Leatt 5.5 Upper Body Protection Suit

[novazeus]

3 hours ago, Paul A said:

 

thanks for this, it started my day with a good laugh! happy he's not hurt but it's funny to me he has a cutout at 40mph, and he's not in the hospital, and he's upset he has to ship his wheel off. i'd be extra thankful to God for keeping me in one piece.

[novazeus]

i rode yesterday wearing one of my most protective leather harley jackets. just weighed it, 5 pounds. it has shoulder and elbow protection built in. felt safer with it. still had leatt elbow pads and flexmeters. no chest or back protection however. 

i also have leather pants somewhere. my road was built as a service road in 1963, before that, just dirt ruts. i topped it with 1 1/2" of type 3 asphalt in 1999, but that has broken down so my road is definitely a chesse grater now. if i go down on it, i'll be picking aggregate out of my skin for awhile.

glad i don't have to buy the leatt full protection until it warms up. most of my problems are just my gnarly road i ride on. tree branches on the shouders, leaves everywhere, only 12' wide, ruts from me gouging it with my box blade, and the worse is, cows and donkeys. 

i swear, cows can be almost as stupid as humans sometimes. but at a thousand pounds and up, more dangerous. they all think their my pets.

"whatcha doing, daddy?" "get off that wheel and feed us" "u are gonna feed us now aren't u?"

if i'm found dead on my road, most likely a cow caused it. although a sandhill crane almost took me out the other day. 

[Rikachu]

On 1/6/2023 at 6:43 AM, Paul A said:

 

Similar thing happened my elbow. those armors are supposed to be worn with a jacket over it, made of slide resistant material like the Leatt 5.5 Enduro Jacket.
I'm never riding in armor alone again and don't recommend it unless you want new skin graffiti 

[Cerbera]

2 hours ago, Rikachu said:

Similar thing happened my elbow. those armors are supposed to be worn with a jacket over it, made of slide resistant material like the Leatt 5.5 Enduro Jacket.
I'm never riding in armor alone again and don't recommend it unless you want new skin graffiti 

Yeah I worry sometimes that I am only wearing the light, weatherproof top layer of an outdoor hiking coat atop my armour instead of something designed not to rip. At least it's something. And I have Winter thermals AND the inner insulated / padded part of that coat under the armour, so I do have 3 layers protecting me from the sliding grit-fest. But Lordy, if you want the Leatt Enduro kit (inc lower half) as well as the body protector you're up to nearly a grand with helmet... though still cheaper than the medical bills I guess !  

I think just maybe, if I had my time again, and could start over I might go with the all-in-one Dianese MC style getups, but in truth I do appreciate that if you have all separates you can customise things a lot more for the weather.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Cerbera

[Paul A]

Full leather, made to measure, motorcycle suit, is cheaper than partial Leatt.

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, Paul A said:

Full leather, made to measure, motorcycle suit, is cheaper than partial Leatt.

This is true. But it's a proper bitch in the Summer

Edited January 10, 2023 by Cerbera

[Stevebee]

I bought a jacket and shirt that has the elbow, shoulder and back protection inside pockets in the jacket. The jacket material is tear resistant so I’m hoping it has a better chance of staying in place. Same principle with motorcycle jeans with knee and hip protection. Plus it doesn’t make you look like Robocop 🤕. Fortunately haven’t had to test that theory and my V11 can’t reach 40 anyway and as I’ve got less than 120 miles so far I don’t even reach the V11’s limit

Edited January 10, 2023 by Stevebee

[novazeus]

be sure to wear snowboarder’s padded shorts, something like thiese i bought.

broken hips for oldtimers is pretty common, whether u ride a wheel or not.

http://TOM SHOO Hip Protection Pads Shorts Upgrade Hip Pads 3D EVA Hip Protection Pad https://a.co/d/aFHDo42

[Tawpie]

54 minutes ago, novazeus said:

be sure to wear snowboarder’s padded shorts, something like thiese i bought.

broken hips for oldtimers is pretty common, whether u ride a wheel or not.

http://TOM SHOO Hip Protection Pads Shorts Upgrade Hip Pads 3D EVA Hip Protection Pad https://a.co/d/aFHDo42

'round these parts those are known as "the diaper". And you do get to the age where a broken hip is more than a big deal, it can be fatal... so especially if you're older, I encourage overpadding!

