Safety Gear - What do you recommend?

[TZDeSioux]

SD,
Probably a good idea to take the band off when racing. I have this weird feeling that the next time I crash the pavement is going to grind down my gloves at that exact area and turn my band into a little ring blade and chop my finger off.  :-/ Scary cuz I won't be able to throw gang signs on street corners anymore.

[Super Dave]

LOL!

I used to work for a company that sold, serviced, and rented golf cars.  Lots of them are electric.  Once, the owner accidently got his finger too close to a + and - set of battery posts...36v of power through his finger.  Ballooned up real big very quickly.  BLEH!  It looked pretty sick... :-X

[Dawn]

Paul fell off his snowmobile and landed on the blacktop.  His hand hit the blacktop first.  His wedding ring split in two and pinched into his finger (kinda like a c-clip).  We had to use a needle nose plyers to bend it out.  VERY PAINFULL.

He doesn't wear his ring anymore.  (Then again neither do I  :o  except for on special occasions)

Dawn   :)

[r6_philly]

Alpinestar GP Pro gloves are good. One good crash on them and not a scratch. Although I did notice that there is a whole where my wedding band is from the friction.

A different story here, our endurance teamate crashed at T-7 uphill at VIR, relatively slow speed, but the knuckle protection was totally worn, and only half layer of leathers were left before his knuckles would be on the ground. I was going to get the GP Pro's, but after that, I decided not to

[MadXX]

Thanks everyone for the info.

Looks like I was somewhat close with some and off on others.  

I am getting the impression that Vansons are the leathers of choice 8)

Am going for the Bohn.  If I dont like it it'll be in the classifieds.  ;D

Still on the fence about the SIDI or Oxtar boots.  I kind of like them both and both have good reviews.  Daytona's are too rich for my blood at 2x the price.

I am gonna try the held gloves.  Seems that there is no consensus on this item.

I am also going to see if I can check out the arai and Suomy helmets along with the standard shoei.  I want a plain one anyway so I dont knock up my pretty street helmet.

Alexa I would like to take you up on that offer of measurements.  I was looking to remove a little more padding before getting measured but it would bug me to no end to be ready to go but have no leathers next year.  I will give you a call.

Thanks again everyone.  Feel free to keep the suggestions coming as I haven't slapped down the credit card yet.

[stickman]

I had some nice crashes this season (4 to be exact, 1 broken collar bone, 3 cracked ribs) and can't speak highly enough for my equipment. All of it did a great job in protecting me and they are holding up great.

Leathers: Kobe Carbon Stars. Very thick, heavy leather. Holding up great after lots of sliding and tumbling. Pays contingency. Will buy them again, can't beat the price of $699 either.

Boots: Alpinestar Super Tech. Very comfortable, great protection, great feel for the levers. Barely a scratch on them. Highly recommended. About $300, definitly will buy them again.

Gloves: Kobe. Comfortable, great protection. I love these gloves, about $135, will buy again.
 
Back protector: Bohn Pro Racer. Barely know it's there, seems to do the job. $160. Love them, recommend and will buy again.

Helmet: HJC AC-11. Never really hit my head with direct impact, just some scrape marks here and there. Not too thrilled with the fit, probably try something else next time. Only paid about $140 from helmetshop.com

[spyderchick]

I've head 2 Syed suits and they've both been excellent. I'm still (occasionally) using the one I bought in '93 (yes, 1993). And it has been crash-tested several times and repaired once.

Syed has a good price point, but they TIE & GLUE IN a majority of the armor, not an easy repair, especially the shoulder area. I wish they woukd either go to pockets, or a velcro system. Velcro would actually be easiest for them with all the customs they do.

I still wouldn't wear the back protector provided with all Vanson's. They come apart at the rivets, and the "turtle shell" comes undone. I've seen this on at least 70% of the Vanson suits that have come through here.