Protective Wear Suggestions for EUC Riding

[Chuts]

@steve454 To give you a starting point I recommend Revzilla.  They have lots of videos reviewing products that they stock which I find essential for online shopping.

http://www.revzilla.com/

[Cerbera]

7 hours ago, Smoother said:

Here's a picture of my pretend Chinese fighter pilot helmet.  As you can see I'm not EUC ing. It's lost in history now, only to be remembered  in this one photo.  I think I paid less than $20 but that was 12 years ago.

That's my new favourite 'Oh shit I'm flying!' face  

[Ombre]

I'm a ATGATT rider (All The Gear All The Time) and I notice that a lot of the other guys who identify as being over 40 do the same.  Probably we've all realized by now that we are breakable, and those injuries we got playing football or skateboarding in our 20s still hurt.

But I still hate putting on all the gear just to go for a quick ride.  So I got this motorcycle hoody from Revzilla (who I recommend too).  Just throw it on and I've got elbow, shoulder, and back protection all in one.  Add a helmet, knee pads, and wristguards and I'm done.

I think shoulder protection is one of the things most overlooked by EUC riders.  I see a lot of videos where guys land hard on their shoulder (there's one posted on this board somewhere) and breaking your clavicle is pretty painful.

The CE-rated motorcycle armor really works.  I hit the ground at low speed on a motorcycle and took all the impact in my hip and shoulder.  With full gear on, I got up and walked away without even a bruise.

[US69]

11 minutes ago, Ombre said:

I'm a ATGATT rider (All The Gear All The Time) and I notice that a lot of the other guys who identify as being over 40 do the same.  Probably we've all realized by now that we are breakable, and those injuries we got playing football or skateboarding in our 20s still hurt.

But I still hate putting on all the gear just to go for a quick ride.  So I got this motorcycle hoody from Revzilla (who I recommend too).  Just throw it on and I've got elbow, shoulder, and back protection all in one.  Add a helmet, knee pads, and wristguards and I'm done.

I think shoulder protection is one of the things most overlooked by EUC riders.  I see a lot of videos where guys land hard on their shoulder (there's one posted on this board somewhere) and breaking your clavicle is pretty painful.

The CE-rated motorcycle armor really works.  I hit the ground at low speed on a motorcycle and took all the impact in my hip and shoulder.  With full gear on, I got up and walked away without even a bruise.

Yip, i like this on, too!

 

Also to get here on Amazon for Europe:

https://www.amazon.de/Motorfiets-jas-met-capuchon-bescherming/dp/B00JIB9PT4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1481645821&sr=8-5&keywords=motorrad++hoody

or in black:

https://www.amazon.de/Kapuzenpullover-Hoodie-für-Motorrad-Fahrer-Protektoren/dp/B00IHN18ZS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_263_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3EWYHZBXYTS84ZDJTCR4

 

For wearing under a normal jacket, for this Price a real bummer:

https://www.amazon.de/German-Wear-Protektorenjacke-Motorrad-Schwarz/dp/B004COVVR6/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1481646003&sr=1-2&keywords=motorrad+protektorenjacke

 

[Cerbera]

On 12/13/2016 at 4:21 PM, KingSong69 said:

For wearing under a normal jacket, for this Price a real bummer:

https://www.amazon.de/German-Wear-Protektorenjacke-Motorrad-Schwarz/dp/B004COVVR6/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1481646003&sr=1-2&keywords=motorrad+protektorenjacke

 

That's so cheap it's worrying. Reading some of the reviews, it becomes clear that you get what you pay for...

I'd recommend spending a bit more on one of these if you want something that fits under coats...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/661-rage-pressure-suit-2016/rp-prod129513

 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Cerbera

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Here's an interesting illuminated fibre optic light vest light that might help night time visibility.  I saw chooch tech (guy who plowed through deep snow on his Ninebot) mention it.

https://www.amazon.com/Tracer360-Revolutionary-Illuminated-Multicolored-Weatherproof/dp/B00GI98ZFO

 

[Chuts]

As some of you know I use Ice Hockey shoulder pads for upper body protection which is an alternative to the stuff you get for moto and motox which can be heavy and movement restricting.  These kinds of protection are designed for riders who wouldn't necessarily be moving about too much riding a motorbike and who would suffer from larger impacts due to the fast speeds they can reach. 

