Air bag vest

[Rubio]

I read Daboo’s story about surviving a crash wearing an air bag vest. Im interested in member experiences on these vests. Like a marine PFD do people find them bulky and hot? I see they range in price from under $200 to upwards of $1000. What differences are there? Are they reusable? Pros and cons?

 

[dduelin]

I wear a Helite Turtle 2 tethered vest over my motorcycle apparel. I’ve worn it a year now in all kinds of weather and temperatures. It flows plenty of air over mesh jackets. It’s something I wear pretty much every ride except on the scooter and even then most of the time. Some of the advantages of a tethered CO2 vest is that it can be recharged if I am away from home and trigger it. It goes over my clothing so it doesn’t matter if I’m wearing solid textiles or mesh so it works with all my gear.

 

[SMSW]

@Uncle Phil began a thread about vests. If it is still on the website after the Great Deluge, read it. Bottom line is airbag vests save lives. I wear one and a few months after getting my Turtle 2 (tethered to bike) I left the house without it. By the end of the driveway I felt very uncomfortable without it, stopped and ran back to get it.

Yes, they can be a little warm. I unsnap the top buckle for a bit more air flow. I either wear a RoadCrafter Stitch jacket or a Klim mesh jacket under the vest. Bulky? There have been studies that show that heavy blankets make people feel more secure when going to bed. Crazy as it sounds, my Turtle 2 makes me feel protected.

Advantages are mostly listed on their websites. A standalone vest like my Turtle 2 can be worn over any other mc jacket. An inflatable jacket/vest is a one piece unit. My vest is self packing after deflating, some brands require you to ship the unit back to the factory for inspection/repacking. Tethered vests (my Turtle 2) allegedly deploy slower than the electronic sensor types but have batteries that must be charged. Some brands require a subscription - a practice that I liken to profits over your safety. You will have to do your own research and decide what you like. My feeling is no piece of PPE will cover every situation. Any of these inflatable vests will protect you more than not wearing one, and I hope mine performs as well as Phil's if I ever need it.

All of the vests are reusable but some require shipment back to the factory for inspection. Some (like the Turtle 2) can be put back into use after your quick inspection for damage/tears and a new CO2 cartridge - maybe 5 minutes or less. It will be best if you do as much reading as you can about these things and then factor in what guys who you know (on this website) say about their experience with them. My 100ml cartridges cost me around $40 each time I 'tested' the vest (dropping your bike constitutes a test).

One caution. If you do buy a vest, make sure you adjust the straps properly. Read the instructions! The first time I 'tested' mine, it was uncomfortably tight. Somebody who did the same with his complained about chest pain afterward (cracked rib or just bruising?).

 

[st11ray]

I was at Cycle Gear looking at them yesterday. I am probably going to go with the Alpinestar Tech 5 Plasma.
It is battery powered and you wear it under your jacket. You can replace the canister 6 times, after that you have to send it back to Alpinestar to be checked out.
It has street, off road and track modes. It does not use a tether. I now have an adventure bike and do a lot of off road stuff. Tipovers are not uncommon. I don't want one going off during a minor tipover. Hence no tether and the off road mode.

 

[Rubio]

I have visions of gassing up and going in to pay and boom, I look like Michelin man.

 

[Erdoc48]

I have visions of gassing up and going in to pay and boom, I look like Michelin man.

That’s very unlikely to happen- it requires (for the Hit-Air vest) 60 lbs of pull which is quite a bit to pull the pin to pierce the CO2 cartridge, so you’ll feel the pull well before it is hard enough to blow the vest. You get used to it quickly, and like a seatbelt, you’ll typically remember to buckle up.

I never considered the ‘electric’ ones as I don’t want to pay a subscription to use it or rely on a battery that may have died and I wasn’t astute enough to make sure it was charged.

As for me, I have tethers on all 3 bikes (and I got the little clip that holds it when not in use- I’m going to Colorado this upcoming week to ride out there (on the 04 ST), so I take my vest (without the CO2 and I have one out there), but take one of the tethers off one of the bikes, which is pretty quick to remove.

 

[Weaselinsuit]

I have a Helite Turtle 2 electronic. Haven’t had an issue with remembering to charge it….yet. I have a charger at the office so I just got into the routine of plugging it in at the beginning of each week.

It’s hefty but as mentioned above, I’m now used to it and feel naked without it.

I look at it as possible injury prevention and more likely as reducing injury severity. Not cheap but inexpensive compared to the cost of wrecking without it.

Have had it go off once when I got a little to vigorous when putting it on. Simply inserted a new cartridge and I was good to go. The electronic cartridges are about 2x the cost of the tethered ones so that’s a point to keep in mind.

Whichever brand or triggering mechanism you choose, they’re worth it.

