What is d30 ?

[Kennedy Moore]

And does it slide like a hard cap knee pad I have seen some nice looking pads but not to sure if it will work at high speeds against Asphalt

Edited April 25, 2021 by Kennedy Moore

[houseofjob]

Interesting question.

My understanding of it is:

D3O is rubber-y like material that hardens on impact, allowing you flexibility during riding, but protection on impact. But D30 is the innards; it's always encased in something like an abrasion-resistant cordura ripstop or similar, so the sliding is not directly done by the D3O, though the hardening D30 should provide rigidity to whatever the outer surface is.

I'm not sure if there is any combo D3O armor combined with hard plastic sliding outers, but there should be IMHO.

But also, most EUC falls tend to happen at mid speeds in the 20-30 mph range, not the much higher speed motorcycle wipeouts, so D3O armor is perfectly fine IMHO, as I've fallen at those speeds in my POC D3O gear, some degree of slide, but not the long smooth slide of full hard plastic outers.

[Tawpie]

Agreed, I don’t think it’s meant for sliding, just impact. It’s difficult to know if D3O is any better than foams, but in theory it should allow relatively thinner armor for the same impact dissipation. D3O is a brand name, the stuff’s behavior is quite similar to cornstarch and water, but it’s in a flexible solid form.

[UniMe]

I love the idea of D30 but can't bring myself to trust it... it just freaks me out a bit.

How can something soft suddenly 'harden' on impact. does it still prevent deformation in case you land on a rock or something? This seems impossible. Perhaps I'm missing something and need to trust the ghost in the pads, but I'll stick with hard plastic that slides well for now.

[Kennedy Moore]

Yeah I used to skateboard and would allways slide down the vert ramps and bowls. Sounds like I might be able to try it the leatt brand has som form of it in a hybrid for elbow pads I’m thinking about getting. But for now just stick to tsg dhp downhill pads that I have been eyeing. Thank you guys!

[Darrell Wesh]

8 hours ago, Kennedy Moore said:

And does it slide like a hard cap knee pad I have seen some nice looking pads but not to sure if it will work at high speeds against Asphalt

D30 was designed for comfort. If what you’re wearing is not comfortable, you won’t wear it, and the point of the best protection does no good if you don’t want to wear it. 
 

Obviously, hard shells slide and absorb impact better. But for a motorcycle rider or any active rider there’s hard shells traditionally inhibit movement, are big and bulky and obtrusive and look plain ridiculous. D30 solved all those problems by being thin, therefore able to be concealed under clothing, and flexible by warming up to body heat. Level 2 impact protection is almost on par with hard shells and foam backing. Like house said, Kevlar or some abrasion resistant material is on the outside of stand alone guards you can buy, but some of the actual material you buy is designed to be under motorcycle abrasion resistant clothing. 

[tch_popeye]

I'm stuck in the analysis-paralysis phase right now, wondering if there is any real benefit to a viscoelastic foam like D3O *if* you are also planning to put it behind a hard shell. These things do exist, are being offered by e.g. Fox Racing, but trying to figure out if it's worth the extra e.g. $40 compared to old-school foam behind the hard shell has me stalled.  Whereas they're claiming some small performance enhancement, like same protection with less weight, or same protection with more comfort (vs. the traditional foam), it still makes the advantages pretty hard to evaluate from a website.  I'm inclined to believe that convenience is the thing that matters most at this level, because any excuse to *not* put on the pads *this time* is what will eventually bite me.

[litewave]

I have a motorcycle jacket I wear in cooler weather. I replaced all the CE level-1 foam pads with D3O level 2. In my opinion, they are not thin (about 3/4" in the center areas, and they are not lightweight (at least 2-3 times heavier than the stock padding). With elbow and shoulder pads alone, the jacket weighs at least 3lbs more. If I replaced the back pad and added a chest pad which are both much larger, it would probably add another 3-5 lbs. If I were riding a Sherman in NYC, I would definitely consider it though.

Edited April 27, 2021 by litewave

[Ben S]

The Flexmeter Double Sided wrist guards contain some D30 in the palm behind the hard plastic skid plate.  These guards are very comfortable.  I haven't experienced a fall with them yet.

 

Leatt has a material called 3DF that has similar properties (but was hard to find details of)
I have the Leatt 3DF 6.0 Elbow Guards and the Leatt Dual Axis Knee & Shin Guards.  They both contain the 3DF material and are popular with EUC riders.

 

 

[.....]

