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Air Bag Jackets

There should only be enough slack in the cord to allow you to stand on the pegs for stretching. You'll feel the tug before you step off the bike.
 
I've been riding with my Helite Turtle vest for over a year, and I'm mostly happy with it -- it's certainly worth the small inconvenience. Mine went off when I dropped the bike at a standstill. It's amazing how much protection it provides. My head/neck were totally stabilized, which is great as I have a lingering neck injury that I don't want to aggravate.

As others have said, replacing the C02 cartridge takes about 3 minutes. I carry an extra in my first aid kit. I've forgotten to untether a few times, but it won't set the airbag off unless you jump off your bike.

I'm in San Francisco if anyone wants to try it on/take a look. It's another layer, but as I said, I've decided it's easily worth it.
 
My Helite jacket needs 60 pounds of pull to set off the air bag. I've forgotten several times to unbuckle it at a stop, start to swing my leg over the back and feel that tug. I've never had it go off unintentionally.
There's another thread in this forum I remember reading about a guy who had a Tech 5 or Dainese air vest, his son was wearing it, goofing around at a stop, climbed up on a wall and jumped to the ground - poof went the air bag. He was glad it worked but sorry that he had to send it back to have it repacked for $$$.
The point is they do their job pretty well, regardless of whether you have the tethered or electronic variety
 
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I'm surprised I haven't seen the Fortnine review mentioned yet. I bought a Helite Turtle 2 (in black, not the high-viz, I'm not that cool yet) earlier this year, based pretty much on the strength of this review alone:

[YOUTUBE]N2jZryt607U[/YOUTUBE]

It goes into a lot of the pros & cons of the specific manufacturer and tech approaches.

This past summer & fall, I took a ~2-month trip coast-to-coast across the US, and wore that vest the whole time over my Aerostich. It was not uncomfortable at all, and thankfully I did not have to test it, but it made for a pretty seamless addition to my kit. My only real complaint is that it makes some of the external Aerostich pockets a little less accessible, but that's about it. I've started wearing it every time I go out.
 
Going to decide tomorrow. :teeth

Appreciate everyone’s comments.
 
budman said:
After see dravnx post his crash and coming out of it luckily pretty much in one piece I am now seriously looking these. My riding jacket is long in the tooth so leaning toward one of those.

Since I am looking I figured I would share my findings and also see if any of you have experiences with these products or others perhaps.

Found a few.. highest priced options to lowest.

Alpinestars Revenant but you need to purchase the Tech Air vest separately, but they are made to integrate.
Click to expand...

You incorrectly linked to the Tech air 5 vest, which is a stand alone vest made for use under any jacket that fits you large enough to accommodate the inflation.
The street air vest is the first iteration and is a zip in only useable in the specific jackets made for it, and last time I checked, is only approved for street use.
This is the zip in made for the jacket: https://www.alpinestars.com/products/tech-air-street-airbag-system

The Tech Air 5 has two modes, Street and Track, which can be switched easily using smartphone app via Bluetooth.
I have one that I use for street riding, and one that I bought for my son to fit under his track suit.
He crashed with it, and it deployed last year. I sent it to the service center on Monday, and received it back on Thursday, so turn around was awesome. Cost was $180 including shipping.
The flexibility of using the Tech air 5 under any jacket, in conjunction with the larger air bag coverage than the Dainese made it the right choice for me.
I’ve used mine in all conditions and it’s quite comfortable, under adventure jacket and regular street leather and I have no complaints whatsoever.
 
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So after a week of research and watching the videos and input here I decided to let my wife buy these for my birthday.. :laughing

budman said:
Adding KLIM.

Air Bag Vest and the Badlands Pro Jacket

Vest is essentially $800 with the subscribtion deal.
Jacket is a grand. So that puts the package at $1800 and a new most expensive option. :loco

I do like both of these and would not have looked seriously if not mentioned below.

Ups:
1. Style
2. Better ventilation (mesh band in front at the zipper).
3. Sleeker fit on the vest.
4. Nice placement of cannister.
5. Can reuse 3 times before sending for a peek.
6. Sensor puts the vest to sleep if not riding.
7. No rip cord and can replace cannister on the fly if needed.

