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Airbag equipped gear


maximNikenGT

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I too was curious about the Corium+ when the T3 came out and did my own due diligence then spoke to Andy Gold fine about the changes.  Gorepro leather became unobtainable, hence the several year hiatus in production of the Transit until Corium came out.

My T2 is of excellent quality with not a stitch out of place though there are a few design features I'd have tweaked.  I removed the jacket sleeve cuff snuggers because the cuffs are tight for me as it is and could stand to open up more to permit gloves to fit better inside the cuff.  More vents would be great, and the outside hand pockets and especially their zippers are difficult to reach and nigh impossible to operate with one hand even after I added a loop through the zipper pull.  I wish the gaiter behind the pants fly folded down or otherwise did impair access so to speak.  I also had to add a set of pants to jacket zippers (provided free upon request) I safety stitched in place to add clearance and make it much easier to connect the 270° circumferential zipper halves.

Also when I first ordered a regular jacket I discovered the sleeve length was tailored for Orangutans, and I have very long arms!  I sent it back for a "Short" which shocked me when it fit me then like a glove; although some more expansive midriff adjustability would be much appreciated for when you put on a few pounds (i.e., Covid 19 #s).  Otherwise the fit is great and it's worn like iron.  I was Initially leary of the outside full length leg zippers for safety reasons but actually I grew to like them, and the full compliment of armor is great and all eq CE 2.  Not very warm in the cold and also not that cool when hot but I'm never getting rid of it!

What shocked me when I first received my T2 suit was that it was made in Vietnam; somewhere I did my damdest to stay out of in the early 70s.  I'm not aware of where the T3 is made, possibly the same plant.

Have you had grime and some resulting staining accumulate on the inside surfaces of your vest too?

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Stumbled across this video from a comparison video from a newer company (Point Two Air vests) that specialized in safety gear in equestrian events.

The video is from March 2017 but illustrates what Point Two finds as shortcomings in the design of the Hit Air equestrian vests at the time. 

Hit Air has since updated its gear to have the cartridge trigger mechanism in front of the safety bladder vs. behind it and have a new vest (Hit Air ST) that was developed with Spidi of Italy whom specializes in outdoor motorsport gear, whose updated engineering appears to address the slower deployment speeds as well as perceived padding deficiencies in critical areas e.g. lack of cylinder inflator mechanism surround padding and a passive back protector.

The new ST model potentially addresses the back of the neck and back gap - however I could not find a picture of the bladder deployed on the new ST - wait and see. 

All Products (hitairmoto.com)

But what's interesting is that Point Two is expanding beyond its equestrian roots into the motorcycle vest sector as found on their website below. Their motorcycle product line (Pro Air MC) is not yet available for purchase on their site as of writing this, but something to keep an eye out for since additional competition may help reduce costs of safety gear over the long run. 

Motorcycle Products – Point Two USA

Inflated_Fr_Bk_Supermoto_Opt_2048x2048 (1).png

mlvyc_inflated_yellow.jpg

hit_air_st.jpg

Edited by maximNikenGT
Updated with images

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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The .2 does fill-in a fair bit more the top of back/shoulders to neck gap.  But the Helite Turtle 2 has even better coverage. 

However, at the time I didn't want a built-in back protector because all my jackets already have a CE Level 2 back "pad", and I much preferred the vertical gaps front and rear for much more air flow.

Again, at the time, the main competition to the Hit-Air MLV-YC was the Helite Turtle 2 with the back pad (level 2) and closed chassis with no air flow through.  Now in hindsight I probably should have got the Helite T2 though I'm not sure then if they also had the Hi-Viz because I now think having the back pad outboard of the air bladder is better, cooling be dammed, and dispensed with the back pads in all my jackets (or not and had redundancy).  I also like that the Helite has a black interior that doesn't show grime.  Though it is about $160 more than the H-A.

Oh well, next time.

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1 hour ago, 2and3cylinders said:

The .2 does fill-in a fair bit more the top of back/shoulders to neck gap.  But the Helite Turtle 2 has even better coverage. 

However, at the time I didn't want a built-in back protector because all my jackets already have a CE Level 2 back "pad", and I much preferred the vertical gaps front and rear for much more air flow.

Again, at the time, the main competition to the Hit-Air MLV-YC was the Helite Turtle 2 with the back pad (level 2) and closed chassis with no air flow through.  Now in hindsight I probably should have got the Helite T2 though I'm not sure then if they also had the Hi-Viz because I now think having the back pad outboard of the air bladder is better, cooling be dammed, and dispensed with the back pads in all my jackets (or not and had redundancy).  I also like that the Helite has a black interior that doesn't show grime.  Though it is about $160 more than the H-A.

Oh well, next time.

Illustration of deployed Helite airbags. 

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AB12071C-7B39-44A1-A320-14519FFFBCA1.jpeg

Edited by maximNikenGT
Added deployed images

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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It should be noted that while any air inflation protective device is better than none,  the Point Two product is more comparable to Helite with its full back design. 

