you have, I assume, crashed in both designs? I have crashed many times to just walk away while wearing my hard plastic one.
Click to expand...
I dont know if Ive crashed hard enough yet to see the difference in protection but Id imagine the plastic would be better.
 
I like the looks of the new Leatt neck brace (Pro and Pro lite) so I was thinking of going with full Leatt gear: brace, armor, enduro jacket and hydration sys. What do you all think of the Leatt gear?
 
JeffV said:
I like the looks of the new Leatt neck brace (Pro and Pro lite) so I was thinking of going with full Leatt gear: brace, armor, enduro jacket and hydration sys. What do you all think of the Leatt gear?
Click to expand...

I've got a Scott jacket that the brace seems to fit over top of ok. I don't like that turtle neck thingy on the Leatt jacket. I've got the Leatt brace, chest protector, knee guards, and elbow guards. Nice stuff.
 
K5PL5 said:
Get a Leatt hydration system, it will work great with the Leatt neck brace. Be careful what kind of chest protector you get. I know guys have bought Leatts and couldnt wear them with the stuff they had already bought.
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Thanks for your input. I think I'll go full Leatt gear. Yeah that collar thingy is funky looking but unless I go riding without the leatt brace, it would be inside that collar protecting the brace from the elements. I think I'll try it out, the jacket isn't very expensive, especially when compared to the neck brace! :eek:

Where is a good place to purchase Leatt gear? Is there a CH sponsor?
 
I've gotten my stuff locally from Toytech Cycles. He has a good bit of leatt stuff in stock. He ships stuff worldwide and has prices very competitive with online places.
(717) 469-9484 (Scott)
 
Get a good chest protector. Then strap on as big of a camel back style drink system as you can. Forget about the fact water is needed to survive! The camel back will act as a cushion in a high speed crash to help aid your back from injury. Not kidding. Think about it!
 
I was saved by my camel back once when mountain biking some XC ski trails in the summer. There was one downhill with an abrubt uphill immediately after that I was accustomed to bombing down at full speed that had an overhanging birch tree. One day as I approached the tree I realized it was lower...much lower and it was too late to stop. I tucked my body down agains the frame as far as I could and prayed. The tree hit me on my back, but the camel back took the hit and dissipated it. It knocked the wind out of me, but it could have been much worse.
 
EVS shorts (older, longer legged versions is what I have) with the big wide chammy pad for the bottom is key for me on the 510 paint shaker. The Klim TexVest with the arm pads is also a piece of gear I am glad I got. It gives more coverage then and roost protector I have seen. It wraps around the ribs and isn't a oven, at least for me as I don't race.

Glad you got some good gear Nordic, and you gave it a proper break in already. :busted:
 
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