[novazeus]

7 minutes ago, Tawpie said:

'round these parts those are known as "the diaper". And you do get to the age where a broken hip is more than a big deal, it can be fatal... so especially if you're older, I encourage overpadding!

a friend of mine got his toe caught in his jeans and fell over on his tile floor. God only knows how much time and money that cost. 

and he was about 78 when he did that. vp of a huge company, he ran it, not stupid, and he'll never fully recover at his age. i call mine, my poopy diaper because it looks like ur carrying a load.

Edited January 10, 2023 by novazeus

[Paul A]

6 hours ago, Tawpie said:

broken hip is more than a big deal, it can be fatal.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26016287/

2014 Nov-Dec

 

Some reports show that up to 50% of patients with hip fracture die within six months and many of those who survive do not recover their baseline independence and function.

 

In recent decades the increase in life expectancy after 60 years of age has led to an exponential growth in hip fractures.

 

Females are the group most prone to sustaining a hip fracture and, therefore, to increased mortality rates.

The major cause of death among our patient population was sepsis, apparently caused by mismanagement of soft tissues, a poor aseptic technique during the surgical procedure, a long hospital stay or a poor family support network, and dementia, which is related to poor surgical wound care. 

________________

 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/11/george-pell-dead-australian-cardinal-dies-aged-81-rome-vatican

Cardinal George Pell dies aged 81 in Rome

Australian cardinal dies reportedly following complications from hip surgery

[novazeus]

psa! 

friday i got all suited up to ride, then tractor supply called and said they were at my gate. 

so wearing all my gear, i went and got the tractor and unloaded him, and then i went ahead and fed the cows. all this time wearing a leatt air flex pro knee guard. 

so it got way to windy to ride, so i did some more work on my road with my tractor. 

i started noticing a pain in my right eye. i'm not a hypochondriac but when u know u have cancer, and it can migrate anywhere, i'm always thinking cancer. 

last may i had a similar pain that went full blown, worse pain i've ever felt in the same eye, lasted for days. ice packs and ibuprofen. i concluded i had an eyestroke. couldn't wear contacts for a couple months or more. 

as soon as i took off that knee pad, it was like magic and my eye pain went away. 

now i'm pretty damn sure it was caused by thrombosis because of the leatt knee pad.

i've ordered the exo skeleton kind to be worn outside the pants now. 

just thought i'd share my experience.

[novazeus]

today i wore my leatt 6.5 full body protection, leatt padded shorts, leatt z frame knee brace, demon wrist guards, leatt helmet, van's mte boots, and some leatt gloves. 

didn't take hours gearing up today and was very comfortable in today's heat. 

although, i feel better protected wearing my racing harley jackets with built in shoulder and elbow pads. i'm thinking the leatt stuff might fit under the jackets.

btw, i ordered my leatt 6.5 full body protection, leatt z frames, and leatt padded shorts from motocard and saved quite a bit. no customs tax. i think if it's under $800 u don't get taxed. 

Edited February 7, 2023 by novazeus

[GothamMike]

On 1/10/2023 at 12:31 AM, Paul A said:

Full leather, made to measure, motorcycle suit, is cheaper than partial Leatt.

Leatt is clearly overpriced. Only a matter of time before others get into the market. 
 

if they did not spend so much giving it for free to BMX racers, they could lower their prices.

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, GothamMike said:

Leatt is clearly overpriced. Only a matter of time before others get into the market. 

In some areas, that is definitely the case (wrist guards for example). But not bodysuits, which I would say are among the better value items in the range, and not overpriced for the quality and the QoL improvements you get from the extra thoughtful design. Likewise their dual axis knee / shin guards seem pretty decent value for money too. I guess you are really paying for the extensive R&D Leatt put into into their armour.

[GothamMike]

12 hours ago, Cerbera said:

In some areas, that is definitely the case (wrist guards for example). But not bodysuits, which I would say are among the better value items in the range, and not overpriced for the quality and the QoL improvements you get from the extra thoughtful design. Likewise their dual axis knee / shin guards seem pretty decent value for money too. I guess you are really paying for the extensive R&D Leatt put into into their armour.