Downs:
1. Cost.
2. Cannister is $100
3. 20 Hours of riding time before a charge so for multi days that is charging every other night.
Click to expand...

Big reasons.

Vest:
1. I can use the vest under my leather jacket as well.
2. Further study showed 20 hours of riding time vs the 12 originally noted.
3. The cannister location is the most well thought out in my view. Also changing on the road if necessary can be done.
4. Fast deployment and updates through the algorithm.
5. It automatically sleeps to save battery life when not in riding motion.
6. Ventilation!! The mesh at the front should help and with a cooling vest underneath still get some life promoting cool air flow.

Jacket:
1. The style for sure. Not full adventure and will pair to my Klim pants.
2. The D30 armor is a factor too. Shoulders, elbows and chest. That is stought. :cool
3. Chest vents will deliver air to the mesh of the vest almost directly. 12 vents overall.
4. 4 internal chest pockets, 1 hidden pocket behind backpad, 2 hidden stash pockets, zippered mesh chest pockets
5. Easy access hydration bladder compartment and internal hose route dual routing options
6. Waterproof but still breathable. I don't ride in the rain generally but have been caught enough times that it is an advantage. The aqua seal zippers are a great add too.
7. Super fabric slide and impact resistant placed in impact areas. Ceramic mesh 14 times more resistant than leather.

Overall I think it is a solid choice and being an OG it could be my last jacket purchase. Well... my wifes last jacket purchase so that is a bonus. :teeth
 

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Well.. that blew up in my face. Jacket is out of stock.

Also the Alpinestar Yagura is out of stock too. :(
 
I did call and they said they are expecting more, but don't know when.

The vest will work under my current jacket so patience.. :teeth
 
That vest does sound compelling, I was initially turned off by the subscription service, but, I am warming up to it, and the idea that the company is motivated to provide value there by constantly tweaking the code that the brain of the jacket uses to fire off the airbag. Looking at the size of the vest when inflated, looks like you'd want a fairly loose fitting jacket to accommodate the airbag.
 
bikewanker said:
Bummer budman. I’m leaning towards the hit-air MLV-C since Jeff proved it’s worth! Started looking a year ago but I’m slow. Since I’m close will probably go by Helite in Reno as suggested.
Their are 2 Helite jackets, 1 new 1 used, for sale at
http://marketplace.bmwmoa.org/classified/apparel-gear-browse-92.aspx
Click to expand...

I strongly agree about going up to Reno if you're considering a Helite jacket since their sizes run small. They don't sell their jackets in any retail store I'm aware of and ordering online is a crap shoot in terms of size, and such a hassle to re-package and return.
I was lucky enough to make it to their Emeryville location just before they moved up to NV and the guys there (can't remember the name of the guy who helped me, German accent is all I recall) where super nice. They let me try on a few sizes, patiently answered my questions, ended up giving me a little discount and a free refill CO canister for coming out to see them. Not saying they'll do that for everyone, just pointing out that my experience with them was top notch.
 
Ordered the Hit-Air MLV-C. Red so it will be camouflaged over my Stitch, hopefully y’all will still think I’m cool if I get a neutral shade jacket. After the crash test BARF review by Jeff it seemed the way to go. I’ve not responded to the BARF APP thread cause I don’t understand, so too much of a stretch for me to get a vest that needs my phone. Hopefully I’ll be vesting on my ride to Austin but what with mailing a check :dunno
 
Follow up to my suggestion for the Klim vest. I got an email from their stateside tech support guy. The last time mine did a data dump, they found what they call "unusual activity" present and are sending me a new brain along with a call tag to ship mine back. Totally unprompted and I haven't seen any posts from other owners yet so I'm thinking this may just be an issue with mine. Either way I'm really happy they are actually looking at the data and have potentially saved me from any issues should the need arise.
 
:thumbup

I will have a Klim vest before my next overnight ride.
 
That's pretty cool! Somewhat related, one thing I have been thinking about in regards to these style vests is jacket fit. Watching the videos makes me think the jacket would need to be kinda baggy to make room for the airbag, but I wonder if sizing up to have that extra room around the torso would mean looser fitting armor on the shoulders and elbows running the risk of that shifting around in a crash, but maybe I am overthinking it.
 
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