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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7 hours ago, maximNikenGT said:

It should be noted that while any air inflation protective device is better than none,  the Point Two product is more comparable to Helite with its full back design. 

Yep but you still like your Hit-Air, no?

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3 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

Yep but you still like your Hit-Air, no?

I do very much. Wasn't sure how often I would wear it as my first inflation vest, but at a lower price point I was willing to try it out and have found that I wear it every time.  

I'm not going to ditch my Hit Air because of the lack of upper back inflation between the neck pillow and the mid- back,  primarily because I run my Aerostich R3 Lite with full back protector under it anyways. 

But I will seriously consider a full back design to protect my lady as well as a replacement in the future  when  my Hit Air reaches its max service life.

F819950A-33C3-4436-A6CF-4BF2E6EEE930.png

Edited by maximNikenGT
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2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Lo and behold - Hit Air just released a new MLV-2 at $659 USD. Compared to my MLV-YC looks like they revised the back protection to cover a wider inflation area of the mid and lower back including incorporating CE rated back armor directly into the vest.
 

So with this I can  remove my Aerostich R3 Lite suit's back armor and let the vest do its job. Weight savings is probably negligible but it reduces some bulk on the interior jacket with its removal. 

B9C93ACD-ABF0-4ADD-89C8-A36B7E0E9FD8.jpeg

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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Interesting.

As I said before, I went with the MLV-YC because all my several jackets already have a CE Level 2 back protector of varying coverages.  Having a back protector outside the air bladder though would seem to protect it from punctures and abrasion.  Is that what the new version's is located, as well as the Helite Turtle 2s?  The downside being losing the wide vertical gap that promotes better hot weather flow though ventilation; the primary factor in my original selection in conjunction with price.

Ah well, It's mute for me now until my current unit is now longer servicable...

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  • 3 months later...
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Just got this last week but it looks like Helite is expanding its product line with an adventure jacket version

https://helitemoto.com/helite-adventure-jacket-v-2-0-grey/

 

as well as prototyping  a backpack version of its airbags. 

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2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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  • 2 months later...
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Hit Air released an updated version of its airbag vest MLV2-C. Couldn't tell the difference between it and the original MLV-C so had to hit the Hit-Air website in Japan for a better explanation/illustrations. 

Structure and kind of airbag | hit-air airbag system | motorcycle | - hit-air - Werable Airbag | Mugen Denko Co., Ltd.

The newer MLV2-C looks like it can/does incorporate additional protection in the back as well as the front as evidenced by the yellow zones in the cutaway structure diagrams under the blue inflation bladders. 

 

hitair_2022-08-12.jpg

hitair_mlv2.jpg

hit_air_structure.jpg

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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Additionally Helite updated its Turtle with the Turtle 2 which appears to have incorporated a SAS-TEC hard back protector in its exterior design.

Motorcycle Airbags - HELITE Technology - Helite Moto

 

helite_turtle2_structure.jpg

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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And Point Two Air Vests out of the UK look like they've finally released their first motorcycle airbag vest, the ProAir FORCE.

ProAir FORCE HiViz – Point Two Air Vests

 

pro_air_force.jpg

However, US site looks like they're only selling the equestrian models at this time.

Equestrian and Motorcycle Air Vest | Point Two Air Vests – Point Two USA

 

2019 Niken GT
"Motorcycles - the brand is not important, the fact that you ride is."

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Thanks for posting up.  Although I've been happy with my Dianese airbag vest I'm always looking for something better.  Really wish the "non tethered" vests would get more coverage like the tethered one have.  I wear my vest ALL the time when riding even on my scooter when making a quick short trip to the grocery store.  Vest is easy to throw on.  Gloves, helmet and vest and I go - would not ever wear that little on the bike but somehow in my mind I make it ok for the scooter!

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I still like my MLV-Y with the vertical open back section because it really flows through air inside a mesh jacket even though the latter has a CE 2 back protector (as do as my jackets and pants have full CE-2)  I considered the Turtle 2 before I bought the Hit-Air with its external back pad which obviates the jacket needing one but  wanted the ventilation. 

Everything is constantly improved, a lot is marketing. 

When I get really paranoid having to ride in heavy urban zones I also wear my A* CE 2 chest trama plate.

I've also adopted the Brakefree helmet light, and have run a headlight modulator for 25+ years and auxiliary lighting. 

A ride playing the what if game with my head on a swivel and 2 fingers always covering the brake.  That is 90% of staying alive.

Always presume they don't see you or care, they're distracted, and keep moving like a shark because if you're not there, they can't kill you.  And never target fixate, and look where you want to go not at what to avoid.

I'll break the rules of the road every time if I need to to stay safer.

Just the other day I passed a lawn maintenance truck with trailer going slow and swerving into the opposite lane, and the Ahole purposely moved way over into me and gave ME the finger.  Needless to say if I had a gun...

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