Racing with soft armor?

[Chris_s]

who does or would race with soft suit armor?  my old joe rocket two peice had plastic armor.  my new 1 peice has what is claimed to be "ce approved" soft dual density soft foam type material.  any opinions?

[Chris_s]

no one has any insight?   :-/  something racing related and no one has any insight?  hmmm :P

[ebben]

Did you buy a cheap one peice?

[Baltobuell]

I'm not that knowledgeable but I think you are talking about the rubbery foam pads inside the suit. They are priceless. The plastic stuff may help but I can't express how much those softer pads will save you from having to take weeks off from work when the bad stuff happens. Pads pads everywhere I say! Leather saves your skin, plastic saves your skin, pads save your bone, tendons and tissue from trauma. If they had pads on helmets I would still be trying to race again this year.

[251am]

Hey Chris, I would NOT race with soft suit armor. However, if you're stuck with what you have, for now, at least get yourself a back protector for your spine. Secondly, what is your new 1 piece? Is it leather?

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

To the best of my knowledge, dual-density foam armor is what should be inside plastic armor.  You need both.  The plastic spreads impact over a larger area of your body, thus reducing the pounds-per-square-inch at the point of contact.  The foam is what cushions you inside the plastic shield.  Sorry, but it sounds to me like you need better armor.
Now I could be wrong.  Suit companies come up with new stuff every day.  Check and see what the best suits in your maker's line have for armor.  If it's something better, then you need to upgrade.

[dylanfan53]

no one has any insight?   :-/  something racing related and no one has any insight?  hmmm :P

Need more info.  There's lots of stuff out there.  Are you talking about the armor with plastic sandwiched between the soft pads?
A pic or link would help.  

[spyderchick]

who does or would race with soft suit armor?  my old joe rocket two peice had plastic armor.  my new 1 peice has what is claimed to be "ce approved" soft dual density soft foam type material.  any opinions?

The leather manufacturers have two price points that they are trying to deal with, the recrational rider and the serious racer. CE approval is dependent on which application the suit was originally meant for. It would be good to know thw maKe and model of the suit before making any judgements on the armor. Pictures of both the suit and the armor would help.

For the record, I know guys who take all the armor out of their suit, crash repeated and come away fine. I also know guys who get hurt every single time they crash with the best armor out there.

Your age and fitness level contribute not only to whether you are more or less likey to get hurt in a crash, but also to the time it will take to heal from injury. It's my opinion that  some armor is better than none, and good armor is better than some. And yes, get a decent back protector. They do not protect you from spinal injury, but provide impact and abraision resistance.

[tzracer]

One cannot make a definative statement that hard armor is better or worse than soft armor.

Properly constructed soft armor can (and does) function as well as the best hard armour without the possible drawbacks of hard armor.

If you use hard armor, it should be totally enclosed within soft armor. I recall Nick I. (I think he was with Motorcyclist mag at the time) crashing wearing a suit with hard armor. During the crash, the armor moved in such a way (during the impact, the arm armor closed up, pinching his arm) that the edges cut into his arm requiring stitches. This is why some manufacturers use the dual density foam, the stiffer foam gives much of the benfit of the plastic, without the hazard of the plastic causing injury. If the foam works well enough, you really don't need a layer of hard material.

I would have no worries of using dual density padding, especially if it is CE approved.

BTW, IRL I am a physicist.

[Chris_s]

wow thanks guys.  it is a custom leather mfg in NYC.  it is leather.  the quality seems to be exact if not better than my old joe rocket two peice.  i already wear a alpinestars top of the line back protector (already have scoliosis  ::) )   the soft stuff physically looks to be good stuff and i think i like it better than the joe rocket stuff.  it seems to be two layers of foam, with a layer sandwiched in between in the higher impact points.  i think im going to just switch out the knee and the elbow for my JR hard armor and keep the shoulder soft since the JR shoulder dosnt fit it.  thanks everyone.  i was just nervous ;D

[spyderchick]

Nervous is understandable ;), but as Brian stated, the softer armor might actually be better suited to race application.

There's a company making impact armor that's incased in a sleeve for chest and back armor, and they make it for hips and other areas as well. It molds to your body while in use but changes properties while under impact. It's a single use foam, that is soft to the touch, but disperses impact force really well. Anyone who knows the link should post it here.

Ask the maker of your suit to let you know what materials and properties are associated with the armor they use. That's the only way you'll really know.