Hardliners believe that fat muscle strands on the back are the best guarantee for protecting the spine. "That's nonsense!" says spine expert Prof Dr Christoph Siepe from Munich. You only have to feel your back with your fingers to see how close the bony spinous processes are to the skin. "On impact, the muscles are flattened and the bones break - only foam that effectively absorbs the impact can help," explains Siepe.
And modern foams actually do this better than ever before. Our impact test based on the test standard for motorbike protective clothing (EN 1621.2) showed that even the worst foam in the test absorbed 94 per cent (!) of the impact energy. The best even only allowed two per cent of the 180-kN standard impact to pass through - impressive! In the early days of freeriding, master dropper Josh Bender still armoured himself with military flak jackets to survive his 10-metre drops. Today, manufacturers offer all kinds of torso protectors. From foam plates that are simply strapped to the body to full protection jackets. For this test, we chose very different concepts, including the currently fashionable hard plastic armour in motocross style.
style. It is a common misconception that hard plastic offers more protection than foam.
You can find the entire article with all the test results including measurement tables, technical data and grades as a PDF in the download area below:
- Amplifi Cortex Polymer
- Dainese Rhyolite 2 SaFETY JACKET
- Evoc Protector Vest Lite Men
- Fox Proframe LC
- Komperdell Cross Protection
- Leatt 3DF Airfit Body Vest
- O'Neal BP Jacket
- Ortema Ortho-Max Dynamic
- Scott Commander 2
FREERIDE-RANKING:
The number (maximum 10 points) reflects the overall impression of the testers. 10 = top score, it couldn't be better. 9 = very good. Recommended purchase. 8 = solid performance. 7 = below average. The product has weaknesses. 1 to 6 = We can only warn against this!
Downloads:
Dimitri Lehner
Editor
