Protective Gear to save your Head and Rear

Your best protection is a combination of following: the rules and code of conduct, lessons, correct falling techniques, and using your head! Body protection does not make you super human nor invincible.

Why the article? I ski race and last year took a good fall. (50 feet per second, 2 G turn) Took 3 days before I could bend and three months to totally heal. This summer my right wrist started hurting and was diagnosed with SLAC wrist. A separate longer term injury. Wrist guards prevent this issue.

Questions to be answered:

Do the pros wear protection? Yes, depending on the sport,  the outer ware you may not see the protection. Today over 60% of snow sports participants wear helmets.

How fast are we going?

A recent study from ASTM showed and average speed of 29 mph or 42.5 feet per second. (skiers & Snowboarders)

My GPS records 33 mph during general skiing and up to 46 mph racing.

Will they be hot, Fabrics? Ah technology has brought us many wicking fabrics. Reduces wetness by wicking.

What are the pads made of?  Closed cell EVA foam, Open cell foam, neoprene, D3o, and plastic cups, and padded pliable plastic, usually for tail bone and back.

Closed cell means each air pocket cell is separate. Each cell acts like a cushion. Open cell is a random pattern of cells some interconnected. it still cushions but not as much as closed cell. It is lighter weight.  Neoprene is very dense. Think of a mouse pad, the base is usually neoprene. EVA is denser then Closed cell foam and offers more protection. It is heavier than the foams but lighter than the neoprene. Plastic and foam inserts offer Spine protection and elbow/shoulder protection to spread the energy of an impact.

What devices should you consider for protection? It depends on the sport or type of competition. Slalom dictates helmet, face, hand guards, shin, and forearm. For park a helmet, back pad, hip, tail, leg, knee, elbow, and wrist.

Back in the day, before helmets were the norm, lots of us had bumps and bruises. Today with the available plastics, foams and fabric material, there is no reason not to protect yourself. For young people trust us older people, what seems like a small break or strain will show up years later as arthritis.

WARNING:

Wearing protective gear WILL NOT guarantee that injury or death will not occur. It will help lessen the injury.

" As reported in our published scientific articles, some of our more significant findings include: (1) ski helmets for children can effectively reduce the likelihood of head injury while not increasing the likelihood of neck injury in typical impacts; (2) snowboarder helmets can reduce significantly the likelihood of head injury on icy snow; (3) helmet use has not decreased the number of fatalities in snow sports, but has reduced less serious injuries;" Guidance Engineering

Helmets for skiing and snowboarding  defined standards:  2010 Comparison

Snell R-98       ASTM F 2040     CEN 1077

Most helmets are covered by CE EN 1077.  In the USA 90% of Helmets meet ASTM adds more tests. Very few are Snell rated.

For the rear there are pads that are integrated into fabrics that you wear like shorts. Depending on the type the pads may cover the hips, legs, tail bone and butt bone. Some have extra plastic for more protection. The extra plastic can be removed to save weight. The plastic will allow the energy of impact to spread over a larger area reducing injury.

The usual pads like knee and elbow or shin don't need much explanation.

Ski race suits have padding built into critical areas, but nothing to protect the back.

Today better options exist to protect your back, collar bone, ribs, and this came from Motocross. Jackets are now made with multiple types of padding to protect shoulders, upper arms, elbow, collar bone, back, and ribs.

Time to deconstruct the latest gear:

Bottom:  Crash Pad 2600  Made in the USA www.crash-pads.com   USA made!

• Non-restrictive design
• Impact resistant padding
• 1/2 inch thermal formed, scored, flame bonded, high density foam
• Technical moisture management Dry-Power fabric
• Covers; tailbone, side hip, side leg, sits bones and front hip pointer

Top :

Demon Snow Flex Force Pro  http://www.demonsnow.com/

• Hard shell, removable, padded protection for your shoulders and elbows

• Dual density, removable padding along the spine

• Additional soft-padded protection for your ribs, collarbones, and back

• Four separate side adjustment straps to snug the Flex Force Pro tightly around your torso

• Full front zip design for easy on and off

• Breathable HO-Cooling fabric to wick away moisture and dry quickly

• Thumb loops in the sleeves to keep the elbow and shoulder hard shells perfectly in place

• Two zippered front pockets for your personal items

• Lightweight body armor with hard shell protection and superior range of motion

High-impact padded plastic shells cover your shoulders and elbows. These padded shells are removable for easy care and cleaning. Down the spine are three additional hard shell pads. Each one of these rectangular high-density plastic and foam pads gives you protection from impact, yet each hard shell spine pad is independent of the other two, so you when you wear the Demon Flex Force Pro, you won't feel like you're wearing a back brace. Like the shoulder and elbow hard shells, each spine pad is removable for easy care and cleaning.

Cost is minimal compared to injury rehab dollars and time. Both of these pads were priced below 82$ together with a 20% discount, Shipping was free. My source Action Sports Protective Gear:  XSportsProtective

It's not if you fall but when and how much ! Take advantage of technology 

Skiers Wear High-Tech Armor

2010 Injury Study