Other Armour types you should consider are those for US football and also lacrosse.  They are generally light weight and very little restriction to movement.

[Ombre]

What happens when an ATGATT rider becomes an "Some of The Gear, Most of The Time" rider?

I was feeling pretty confident, having gained some skills over the past six weeks including going down stairs and curbs, traveling on congested sidewalks, rough terrain, etc., and I have never fallen down so lately I've been skipping the knee pads and wrist guards.  I just slip on my motorcycle hoody (pictured in Dec 13 post above) and hit the road ...

But of course then today I really HIT the road.  I was looking to the right and didn't see a steep little unpainted speedbump.  BAM! I went down so fast I was skidding on my unprotected palms before I knew what happened.  Normally I'd instinctively just run off the wheel but today it happened too fast to react.

Result: Two badly scaped palms, one bruised and scraped knee, a nice bruise where my wallet was.  Not too bad but enough to remind me to wear my gear.  Had I been wearing it, this would have been a non-incident.  Since I wasn't wearing it, I won't be able to ride for a few days.

But it could have been much worse.  When I got home and took off the hoody I saw from the scuffs and dirt that I had also landed on my shoulder.  The shoulder protection built into the hoody completely absorbed the impact, to the point that I didn't even know I'd hit there.  I hate to think of the pain I'd be in right now if I had skipped that protection too.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

Thanks for the reminder to always wear safety protection.  It takes a few moments to put on, but even if it helps for one random accident it's well worth the extra time.    To each their own though.  Some people ride motorcycles in shorts, T-shirt and no helmet.  Everyone has their own accepted level of safety.  If you're in it for the long term why not protect yourself I figure?

[Smoother]

@Ombre  6 minutes ago I posted this reply to @rdalcanto post on his fall and injury....

"Sorry to hear of your problem.  No advice here,never owned a Ninesquat.  

Observation: So much for the sale to Mr. Chicago ☹️

Quote me: " there are only two types of EUC riders those who have had an injury or three, and those who haven't - yet" welcome to the club. ?

Question: where are your fecking wrist guards? Rick!"

ignoring the Ninesquat reference, and the mr. Chicago reference, and the Rick reference, I can use it to reply to you too.  Also sorry for you injuries.

knees and wrists always gets it worst, and yes, gravity works very very quickly.  We don't notice it from one month to the next, but slip up and it sucks us down so fast, we have no time to react.  Well, we react, it's a reflex reaction. our nervous system sticks our hands out automatically, even before the brain gets the message, like when you step on a thumb tack in bare feet, your legs jerks off it instantly.

someone posted recently, parcor techniques for safe falling. I thought it was cool, and interesting, but now I have my doubts it would help in most EUC falls.  My reasoning is: in parcor the need to roll out of a forward fall, is, for the most part, predetermined by the action that came before it, e.g. A long forward jump, that cannot be stuck safely on two feet.  But in an EUC fall, the fall is usually thrust upon us, with no warning, and therefore, no, prior plan of action.  - wheel hits uncrossable, unseen speed bump, rider is not prepared to fall, rider instantly on ground with damaged wrists.-

if you've ridden more than 10k , you've hit at least one "oh shit, I didn't see that bump/hole/stitch/Rock", etc.  99%of the time we flail our arms around and survive. It's that 1% that puts us on the ground.  And it's the presence of ATGATT that decides if it's an "well that was interesting" event, or an " well, don't just stand there, call for an ambulance!" Event.

thanks for the shoulder pads, tip.  I'm going to get one of those MC hoodies you use.

 

Edited January 11, 2017 by Smoother
Clarity

[Rehab1]

On 1/1/2017 at 1:06 AM, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Here's an interesting illuminated fibre optic light vest light that might help night time visibility.  I saw chooch tech (guy who plowed through deep snow on his Ninebot) mention it.

 

 

Awesome safety vest! Almost ran over my neighbor last month jogging in the dark! He could use one! Great light effect for @Jonathan Tolhurst wannabes!

