Gear that survived or failed (pics)?

[AndreRA3]

Originally Posted by someguy

They both have to pass DOT. They should both be fine for crashing-the real difference comes to fit, weight, venting, and noise reduction. More expensive is not necessarily "better".

Perhaps, but judging from my experience the HJC faired worse than the Shoei. Lowside vs Highside impact on the head... (to say nothing of the D.O.T. vs Snell vs CE debates)

But this thread is all about 1st hand experiences, right? All should be taken with a grain of salt, and none make the poster and expert. All I know is that a budget helmet led to me having a brain hemorrahge in a crash milder than one where a Shoei left my head just fine. Also, in the long run, a budget helmet led to $30,000 of medical bills from a lowside (99% of the cost resulting from the head injury) and the highside led to $15,000 worth of medical bills, about $1000 of which resulted from a CT scan to the head that came back clear.

In the end though, people are free to make their own decisions, and in most cases a budget helmet is better than no helmet at all.

On the other hand, a few years ago I was presented with the following line of thought: Budget gear gives you a false sense of security, which may lead you to take more risks than you would were you wearing no gear at all. I can see some wisdom in that.

just my 2c...

André

[DoubleEagle]

Most recent update to crash and gear that survived posted from crash of 4/5/8. I re-entered the hospital for what was to be my 3rd time after the solo crash w/ emergency room diagnosis of 4 broken ribs on my right side , disslocated shoulder and alot of small tissiue damage. I was told that there was little that could be done for me and the ribs would heal on their own in time ( 6-8 weeks ). I was given pain medication and warned of the risk of contracting pneumonia if if didn't practice breathing exercises each hour , every hour while awake until my ribs healed. I enter the hospital on an emergency basis after I went to see my family doctor on the 16th of April complaning of chest pain, wheezing and fever and after an office x-ray was sent directly to the hospital for what appeared to be an almost complete obscurring of my right lung by blood or fluid. I was in the Hospital for 3 days and had 1200 mls of blood and fluid squeezed from my chest cavity. Remember I was wearing all the safsty gear one could except for rib protetors and had no vislble mark on my body anywhere right after ther crash. Before I left the Hospital I was told by a Thoracic Surgeon the I needed to have a Thoracotomy to evacuate a Traumatic Hematoma to my Thoratic (chest) area otherwise the Pleurial Effusion I had squeezed and drained before would continue to occur with dire consequences. I once again entered the Hospital on 5/1 and had the Surgery. I spent Thurs. afternoon, Fri. Sat. and most of Sunday recouping w/ a Morphine pain drip treated in the Progressive care unit . I'm home now and hope this nightmare is behind me except for the healing but I'm still violently coughing to spit out old blood clots from my lungs. Very painful. Must find a better pair of rib protectors than the T-Pros though.

[DoubleEagle]

Originally Posted by NAKID

What's wrong with the T-pro?

I talked to someone who has one an he said that in warm weather you" get baked like a Christmas Ham" with one on under a tight fitting leather jacket. Also from the looks of the device I don't think it would be effective vs a Flak jacket like the NFL Quarterbacks wear and the T-Pro would be very uncomfortable to wear especially in warm to hot weather.

[julianista]

Hey Double Eagle! I hope you get better and go riding again soon!!! [thumbsup]

[DoubleEagle]

Originally Posted by julianista

Hey Double Eagle! I hope you get better and go riding again soon!!! [thumbsup]

Thank you and we will see when that day comes. [thumbsup]

[1fstfreride]

So, had a 50mph get off on an uphill, left hand sweeper two days ago. I had been riding about 2 hours, was tired and saw a 2"diameter stick in the roadway - focused on same and ran over it causing my front to wash out. Wearing Ducati Corse(Dainese)jacket, Dainese firefly pants, Cortech gloves and Suomy helmet. Fell on my left shoulder and hip, gear performed remarkably well, almost no observable damage. I am sore (neck and low back) but otherwise ok. A shout out for SpeedyMoto sliders and their protection for my bike! I could not be happier with the performance of my gear, pants seem especially valuable - I have no hip pain, no bruises and no abrasions!

[JBT]

Teknic boots: Kevlar held up, but stitching around the kevlar patches wore through all the way. Had to have the boots resewn and some more leather put in.
I really like the boots, and could not bear to just throw them away.

Triumph Jacket: Great in a crash.

Dainese Jacket: Very good abrasion protection.

Dainese gloves: Wore the stitching off in a minor lowside, but had them repaired a Z's Custom in CA.

[tourette]

Went for a long slide on the freeway at about 40mph or so. Was mostly on my hands and knees.

Helmet: Cheapie no-brand. It was fine, but I didn't really hit my head.

Jacket: Dainese Textile jacket. The elbows had leather stitched on, and that saved me quite a bit I'm sure. There were also some rips near my wrists, but there was armor underneath. I'm quite sure I can patch it under the wrist and continue to wear it. I'll post a picture below.

Pants: Olympia textile pants. These took the brunt of the crash. Saved my legs too, I'm sure. Picture is below. For $50, these were worth it even though I have to throw them away and replace them now.

Boots: Sidi Veritigo. Saved my feet aside from a big bruise where the bike fell on my right foot. Took a hell of a punishment, and they're totally still wearable.

Gloves: Held Nero. These took the whole of my upper bodies punishment, as I slid on my hands for a long time. The kevlar/ceramic palm pad these boast worked great, but it did tear halfway off. I'm going to need to get these stitched back up.

Overall, I took a heck of a spill, but thanks to my gear I'm no worse for the wear (my bike is another story). The biggest lesson learned is that gloves, boots, and pants are some of the most important pieces of gear. Too bad its where lots of my friends tend to skimp as well.