 

[dduelin]

I was at Cycle Gear looking at them yesterday. I am probably going to go with the Alpinestar Tech 5 Plasma.
It is battery powered and you wear it under your jacket. You can replace the canister 6 times, after that you have to send it back to Alpinestar to be checked out.
It has street, off road and track modes. It does not use a tether. I now have an adventure bike and do a lot of off road stuff. Tipovers are not uncommon. I don't want one going off during a minor tipover. Hence no tether and the off road mode.

Yes, and it is possible to have a get-off and not depart the bike far enough or hard enough to trigger the tethered vest before hitting a fixed object. There was that to think about. I think any choice in airbag vests is more effective than not having one so go for it.

 

[Daboo]

I was at Cycle Gear looking at them yesterday. I am probably going to go with the Alpinestar Tech 5 Plasma.
It is battery powered and you wear it under your jacket. You can replace the canister 6 times, after that you have to send it back to Alpinestar to be checked out.

I'm probably wrong about this, but if the airbag vest goes under my jacket...where is there room under my jacket for it to expand? It seems like that idea is there for styling reasons, not for protection.

Before buying an airbag vest and getting caught up with response times, etc., take a look at what the airbag vest protects when deployed. Some of the pricey tech vests just don't protect much at all. I bought the Hit-Air airbag vest after looking at all the places on my body it would protect. The only one close was a Helite vest.

This is the Hit-Air in the normal configuration. It's about like wearing a normal safety vest.



This is deployed.



Those vertical tubes over your back and chest are probably two inches thick when deployed. How can you get that kind of protection if the vest is under your jacket? Answer: You can't.

Chris

 

[SMSW]

It has street, off road and track modes. It does not use a tether. I now have an adventure bike and do a lot of off road stuff. Tipovers are not uncommon. I don't want one going off during a minor tipover. Hence no tether and the off road mode.

What exactly is off road mode? I would think you can hurt yourself in a minor tip over. I dropped my VStrom at the beginning of an uphill, sandy and loose gravel hairpin on the first day of my groups' MABDR ride. One of the guys had stopped half way into the turn and I misjudged how long it would take him to get going again. I stopped with my front wheel turned and over I went. Fortunately this was pre Turtle 2 vest. After getting the bike upright I lost traction twice and dropped the bike each time before I could make the turn. Hey, if you want to rack up numbers for tip overs, this is the way to do it. In retrospect that would have been a very expensive hairpin turn had I been wearing my tethered vest.

 

[SMSW]

Those vertical tubes over your back and chest are probably two inches thick when deployed. How can you get that kind of protection if the vest is under your jacket? Answer: You can't.

I noted it is a good idea to check the fit before deploying the vest. When mine went off the first time, I really felt squeezed and thought I would not be able to breathe. I was able to unfasten the three clips down my chest and that relieved the pressure. I had set the vest up with one fist space between my chest and the inside of the vest. Afterward, I did two fists. The next test was much better - not loose, not painfully tight.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I was wearing a Hit-Air vest during my 75 mph crash where the deer knocked the bike out from under me.
Price was $650 and if you don't burn a hole in the outside in a slide, you can replace the CO2 cartridge and you are good to go again.
Mine is tethered as I like simple and reliable.
With no notice the vest inflated in plenty of time before I hit the asphalt at 75 mph.
The only upper body damage from hitting the asphalt at that speed was a slightly fractured 7th rib on my right side - probably right at the edge of the vest.
I wear mine outside the riding jacket I am wearing and if it rains, I wear it on top of the rain jacket since there are no 'electronics' to get wet.
It does block some air but not very much and the Hit-Air version is not very heavy.

 

[Bmacleod]

I hardly notice my hit-air vest as far as being warm or blocking airflow. The vest feels kind of heavy in the hand, but once its on, the weight is unnoticeable. I certainly notice when I dont have it on. I feel naked without it. I have tried to get off without disconnecting a few times and can vouch that it takes a good pull to activate it... (havent yet)

 

[st11ray]

What exactly is off road mode? I would think you can hurt yourself in a minor tip over. I dropped my VStrom at the beginning of an uphill, sandy and loose gravel hairpin on the first day of my groups' MABDR ride. One of the guys had stopped half way into the turn and I misjudged how long it would take him to get going again. I stopped with my front wheel turned and over I went. Fortunately this was pre Turtle 2 vest. After getting the bike upright I lost traction twice and dropped the bike each time before I could make the turn. Hey, if you want to rack up numbers for tip overs, this is the way to do it. In retrospect that would have been a very expensive hairpin turn had I been wearing my tethered vest.

It uses different algorithms for street, off road and track.

