Uncle Phil hit a deer

[Uncle Phil]

Not only do you need a spare cartridge, if the Helite is like the Hit-Air you will need an Allen wrench and a proper size socket head bolt to reset the pull 'trigger' in the vest.
Hit-Air sells them as a kit but you can probably source the parts at a hardware store.
There are some accidents that the best gear in the world will not save you.
For instance, if I had slidden into the guard rail or fixed object on my way down the road body surfing, I would probably be finished at that speed.
When you hit the asphalt or other fixed objects at speed, something is going to absorb the initial impact - and it ain't gonna be the asphalt or object!
I figure the air vest, just like a good helmet, ups the odds of survival a good bit.
And with the dangers out there, I think that is a really good thing.
My Hit-Air has a small burn hole from the slide but I will test the bladders for grins to see if they are intact.
It is amazing that it was on the outside next to the road and handled the asphalt far better than I expected.

 

[Erdoc48]

I saw them years ago and showed the Mrs- she said ‘get one’. I said, ‘they’re $500!’
She said, ‘I don’t care, just get it’…now I won’t ride without it. I have a spare CO2 cartridge in Colorado at my brother’s place (you can’t take compressed gases, even inert ones, on a plane) so I have one home and one there- I just take the vest and a tether with me, and use it on the 1300 out there. I have a helmet and gloves there too, so I don’t need to travel with too much.