Collar Bone Protection

Yes which is my point. It's a very expensive suit and you have to send it back to get the air bag fixed. We all wonder whether it should have gone off or not.

I guess most of us have been lucky to crash and get back up without major damage most of the time. While the suit gives you the most insurance.... I wonder how much is costing you..

 

Some of the comments I have read on here and fb about the D-Air suit are laughable. "It's too expensive"...."it costs $250 to recharge it"...."you have to send it to Dainese for service"....so on and so forth. Blah, blah, blah...

But yet those same guys will have a $2k exhaust, run race fuel, etc.

Since becoming available in the US, the D-Air suits are now half the cost of what I paid for my first ones (in 2012). They aren't much more expensive than the Alpinestars race replica suit....that doesn't have an airbag. Airbag aside, the D-Air is the best suit I've ever owned. It is worth it's current price even if it didn't have the airbag system.

But none of that stuff is the point. The point is that I could have bought 20 D-Air suits, and another 1299S, for what I lost in missed wages from my 2 compound collarbone fractures.

Can it 100% prevent collarbone fractures?...maybe not. But it is better than anything else on the market at preventing them.

I can assure you, the first time someone has to deal with a shattered collarbone, that might could have been prevented with a D-Air suit, they will come back, read those types.of comments, and be like "damn, that shit was silly".

 

And BTW, those tethered vests are more for neck protection, they don't cover the collarbone or wrap around the end of the shoulder.

Not to mention that you have to be separated from the bike for them to work. The 2nd time I shattered my collarbone I was still sitting directly on top of the bike, in full contact with the seat, even both hands on the bars. Somebody ran up inside of me and clipped my front wheel on entry, slamming me over on my side.

A tethered vest wouldnt have activated, the D-Air would have.

 

Yep.

Rins has a rev-it suit with a D-Air system integrated in it.

 

pulling arms in didnt help mine much after a serious highside on a steeply banked turn, i guess that arms out could have prevented it actually but having broken collarbones and wrists before, i'd choose a collar bone if i had a choice of either or.

I can see now how an airsuit may have helped in that one.

 

as long as riders are still breaking collar bones even with a d-air suit, there will still be a market for GOOD lower cost suits. there are no guarantees.. you hit hard enough, or just the right way, and air suit or none you are gonna break it. i have had a shitload of crashes, and the only one i broke a collarbone on (and it was not displaced, raced 3 weeks later) was when i was slammed into the pavement when i held on during a reverse high-side. (backing it in WAYYY too much, and it snapped back, i held on, and it whipped me into the ground).
Josh Day.. this guy had 2 MASSIVE high sides, no broken collar bone.
It's just a $5500 suit (it may be more?) is a tough pill to swallow for most racers. Race gas.. pony that fee up each round. Exhaust system, depends on what ya want. Stainless can get for $1000 ? TI is more, but it does add some value to a bike. tires.. need some all the time, etc. but $5500 up front, and more expense every time it goes off ? man.. i wish i had that kinda dough.

 

knowing how to fall, and having some instincts, never hurts. this is one benefit everyone that grew up on dirt bikes enjoys.. no guarantees, but if you have had hundreds of dirt bike spills, you have a better chance of not breaking all kinds of shit in a roadrace get-off.

 

Greg I paid $2800 for mine from STG. They are way cheaper now than they used to be.

They have gps and accelerometers in the hump, you have to be going over 30 mph for the thing to even be active. Supposedly it knows the difference between a lowside and tumbling high side or other type of crash. Like I said, MotoGP technology.

You can buy a "package" of 2 recharges for $300 from Dianese, or I believe it's a one time fee of $250 to recharge it. I didn't bother with that, my last two suits wore out from me sweating in them.

Everyone must make their own decisions. For me, it seemed silly not to invest in this, I was due for a new suit anyway. Even if you figure it's an extra $1000 over another suit (which I don't agree with- Dianese makes a top quality product, even without the airbag) it's worth it to me for what it would cost me in lost time at work if I break another collarbone.

You can't prevent everything, but you do what you can. Just like lever guards and frame sliders. Cheap insurance. BTW, I think lever guards prevent hand damage in a crash too....YMMV.

 

Your figures are WAY off.

The suit is $2500....not $5500. They were $5k back when I got my first one, when you had to get them directly from Italy. They are 1/2 that now.