 

[bdalameda]

As I have posted before, I have a KLIM AI-1 airbag vest. This vest does not use a tether but has a motion sensing controller that senses falls - it is very accurate at telling the difference from a fall or just a tip-over. The electronic airbags also deploy more quickly than a tethered airbag and will work if you are rear ended where some tethered systems will not work. There have been some situations where the rider stayed with the bike after a fall and the tether was not pulled far enough to deploy this is common in a low-side type fall - this is quite rare but it has happened. I had a tethered airbag but found it very confining - I can't count how many times I had stopped for gas and try to dismount and found myself tangled in the tether. I also had several instances where I forgot to connect the tether after gassing up. The tether just annoyed me and that is why I went to the electronic airbag without the tether. Others adapt well to the tether , like Uncle Phil, but I did not like it. Luckily there are options for everyone. The KLIM airbag made by In & Motion has been around for a long time and makes airbag systems for equestrians, skiers and bicyclists. What I like is that the vest itself is made from a very breathable and stretchy mesh material and it also has level 2 back armor built into the vest that is very well perforated to allow air flow through it. When deployed it does a good job of protecting your neck as well. The KLIM is designed to wear under your jacket not over it and I find that it is cool in hot weather and very comfortable. You do need to have a jacket that has enough room in it to accept the deployed vest. Most jackets will have enough give to accommodate the deployed vest though it will be pretty tight when inflated. The controller connects to your phone and keeps track of updates etc. but does not need your phone to operate and when fully charged it operates for 26 hours and shuts itself off if it stays still for about ten minutes, it re-activates as soon as motion is detected. The KLIM system also has a GPS tracker and can send out messages automatically if you crash. I have had my KLIM vest for at least three years and highly recommend it.

https://www.klim.com/Ai-1-Airbag-Ve...A11NxKZfig9dCZx85YBBNFuWryNR1n3oaAk6nEALw_wcB

Here is a video of it being deployed.

 

[Daboo]

@bdalameda - Is it true that you are really only renting the KLIM airbag vest? It looks like there's a $120 per year subscription amount. If it deploys three times, you have to send it in for inspection. Is that at your cost, or theirs? And when you send it in, what do you use while you're waiting for it to be returned?

Getting one of these is a good excuse to lose weight or update my riding gear. I don't have 5 inches of excess room inside my jacket to allow for the expansion when in an accident. If I wore it with my current gear, I'd either have broken ribs or internal injuries just from the airbag deploying.

Chris

 

[bdalameda]

You forgot to mention the $120 per year for the subscription on top of the purchase price.

Chris

Yes there is a subscription or you can buy the controller outright without a subscription. I chose the subscription as they will keep it updated and replaced at no charge if they make changes or improvements to the unit. When they changed from a mini-usb cable to a USB-C connection I got a new controller. Pretty cheap way to maintain the controller and make sure it is always up to date.

 

[Uncle Phil]

I think for some folks they think about air vests like ABS system - nah, I don't really need that.
Well, you don't need either until you do ...
On the ST1100, I have the tether on the right side frame just under the seat.
Since I always dismount to the left and mount from the left, that avoids 'entanglement'.
The biggest issue with the tether is remembering to connect it.
I've finally got where as soon as I take off I will reach down and check that I am connected.
I looked at 'inside' vests but I have a very difficult time finding jackets that I can even get on - baby water buffalo size for me!
The main thing is seriously consider getting one - whatever version works for you.
Not cheap but if you think living is expensive, try pricing a funeral!
It can make the difference between surviving in good shape and not.
If you had asked me before my 75 mph crash if a street rider could survive one of those at that speed I would have said 'Probably not and if so not in good shape'.
However I don't recommend trying it to see ...

 

[SMSW]

Yes there is a subscription or you can buy the controller outright without a subscription.

The Klim vest is only $300, but the subscription adds $120/year or $12/month. If you buy the module outright, it adds another $399 so the Klim vest is competitive with the Turtle 2. They mention pausing the subscription, but no mention if you want to suspend it for cold months (it is not unrealistic for us northerners to want to shut it off for 4 to 6 monhts). The adventure riding option is $25/yr or $8/mo. There was no threat that there would be no price increases for the subscription.

How many upgrades have you had in your 3 years?
What does a new cartridge cost?

you don't need either until you do ...
baby water buffalo size for me!

Not cheap but if you think living is expensive, try pricing a funeral!
It can make the difference between surviving in good shape and not.

With most PPE, when you need it, it's too late to put it on. I like @Rubio's comment about marine PFD's. Who wears these unless mandated by law (ex. personal watercraft)?

Baby water buffalo size? Phil from my perspective hugging you, I think you outgrew baby size a long time ago. (Said w/ no disrespect).

Even cremation is expensive. If you have gone through one (funeral) living is cheaper.

The surviving "in good shape" is key. Many folks survive a crash, but the lingering effects may decrease the quality of life. Anything that helps to mitigate the injuries and the pain of recovery is worth it IMHO.

 

[Danger]

I wear an Alpinestars tech air 5. No tether, no subscription. Initial cost was $700. It requires you to send it in for repacks, about $120. It’s gone off twice due to tip overs—my fault. Not bulky. Yes, it gets warm in the summer. I purchased one size larger so it goes over my shirt but under my coat.

Maybe it’s not the best but it gives me, and my wife, a little bit of peace of mind.