 

Edited January 8, 2017 by Rehab1

[Chuts]

Something else which is overlooked is footwear.  These are what I currently wear.  They are biker boots with molded plastic shields for the outer toe side and shields for the Achilles heel area.

Lever strap tightening mechanism so I don't need to deal with shoe laces and Velcro wrap near the ankle area.

[Nafallo]

 Hi,

With my Gotway ACM16 I'm constantly trying to find good protections without being seen. I've found G-Form Pro X pads for knees and elbows[1], but a good solutions for the wrists doesn't seem to exist? I'm soooo tired of velcro that never stick. Also, I'd want a pair of these[2], but again, stuck on finding wrist guards that allow for them.

Oh, and Bragi The Headphone is excellent when on the wheel ;-)

[1] http://g-form.com/shop-sport/skate
[2] https://zackees.com/

Cheers,
Nafallo

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

On 7/3/2016 at 2:34 AM, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

That Bell helmet looks awesome. I wonder though whether during a faceplant if the chin guard might deflect the head sideways twisting the neck.  It does look springy though so it might just squish inwards absorbing forces.

I've seen some Dianese jackets on AliEx, and they have some cool looking designs. Duhan also has some winning styles.

The shin bars are usually flexible 

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

On 1/7/2017 at 6:30 PM, Ombre said:

What happens when an ATGATT rider becomes an "Some of The Gear, Most of The Time" rider?

I was feeling pretty confident, having gained some skills over the past six weeks including going down stairs and curbs, traveling on congested sidewalks, rough terrain, etc., and I have never fallen down so lately I've been skipping the knee pads and wrist guards.  I just slip on my motorcycle hoody (pictured in Dec 13 post above) and hit the road ...

But of course then today I really HIT the road.  I was looking to the right and didn't see a steep little unpainted speedbump.  BAM! I went down so fast I was skidding on my unprotected palms before I knew what happened.  Normally I'd instinctively just run off the wheel but today it happened too fast to react.

Result: Two badly scaped palms, one bruised and scraped knee, a nice bruise where my wallet was.  Not too bad but enough to remind me to wear my gear.  Had I been wearing it, this would have been a non-incident.  Since I wasn't wearing it, I won't be able to ride for a few days.

But it could have been much worse.  When I got home and took off the hoody I saw from the scuffs and dirt that I had also landed on my shoulder.  The shoulder protection built into the hoody completely absorbed the impact, to the point that I didn't even know I'd hit there.  I hate to think of the pain I'd be in right now if I had skipped that protection too.

  That is exactly the concept. It will happen no matter the skill level. its all about pounds per square inch. those little plates will distribute the force over a large surface area. Making the difference from ripping your skin apart, breaking a bone or dislocating a shoulder. Using the armor allows you to walk away and keep riding like nothing happen.

[LanghamP]

On 1/8/2017 at 9:00 AM, Chuts said:

Something else which is overlooked is footwear.  These are what I currently wear.  They are biker boots with molded plastic shields for the outer toe side and shields for the Achilles heel area.

Lever strap tightening mechanism so I don't need to deal with shoe laces and Velcro wrap near the ankle area.

Those aren't the boots you really want. THESE are the boots that allow you to survey a post-nuclear wasteland while astride your solar-powered EUC.

[Spark]

due to recent events I thought I chime in 

my (now crash approved) knee guards

elbow guards (almost risked an amazon strike in my quest to find the ultimate elbow guards for me)

actually when it's not too hot I wear both ergonomic roller blade guards
and thin gloves for enhanced skin protection

the equip above saved me today. ^^

as for the perfect EUC helmet - I havent found it yet. 
my MX helmet is waaaay to heavy, so for now I will use a cheap SixSixOne downhill (fullface) which 
 weighs slightly less and is well-ventilated. But I'd prefer an even lighter one.

I recently bought a Cratoni C-Maniac which I returned in a matter of seconds.
You will loose your teeth doing a face plant with a direct hit on the so called "chin guard".    

If you know of any ultra light weight helmets with effective chin guard I'm all ears. 

When it comes to safety, don't let the price decide the purchase!

[steve454]

16 minutes ago, Spark said:

If you know of any ultra light weight helmets with effective chin guard I'm all ears. 