When you send it back to be recharged, it is $250. That is much cheaper than what a shattered collarbone costs.

Once again, those vests only operate by tether, and they do not do anything to prevent/cushion side impacts (that shatter collarbones). They are designed to stabilize the head and prevent neck injuries.

As is the case with everything, each person had to put their own value on things. Each person had to calculate the risk vs reward, or expenditure vs potential savings (monetarily and physically).

Personally, I don't have to do those calculations...I have experienced them first hand. That is why I will never race in anything other than Handroid gloves, Daytona boots, and a D-Air suit.

 

Smeagol did his for sure, can't remember when, may have been at a test

 

I'm with you I have the taichi t-raps suit with the airbag built in, I totally would've went with the d-air had it been available when I got my taichi. When they released the d-air here in the states they said that you could pay a flat fee and have it would cover unlimited resets per year. Totally worth the money. Idk if they stuck with that deal or not. I've crashed my t-raps it definately works it has two airbags that deploy one is for you neck and shoulder area, and the other is above it for your head

 

if theres one thing dirtbikes didnt prepare me for though, it is re entering earths orbit from a massive highside LOL, but looking back, i think those having a background in dirtbikes are more likely to experience one of the more lofty highsides so its bound to happen.

problem is, unless one can preform some serious gymnastics skills in mid air while in full gear, not much you can do about the landing. i have managed to prevent my head from taking full impact by tilting away at the last second thus sacrificing a collarbone by my shoulder taking a hit before.

my bone doc said the collar bone is one of the most fragile actually, and only takes like 5 pounds of force to break or something like that. my last one was in three pieces with lots of shards, it was a brutal hit and everytime I compare the xrays to others who post them up im like pftt.. thats just a minor separation. lol

 

$2500 isn't bad, but is that off rack? many need custom fit stuff. there are some darn good suits out there for $2500, lots of really good ones for 1/2 that, but no air bags. So if the prices are coming down, that's a good thing.

Those gloves are hideous though...

 

I have little doubt the hit-air vest lessened my injuries from a highside in early 2015 vs. a nearly identical one (opposite side) in 2010. The way I felt going up and coming back down, the hit my helmet took (very, very minor, both times), both had a similar "mechanism" to the crash. 2010 caused a SLAP tear, broken clavicle, and a class 3 AC separation. Out of work for 45 days, slow recovery. 2015? AC sprain. Got a cortisol shot, and raced 3 weeks later. Is that scientifically definitive? Of course not. But I'm a strong believer. When you hit the ground with a vest on, it feels like being pushed back onto your bed at home vs. being pushed to the floor.

If I had the cash for 2 D-air suits and the tailoring to get them to fit me right, I'd probably wear them. I do like that the airbag covers the outside of the shoulder too - it's a definite value-add. But, since OTR suits don't fit me well enough, and since I can't afford to have 2 D-air suits, I'll stick with my custom Hazardous suit and the hit-air vest for now. Everywhere I race, there's a trackside vendor with parts or replacement vests if needed. (my first vest made it through 4 crashes).

 

I've done 3 collar bones plus one other injury (acromion), most were dirt related. You can break them about a thousand different ways, so there will always be that chance. When the d-air became available over here it was a no brainer for me. The last time I broke my collar bone, just the medical payments (with insurance) were around $5k. Not to mention all the down time.

Is this available now? When I bought mine, Dianese wasn't offering it.

 

Greg, the D-Air absolutely will help prevent a collar bone injury. I'm sure it's possible to break them anyway, but more protection is always better.

Do you feel the same way about helmets? There's no guarantee an Arai will save you from getting concussed or dead, but nobody will argue that it's a bad investment.

 

Well you don't know how many times I've heard that all helmets go through the same certifications....

Sucks when you barely hit your Arai and it's unusable.

 

What do you need to do to reset the vest?

 

A new CO2 cartridge.

 

i totally agree that more protection is better, and that the d-air or similar suit is better than not having one.. but the cost is higher (obviously has come down from what Broome stated), but more importantly, i want people to not lose sight of the fact it will not 100% prevent collar bone breaks. Help ? sure! And i personally wear Arai, always have, always will.. but won't stuff the higher cost of such a helmet, down the neck of someone that doesn't have the funds to buy a $900 helmet.

for MOST.. the hit air vest is a more viable option for collarbone protection. no 2 ways about it. very few people are racing around in $2500 suits, air system or no air system.