Why You Should Wear BODY PROTECTION on EVERY Mountain Bike Ride

In this video I talk about reasons why I will never sacrifice on wearing a single piece of body armour ever again while riding my mountain bike. I also conduct a safety check and review of every piece of body protection I own.
MTB Safety gear check
01:26 Troy Lee Designs UPS 7850 HW Short Sleeve Shirt - amzn.to/3XoO7qa
03:13 Bell Super Air R MIPS Full Face Helmet - amzn.to/3XI3GdX
04:00 POC Joint VPD 2.0 Elbow Pads - amzn.to/4emhOz4
04:22 7iDP Sam Hill Signature Transition Plus Knee Pads - amzn.to/4e279cO
04:58 ROCKBROS Photochromic glasses UV400 - amzn.to/47oRlhO
06:27 100% Brisker Gloves - amzn.to/47vqsJ9
07:05 5.10 Pro Rider Mid Shoes - amzn.to/4d7yrxt
Horde Of Geese by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | creatorchords.com
Music promoted by www.free-stock...
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
creativecommon...

[@chunkyantmtb]

Totally agree with this! I have my armour, pads and full face on every ride no matter how sweaty I get! Most of the crashes I have had have been stupid ones on fire roads and “easy” trails when im not concentrating as much!

[@BoAndHisBike]

Thanks man. Totally right. It's the ones you've done plenty of times that catch you out as you don't pay enough attention while riding them. I wanted to put the message out there so people don't make the same stupid mistake I made.

[@ChampyOnPC]

I've been going down on steep shutes all day and I was even proud of myself for not crashing. Then on the way home on a small suburban road I decided to drink while no hands on the bars, rock hit the tyre, got scared, grabbed front brake, did an OTB. My chin is still healing 😄 Never thought I would need a full-face on a suburban road. (I wear a trailhelmet always)

[@BoAndHisBike]

Maybe wearing a full face helmet on the road is a bit excessive but even on "family" rides with my son I was wearing a full face helmet despite other parents giving me funny looks. You do change your approach to riding once you suffered a major injury. Like I said in the video: I will never ever ride without a body armor again. You can never know when it's going to protect you from an injury.

[@dexterincognito]

I bought the same helmet for my trip out to finale ligure last year. I really like it. I crashed hard face first and it did the job. I did break my shoulder though! Since then I got a similar pull over with shoulder protection. It's great if a little warm. I just can't get it off though so often end up driving home in it. One thing i'll add is shorts with side protection. These saved me from broken tibia when i flew off a cliff and through a load of trees. I wear dakine snowboard elbow pads for gnarlier rides. I'm 50 next year and can't face getting badly injured. Good luck with the recovery

[@BoAndHisBike]

Sorry to hear about your injury. Body armour is a must for me now! And I do really like that helmet! Weight and breathability of it doesn't give any excuses not to wear a full face helmet these days. When it comes to TLD padded shirt I found that the best way to get out of it is to kind of lean down half way as if you were to try to touch your toes then "jump out of it" backwards while grabbing the shoulder pads with your hands. Works perfectly every time for me👌. Maybe I'll do a video of it. That will be a hit! 😂. Thanks for the healing vibes and taking the time to leave a comment👍.

[@thebdceigal]

Totally agree... slammed by face into the ground a month ago on a blue trail wearing the same helmet with the chinbar removed. Haha. Now I don't ride without it, and always wear my safety gear after numerous other injuries.

[@BoAndHisBike]

The crash at 0:50 was also on a blue trail 😀. Trail grading doesn't really matter when you hit the compacted ground at ~25mph. It was like hitting concrete. The impact was so big it destroyed the GoPro lense (you can see it if you pay close attention). I was wearing all my body armour and still I was in pain for about 3 weeks after. I don't even want to imagine how many broken bones that would resulted in if I wasn't wearing body armour.

[@marksmith2037]

It's a great shirt but god it takes some getting off but better then getting another roter cuff tear

[@BoAndHisBike]

Yeah found a post about that armour by a guy called Zimmerframe on the etmbforums. He seems to crash a lot (like me😅) so he tested quite a few body armours and apparently he comes back to this one each time. He claims there is nothing on the market that offers similar coverage but he recommends to upgrade some of the pads. I might do a video about that as I have just ordered some sac tec level2 shoulder moto protectors. Also I think I found the best way to get out of it. I kinda lean down all the way I can as I was to try to touch my toes then "jump out of it" backwards 🤣. Works perfectly every time 👌.