D30 is awesome. Most of my armor is D30 or a very similar material. It conforms to the body, especially when warm. Its comfy tho it can get hot. It feels like a fairly dense but plaible foam at rest. You can push your finger thru it and it compresses to nearly flat. If you punch it fast, it hardens up but doesnt quite become a rock. It is very similar to how corn starch and water behave when mixed. D30 can be certified for armor and it is effective. My riding suit has hard capped D30, as it is horrible for slides on its own. It also can only do so much. Foam and high speeds slides are not a good match. The solution is to put a hard 'shell' on the D30 (like the puck in felxmeters), and you gain abrasion resistance and more impact resistance. To test D30 w/a shell, vs D30 w/o a shell. I had identical thin elbow pads of d30, but one had a thin hard shell. I slammed my elbows down on a solid oak desk. The hard shell d30 elbow was sore, the unshelled d30 arm wouldnt work for 2 days. I concluded that I would indeed put the hard shell in my suit. I am a total D30 fan for sure, but its defnitiely heavy and aint too cheap. Wearing safety gear sucks. Wearing cheap safety gear sucks and is just stupid. We deserve protection if we are going to be uncomfortable. Maximizing comfort makes it more likely a person will wear armor at all. D30 ftw!

Edited April 27, 2021 by ShanesPlanet

[.....]

3 hours ago, tch_popeye said:

I'm stuck in the analysis-paralysis phase right now, wondering if there is any real benefit to a viscoelastic foam like D3O *if* you are also planning to put it behind a hard shell. These things do exist, are being offered by e.g. Fox Racing, but trying to figure out if it's worth the extra e.g. $40 compared to old-school foam behind the hard shell has me stalled.  Whereas they're claiming some small performance enhancement, like same protection with less weight, or same protection with more comfort (vs. the traditional foam), it still makes the advantages pretty hard to evaluate from a website.  I'm inclined to believe that convenience is the thing that matters most at this level, because any excuse to *not* put on the pads *this time* is what will eventually bite me.

Its more comfy, but i doubt its much better than other fully rated ce armor/foam combos. If you want fast and full protection, snag a KLIM or Aerostich suit. Fully suited in 1 minute with shoes still on. But, if $40 difference has you stalled, the cost of a full MC suit will floor you.

[Darrell Wesh]

1 hour ago, ShanesPlanet said:

Its more comfy, but i doubt its much better than other fully rated ce armor/foam combos. If you want fast and full protection, snag a KLIM or Aerostich suit. Fully suited in 1 minute with shoes still on. But, if $40 difference has you stalled, the cost of a full MC suit will floor you.

D30 is the all around best. If it wasn’t Klim wouldn’t be using it. Taking into account winter and summer temperature extremes (which significantly effect how a material performs), COMFORT, durability etc d30 comes out on top. 

[Tawpie]

fun video on non Newtonian fluids (cornstarch and water, aka oobleck) D3O is 'this kind of stuff' only different.

 

[Newell.Live]

I have these by fox racing Fox Adult Mens Titan Pro D3O Knee Guard https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GFV1H2D? - psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details  They're hard with some D30 underneath - good to go.  Already saved me once.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Newell.Live

[Kennedy Moore]

Thank you guys so much! I snagged a brand new mc jacket with lv1 padding from fb market place. I went to my local cycle gear and they have the d30 jacket inserts. very flexible but when I punched it to my surprise it hardened! Pretty cool stuff and @Newell.Livethey had the titan pro knee pads there I was about to buy them but wis wondering if they feel to heavy and do they slide down? Thanks in advance.

[Darrell Wesh]

3 hours ago, Kennedy Moore said:

Thank you guys so much! I snagged a brand new mc jacket with lv1 padding from fb market place. I went to my local cycle gear and they have the d30 jacket inserts. very flexible but when I punched it to my surprise it hardened! Pretty cool stuff and @Newell.Livethey had the titan pro knee pads there I was about to buy them but wis wondering if they feel to heavy and do they slide down? Thanks in advance.

They slide down. Don’t buy. Their elbow guards are great though. 

[Surfling]

IMHO, D30 for riding protection is so so. Works good on boxing gloves, tho.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Surfling

[Newell.Live]

On 4/27/2021 at 9:27 PM, Kennedy Moore said:

 @Newell.Livethey had the titan pro knee pads there I was about to buy them but wis wondering if they feel to heavy and do they slide down? Thanks in advance.

I have skinny legs - I ordered the s/m - mine don’t slide down.  Actually, they are the only hard set of knee pads I own (4 pair - the fox ones, Leatt knock offs, jbm, and some high end one I got in the military) that don’t slide.  YMMV as far as weight goes, I don’t notice them much when riding