Impact Jacket

Discussion in 'Gear & Accessories' started by crustyrider, May 10, 2011.

  1. crustyrider

    crustyrider New Member

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    So I recently recieved a gift from my significant other. as the title says Impact jacket. Her reasoning was simple, she wants me to have good gear. You have heard of theses things and maybe haven't known anybody that has one or just aren't interested in in. I wasn't either. a bit of a background as to why she wanted to get me one. this Friday May 13th marks the 5th year anniversary of the death of her Brother in law. He was killed while riding his 2003 speed four up in wine country. a car rounded the same corner he was in and crossed the double yellow knocking him to the ground.it then pulled him under the wheels and crushed his mid section. he spent 9 days in ICU and when he was not making progress towards recovery. (he was slipping backwards instead.) his wife made the descision to have life support terminated. he passed fairly quickly after it was removed. when I started riding again My GF really wanted to get me one of these Impact Jackets. the idea behind the jacket is that it inflates just like a car airbag and protects the vital area (your torso).

    Fast forward to last month I had a brush with a car pulling out in front of me and had to low side it I didn't get hurt but when I got home that evening she had ordered an IPJ and it was on the way..

    at first glance the jacket looked huge and bulky but when I put it on it fit comfortable and is constructed like most riding apparel. It has ventilation ports and even has arn=mor in select places. the cylinder that operates the airbag system is located on the right side and is unnoticable when sitting on the bike . the actuation cablehangs down from the right side as well , and attaches to the bike via a circular band that is placed on the bike itself. mounting and dismounting is done by a simple to use clip. alll sturdy construction. and the internet price was just under 400 dollars.

    there are no worries as to accidently discharging the system as just getting off the bike will not set it off.
    I rode to the store tonight with it on to get a feel of how it cuts the wind( it's a little chilly tonight) and it did a good job. I don't think i would go long distance in cool to cold weather without a liner but I wouldn't also do that in my leather jacket either.

    I will post up some pictures of the jacket and I will take some with it on on the ride to reggies this weekend. Stay tuned.
     
  2. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    I looked on Crusty's website for the pix of the Impact jacket. It's not up yet but he has some other pix for the style junkies.

    Booted Harleydude's Leather Gear
     
  3. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Seems to me the purpose of the thread was to showcase a piece of protective clothing we may or may not choose to aquire and wear. I often make light of some things that are otherwise serious matters but I am still prepared to wait to see this product, and hear from someone who has tried same.

    One of my subordinates at work has some sort of inflatable jacket he just aquired and he speaks highly of it. Who knows. Maybe I will get one too.

    TDo they make them with large areas for beer bellies too?
     
  4. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    The question it seems, is what the heck does this thing look like? IMO, having not seen one either, I submit one might imagine a cross between the Michelin Man and the Pilsbury Doughboy. Let us hope too that the gas used to inflate, is not hydrogen. There is no excuse for bad engineering.
     
  5. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Can't answer your question on the gas. But the jacket I saw, was really no bulkier than the insulated jacket I wear in the winter time here.. Certainly not as light weight as the perforated summer suit, but it did not look too bad for comfort at all. I am sure Crusty will give us the goods on it once he has worn it a few times. I don't doubt that it may be a bit warmer but I guess you have to sacrifice some things for safety....or just take your chances. Individual call I guess at this point. I think we need a new law..........
     
  6. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    IMO, a perforated jacket would be a bit difficult to inflate even with a Crustylike ability to produce large volumes of methane almost at will.
     
  7. pap11y

    pap11y New Member

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    LOL, Love the site crusty, especially the idea of wearing the outfits in a spa.

    I won't wear anything that I can't wear in the spa while smoking a cigarette and wearing a stupid hat...

    ingenious ;)
     
  8. crustyrider

    crustyrider New Member

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    Well Pap I honestly have no idea where that website came from.... but glad you thought it humorous....Anyway, he is my review as of lately,

    okay so I have worn it a few times now and it is very comfortable . I feel that I am riding without a jacket on, of course the leather HJC jacket that I normally wear weighs a ton... The IPJ fits nice has room in all the right places and it cuts the wind down.

    I had my heavy leather jacket tied to the back when I left Santa Barbara heading for R3, the IPJ kept the wind off as well as the temp until I got to Santa Maria then the temp dropped about 10 degrees (standing still temp) I put my leather jacket on under the impact jacket I thought it was going to be uncomfortable, tight, and anything else that would make the rest of the trip suck.. the IPJ fit right over and everything zipped up. the only thing that took a bit of adjusting and moving around was the neck part.
    with this combination I was nice and warm

    Hooking up the system to my bike was really simple...so simple a canadian could do it. first you attach a loop of cable which is supplied with the jacket, It is covered with plastic so it doesn't scratch anything. This is your anchor point to the bike. once that is attached and the coupling is tightened , you just simply put the jacket on, swing a leg over and with your right hand grab the clip that is hanging out of the jacket and snap it to the loop. The whole proccess takes less time than it took me to write this.. Now getting off of the bike you simply reach down with aan ungloved hand(I found it works better for me anyway) unclip the clip and climb off.. I was worried at first about forgetting to unclip from the bike, but the little bit of pressure that you put on it and then remember is not enough to discharge the system..
    I can't tell you about it's deployment I have seen these things deploy in video's.. and honestly I don't think I want to see this thing deploy personally LOL.. I know I promised pictures and I will ge thtem up as soon as I retake a few of them..

    My girlfriend is a little bit more at ease now that i wear it, so it gives me a little bit of wiggle room when I want to go for a ride and I am not back "in 30 minutes", and for the peice of mind I think it is worth every penny I spent on it..

    AS to Randy's question about how it handles heat...it is a hell of a lot cooler than the leather jacket and it has ventilation zippers on the sides. The other night I went for a "midnight ride to take pictures and I had on a long sleeve T-shirt and the impact jacket on and was plenty warm It was a chilly night as well as a high humidity %.(Chilly by Santa Barbara standards) I need to take different pictures of it , I erased the ones I did take when I got to Reggie's place. anyway, here is the link for the jacket: airbag jacket motorcycle Body Armors safety Motorcycle Safety street riding gear bike .

    Pictures soon

    Crusty
     
  9. pap11y

    pap11y New Member

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    :) very interesting thanks for the write up.

    I look forward to seeing the designs that come out in the next 12 months.
     
  10. Badbilly

    Badbilly Official VFRWorld Troll Of The Year!

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    Me too. IMO the joint venture of Crusty and Leatherdood will no doubt set a fashion trend eclipsing even the mullet.
     
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