[@dadventuretv2538]

Im not against body armor, but it can provide a false sense of security. It will not prevent things like most fractures, especially collarbones, torn rotator cuffs, meniscus or ligament tears in the knees or ankles, wrist fractures or ligament or tendon tears. Basically anything where torque is applied or joints are hyper extended or where contrasting force is applied to a bone which is how most long bone fractures occur. It will help prevent against cuts and gashes, bruises, minor abrasions, and lessen blunt force to the chest, torso and back so can help lessen or prevent injuries to you heart, lungs, chest wall, sternum fractures, perhaps decrease a rib fracture to a bruise, perhaps help prevent transverse process and spinous fractures of your vertebrae, but won’t do much to lessen or prevent compression fractures or injuries to you spinal cord or discs. Armor is not bad, but I think there is this idea that if you wearing it you are bullet proof. And that itself can lead to taking risks that are too far out of our skill level. The other downside to armor is heat. It can be more deadly than most crashes that us average Joes will have. Where I live we have high 90s/100 degree F days with a humidity index that can make it feel 10 degrees hotter. You simply cannot wear armor on those days without a serious risk of heat stroke. Best way not to get hurt- don’t fall. I don’t mean that as a joke, but the more we practice and gain experience, the more we progress in a smart way and the more we recognize how, if something is to go wrong, it likely will. Which leads me to the next best way not to get hurt - learn how to fall. Again this is not a joke but a skill to learn. Learning how to roll to dissipate energy is super helpful in preventing injuries. We can’t always do it, but this is where experience comes into play- if you are riding a feature experience will tell you how it is likely to go wrong so you know how to land and roll out of it if it does. I played Rugby for years- some guys were constantly getting hurt in basic tackles because they didn’t know how to fall or tackle but dissipate the ball carrier’s energy. It is a real thing and can be learned to a certain extent. But all that said, there is always a certain level of risk we have to accept when we do something like mountain biking. Feeling like you have to armor up for every ride gets you focusing and thinking about crashing, instead of on riding. It’s like being in a corner and focusing on the trail in front of you instead of on the exit- focus on where you want to go. Stay focused on the positive of not crashing, don’t push yourself if you’re not feeling it, don’t give in to peer pressure to do something you don’t feel. Armor up at DH parks or if you want to have a progression day. But to me, if I crash on some ho-hum regular XCish ride and hurt myself, so be it. I am not wearing armor and a full facd every ride. If I get to that point I’ll stay home. We each have that level of risk though that we can accept, so we all have to figure out where that line is for ourselves. Oh and last way to not crash- never, ever say: Last Run or Just One More. 😂

[@BoAndHisBike]

Heat is not a problem here in the UK fortunately so I opt to ride in TLD 7850 every time (obviously except on the last crash🙄) but I can see how it can be a problem in a hot country. I get what you are saying but for me it's an inconvenience I can accept in exchange for more protection (we can debate and bring statistics on vs off the body armour but that's not the point). And I always do two more runs but without the last one! 🤣

[@dadventuretv2538]

@@BoAndHisBike absolutely- it’s all about where our comfort level lies. Summer’s ending here in DC and I’m glad to see it go. It was too hot some days to ride, 95 degrees still at 2100. And the bugs were insane. Have fun out there and be safe.

[@BoAndHisBike]

Thanks man, you too.

[@harbingerofwarx995]

Crashing because you don't know your limits is one thing, but the people I know personally that have crashed all crashed in mundane situations. My main advice to avoid crashing is to practice making everything you do deliberate. Riding on a gravel road or easy dirt trail? Pick your line precisely anyway. Ride like your line is a narrow ridge. If you develop a habit of doing this, you'll be a lot less likely to zone out and make a careless mistake on a mundane section, and it will serve as practice for precise bike control for when you do need to ride a narrow line.

[@dadventuretv2538]

@@harbingerofwarx995 great advice!

[@twowheels4689]

Depends if you do a lot of downhill and jumping. (I don’t) Shinpads and kneepads that’s all I use And a helmet which covers my side of my head and ears. (Fox) Full face is too heavy and I can’t spit 😂

[@BoAndHisBike]

I guess it really depends on the speed you are going. If you crash at 20-30mph directly on your shoulder without wearing any protection you'll definitely hurt yourself even on non-dh trail I reckon.

[@twowheels4689]

@@BoAndHisBike I’ve lost count how many times I’ve come off an off-road bike (motorcycle) doing 20-30 mph with all the protection and still have several fractured ribs and torn muscles. know your limits 👍 My last crash not long ago was on my MTB face plant doing about 20-23mph 🥲 my helmet saved my face/side of my head 👍 with tender neck 🙈 no other injuries.

[@BowmanEsquire]

I'm recovering from a snapped clavicle. Fell off on a berm, front Tyre just wiped out so wasn't expecting it. I've done bigger crashes and done less damage. I'm now looking at full armour but wondering if it would of stopped the break happening.

[@BoAndHisBike]

I think we'll always be asking this question but the way I look at it is that there is a good chance that the body armor will save you from an injury so just wear it each time. Like some have said here it's very personal but for me that's going to be the solution going forward.

[@BowmanEsquire]

@@BoAndHisBike yeh agreed. But agree with the video title safety second. I'm now looking at it after the fact 😂 I always wear full face and knee/elbow pads. Just need to upgrade now

[@BoAndHisBike]

Unfortunately we are all clever after the fact 😅