How about an american style football helmet, you can get them with different styles of faceguards, from minimal for kickers and receivers, to maximum for linemen.  But they all will protect the chin area.  Might not look that cool for an EUC rider, though.  Probably one of those fighter pilot helmets with the chin strap would look cool, someone posted photos on the forum of one.  Search helmets.

[Hunka Hunka Burning Love]

  Look what Santa AliExpress brought me early this year!!!!  They are so cool!   Quality-wise they are just okay.   No arch support, but they are fairly soft and comfortable.  I wear size nine, and they fit true to size. $28 CDN delivered.  I should be plenty visible during low light hours...

Now I just gotta learn me some sick dance moves...

Edit:  One criticism is that is it hard to reach the on/off/mode switch inside where the USB charging port is.  You can simply press on the outside of the shoe to toggle modes, but it needs to press against your foot.  The switch also presses slightly against the side of the foot too.  I might need to add some padded Moleskin to cushion it.

It comes with a Y splitter USB to dual mini-USB B connectors which allow charging both shoes simultaneously.  The shoes flash red while charging and turn green when done.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Hunka Hunka Burning Love

[LanghamP]

9 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

  Look what Santa AliExpress brought me early this year!!!!  They are so cool!   Quality-wise they are okay.   No arch support, but they are fairly soft and comfortable.  I wear size nine, and they fit true to size. $28 CDN delivered.  I should be plenty visible during low light hours...

Now I just gotta learn me some sick dance moves...

Edit:  One criticism is that is it hard to reach the on/off/mode switch inside where the USB charging port is.  You can simply press on the outside of the shoe to toggle modes, but it needs to press against your foot.  The switch also presses slightly against the side of the foot too.  I might need to add some padded Moleskin to cushion it.

Coincidentally, I've been practicing shuffle stepping. I'm an enthusiastic Charleston and Lindy Hop dancer, and so shuffle dancing is pretty easy to learn. I've never seen it here in the USA. Not once.

Berliners seem to do it more, but they also prefer Balboa and collegiate shag...

[Carlos E Rodriguez]

Wear the stuff. 

 

Edited April 26, 2017 by Carlos E Rodriguez

[steve454]

19 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

  Look what Santa AliExpress brought me early this year!!!!  They are so cool!   Quality-wise they are okay.   No arch support, but they are fairly soft and comfortable.  I wear size nine, and they fit true to size. $28 CDN delivered.  I should be plenty visible during low light hours...

Now I just gotta learn me some sick dance moves...

Edit:  One criticism is that is it hard to reach the on/off/mode switch inside where the USB charging port is.  You can simply press on the outside of the shoe to toggle modes, but it needs to press against your foot.  The switch also presses slightly against the side of the foot too.  I might need to add some padded Moleskin to cushion it.

Those are some funky EUC riding shoes!  Flat soled and with the lights built in!  They look great on your custom ninebot.

Edited April 26, 2017 by steve454

[meepmeepmayer]

Some quick photos and descriptions of the hand protector thingies (part of a simple, 25€ rollerskating set) I'm using:

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by meepmeepmayer

[Questor]

I've been repurposing a lot of my older motocross gear for use with the EUC.

I have some motorcross pants that have pockets for soft armor at the knees and hips, that I have added D3o pads into.

I wear either a bike or full face motorcycle helmet (depending on whether I'll be dealing with cars and traffic) and of course some decent gloves to help with road rash.

To me, this is somewhere between in-line speed skating and motorcycling.

Q~

 

 

[Philip W]

You guys might laugh at me, but I am always focus on being practical and cheap. Face plants are real threat to every one of us. Regular bike helmet will not protect you from face plants. For some reason they don't think protecting the face is an issue, instead they protect mostly the back of the head. In my experience when an EUC suddenly cut off or a pothole trapped the wheel, the rider always falls face front, and no time to react or even turn the head. So why wear a helmet to protect the back when the most needed protection is in the front? I wear a softball face mask when riding EUC, as the picture shown below. It's not pretty but it will certainly protect me from hitting the ground on my face. And it cost only $30. It's light and easily to wear and take off. I can wear it at  the  hottest summer days. Also I plan to add a rear-view mirror to it.

 

Edited June 1, 2017 by Philip W