It all comes out of the same factories, competitors will come in and build something similar, for a LOT less. We live in frugal times.

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, GothamMike said:

will come in and build something similar, for a LOT less.

Oh they already have, but it looks like crap, and doesn't have all the nice QoL touches that the higher end stuff does.

I bought my 5.5 Leatt kit to replace my SixSixOne body suit, which, costing just £120 had fallen apart at the seams after just 6 months of use !

The Leatt is superior in every way, and is on track to last a lot longer than that !

Get what ya pay for etc...

[Forwardnbak]

I think Leatt do quite a bit of design and engineer safety systems, neck braces and link all the gear to make good suits, all the gear works well together. 

I believe the founder was a doctor and his son had a big crash/head injury and that was the motivation to design good kit.

I like that.

(Not sure why i even know this. I think i looked it up for a video once... Or it was a dream?) 

[Clem604]

23 hours ago, Cerbera said:

I bought my 5.5 Leatt kit to replace my SixSixOne body suit, which, costing just £120 had fallen apart at the seams after just 6 months of use !

Agreed, I have a 6.5 Pro Chest protector and the quality is top notch, even better is that I found it on sale at the time. Now I'm just waiting until it gets warmer so I can start using it.

[Cerbera]

1 hour ago, Clem604 said:

Now I'm just waiting until it gets warmer so I can start using it.

Throw a coat on over the top of it and get your maxi-protection right now !!  In the winter here I have one of those dual-layer coats, where you can split the soft fleecy bit and the outer weatherproof bit. One goes under the Leatt, and the other one over the top. Combined with a set of thermal unders beneath that I find I am toasty and warm down to about -3C. I guess Vancouver gets a fair bit colder than that, but I suspect your coats are correspondingly more robust !!

I am actually worried about the impending Summer, and this armour being too hot !! Even our weak and pathetic British Summer temps (<37C typically) tend to make ALL gear seem hot, so I am expecting the Leatt to be especially bad in that regard because of the weight and heft of it and all that plastic, which can't be letting much air through even if the material does !

Edited March 23, 2023 by Cerbera

[Clem604]

27 minutes ago, Cerbera said:

Throw a coat on over the top of it and get your maxi-protection right now !!  In the winter here I have one of those dual-layer coats, where you can split the soft fleecy bit and the outer weatherproof bit. One goes under the Leatt, and the other one over the top. Combined with a set of thermal unders beneath that I find I am toasty and warm down to about -3C. I guess Vancouver gets a fair bit colder than that, but I suspect your coats are correspondingly more robust !!

I am actually worried about the impending Summer, and this armour being too hot !! Even our weak and pathetic British Summer temps (<37C typically) tend to make ALL gear seem hot, so I am expecting the Leatt to be especially bad in that regard because of the weight and heft of it and all that plastic, which can't be letting much air through even if the material does !

It's currently around 5-10C here and I wear my cheap Amazon moto jacket and pants with a jumper underneath. If it gets too hot in the summer I may wear the 6.5 protector over a tank top or something, we will see. It certainly gives me that Mad Max look when I wear it.

[Stevebee]

Went with the 5.5 in black. Bit like closing the stable door as a few days ago came off and broke 2 ribs. Was wearing my gear except my back protector. Travelling as less than walking pace, was entering a car park in the local park to practice turns, figure of 8 etc.. slow speed stuff. A small dog / rat ran out yapping so I moved left to avoid it, clipped the post and fell off backwards. Landed on back, broke ribs but my other gear, motorcycle helmet etc.. avoided any other issues. A&E did a CT scan as well as I did hit my head as well but no problem. 

[Paul A]

24 minutes ago, Stevebee said:

Was wearing my gear except my back protector.

 

Landed on unprotected back....and broke ribs??

[Stevebee]

54 minutes ago, Paul A said:

 

Landed on unprotected back....and broke ribs??

Yep. Must have been slightly on one side but ribs do go back there as well! Oxycodone is your friend when it happens but dread to think what it would be like with just paracetamol 

[sbb]

8 hours ago, Stevebee said:

Must have been slightly on one side but ribs do go back there as well!

Was the breakage where you'd have an elbow under you when you landed?  I cracked a couple falling forward, because of that.