Collar Bone Protection

In light of Mr. Perry's broken collarbone this weekend at Cycle Jam, I'm curious. Does anyone make good protective equipment for the collarbone? I know this is a pretty common injury among riders. Would the hitair vest help this?

Thanks,

 

Air bag suits

 

i highly recommend not crashing ...

in seriousness, the airbag things seem to help, but no way will it prevent collar bone breaks.

 

Dainese Air-suits seem to have had better protection. Haven't really heard of any collarbone breaks in MotoGP this year though

 

So, sans not wrecking. I assume that pulling your arms in (to avoid hard impact/not breaking your fall) would reduce the likely hood of breaking it. The vest would prevent the helmet from smashing into it (you probably have bigger issues if your head takes that big of a hit).

 

There is a "study" floating around somewhere (to lazy to google it)that shows the number of collarbone breaks for air suits vs non, it is a crazy difference. What are the black camel back looking things some riders had on this weekend at cycle jam?

 

not this season, but Alex Lowes did recently in WSBK, and the famous "I'm back" a day later with Jorge a couple years back. pretty sure both had d-airs or simlar . ?

 

I broke my collarbone last year at Barber.

A lot of collarbone breaks come from the helmet coming down on the clavicle and breaking it while you're tumbling.

I bought the D-air suit. A lot of research has gone into that suit, the electronics, etc. Who do you think has the most data....MotoGP teams and their suppliers, of course.

Look at the number of broken collarbones in MotoGP / Moto2, etc. When the D-air suit came out, it went from like 22 a year to 2.

It was about $2800 out the door. Breaking another bone would cost a lot more. Not just the medical bills, but lost time at work, etc. A good quality race suit is going to cost $1800 anyway, so the extra $1000 was cheap insurance for me.

I have seen people crash with the air vest, not sure what brand, but the one that blows up like a life jacket. Who knows how effective they are, but I don't think it could hurt to wear it as a cheaper alternative to an airbag suit. Doubtful there is much data on that product vs. the D-air suit.

 

Just think about how long it's been since Dani Pedrosa has broken a collarbone. That's all the study you need.

 

Yep, that dude was breaking just getting on the bike it seemed like! Air and water are pretty cool when used in scientific ways beyond just breathing and drinking.

 

Jorge and Dani wore A* with the airbag when they broke their ones. Alex Lowes wore a RST suit, not sure if it had a airbag. I remember reading that Dainese may be licensing out their tech to other suit companies.

 

It's a Hit-air vest. My son was wearing his when he wrecked in turn 1 Saturday. It functioned perfectly. Only injury was a skinned knee. He said he felt like the Michelin man when it deployed.

 

Pretty sure the Rev-It guys use D-Air.

 

I like the concept, looks like it works off a tether? What's the chance of accidentally setting it off? I can see someone's crackhead friend trying to be funny and pulling the cord in the pits! Glad it worked for your boy!

 

I takes about 60 lbs of force to pull the cord. I suppose you could set it off accidentally but doubtful.

 

+1 on the Hit Air vest. Broke my collarbone at Roebling last spring. Healed and bought the vest, about $500. Two slow falls and one tumbling crash with the vest on...no injuries! Knock on wood

 

If I remember correctly it takes 30 pounds of to activate the inflator. I have actually forgot to undo the tether gotten off my bike and started to walk away and realized when it yanked on me that I still had it on. It did not deploy.

 

Tito Rabat popped one few reds afo

 

My buddy has the D-air. Had a low side and the thing went off. He doesn't really know if it should have gone off or if it really protected him from major damage. He was ok (bike was not). I think he's better off that it went off but it makes you wonder if it goes off all the time. I don't know many people with them.

Any one ever have a "soft" crash where it didn't deploy?

 

they are REALLY nice, but it's just a tad out of reach, monetarily, for many racers.. if it could without fail, prevent collar bone breaks, everyone should sort out a way to get em. In meantime, WELL FITTING suits, and perhaps the $500 vest, is a good start.