Hein Gericke Hipprotech Armour

[Timolgra]

I've used it in a range of clothing over the years mainly because it's comfortable, I've been fortunate and never really needed it in a spill but does it live up to the hype HG give it?

It certainly never feels 'substantial' enough for any real protection especially aroung the knees.

Any thoughts?

 

[Doodle]

I've crashed several times in Hiprotech, and am still here and relatively in one piece; it gets the thumbs up from me. I understand your issue, it really doesn't feel like it'll do much, but it's very deceptive (and comfortable)

The great bit with Hiprotech is that it can take repeated beatings with little loss of protection, which saved my left knee when I was hit by a Hilux - after a heavy hit into the kerb which would have killed most normal armour, it was still working 100% to shield it from the bike smacking into it.

I haven't fitted any to my leather jacket, as it was designed for chunkier armour and gets a bit loose, but it's great in my textile gear and kevlar jeans, where it really helps to cut down the bulky feeling.

 

[roddy]

This is all subjective of course as every crash is different but,

I had a wee off a few years back on a slippy downhill corner 20-30 ish mph, ended up with a fractured elbow because the armour slipped within the jacket so didn't do any good, it did help my hip/knee's though as that stayed in place better so all I got was a bit of bruising.

So I've lost confidence the Hipprotech stuff for jackets but I still think it's good for hips/knees as it stays in place better and as stated it's comfy.

Now I only have or would buy jackets that have the more traditional armour thats moulded to the shape of your elbow/shoulders as I feel as long as the jackets fits correctly it has a better chance of staying in place better. I also take the view if it was that good why don't professional racers use it ? they don't so that leaves a question mark over it's effectiveness for me anyway.

 

[Timolgra]

I also take the view if it was that good why don't professional racers use it ? they don't so that leaves a question mark over it's effectiveness for me anyway.

Yes those are also my concerns and why other clothing manufacturers don't fit it.

 

[Commuter]

I was wearing a Master IV in my accident in 2003 on the M1. I was thankful to be wearing this gear as it crumbled around my body. As the kit was cut off, there were millions of black bits falling all over the place. It was the armour falling apart after absorbing the impact.

Lots of bad bruises, but only a few broken bones. I hit the floor at 65mph.

HTH, Nick

 

[Doodle]

It's a case of differing requirements. Racers are looking for the best impact protection and can afford to compromise on practicality, they are in the attack position pretty much all the time they are on the bike. It's awkward to move around in under normal circumstances though, hence road stuff takes into account comfort and mobility at the expense of outright protection.

As for other manufacturers not fitting it, HG probably want sole usage for their clothing - Dianese are no different.

I hear what you say about the armour moving around though - I also prefer the more moulded armour for elbows and knees as it seems to sit better.

 

[Schtum]

I've never felt entirely confident in the Hiprotec armour in my Master IV jacket, hence me buying a Knox Multisport shirt to wear underneath it.

I have a friend who researched this stuff pretty comprehensively on behalf of a large multi-national corporation. They found that whilst soft armour was actually better at dissipating energy in an impact, hard armour "cliniced" better when evaluated by a group of motorcyclists.

I'm reliably informed by him that the Forcefield TPro soft armour made from Astrazene (sp?) is the best of all for dissipating energy. He does a very impressive demonstration where he gives you what appears to be a hard rubber ball and says, "Throw this on the floor". Throw it on the floor and it goes *thunk* and stays there, having absorbed all the energy of the impact. Very impressive.

 

[Neil W]

I use it and bought it a few years ago after RIDE magazine did a load of back to back tests and it was found to be the best at absorbing crash impacts

 

[Timolgra]

He does a very impressive demonstration where he gives you what appears to be a hard rubber ball and says, "Throw this on the floor". Throw it on the floor and it goes *thunk* and stays there, having absorbed all the energy of the impact. Very impressive.

Yes I've seen that demonstration, perhaps I should try it on more conventional armour and see if there's any difference but you could throw the ball onto a pack of jelly and it would give the same result

 

[Big Lee]

. He does a very impressive demonstration where he gives you what appears to be a hard rubber ball and says, "Throw this on the floor". Throw it on the floor and it goes *thunk* and stays there, having absorbed all the energy of the impact. Very impressive.

Sound like the same ball of stuff I`ve seen in the local New Balance factory to demonstrate the shock absorbtion of the running shoes.

When I got my Crowtree leathers made they don`t put hard armour in them because of the secondary injurys it gives riders if they fall onto an edge. Mr`s Big Lee was playing round on some roller skates( ) in her Dianese jacket & fell & the biggest bruise she got was from the hard armour digging into her arm.

 

[Schtum]

Yes I've seen that demonstration, perhaps I should try it on more conventional armour and see if there's any difference but you could throw the ball onto a pack of jelly and it would give the same result

Perhaps but jelly has other properties which make it less suitable for use as bady armour.

Having said that, I believe that the next step in body armour is a fluid which behaves in a non-Newtonian manner and stiffens under impact. The drawback at the moment is the time it takes to change state but I'm told that will be overcome.

 

[Wizard]

Tim,

all of my armor is HiProtec, and the only bruise I've ever had was a new pair of troos that I forgot to fit the hip pieces to. Need I say more?

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

80mph onto my arse and elbows wearing a Dainese jacket with hard armour. The jacket was trashed and both elbow protectors in a very sorry state. I walked away with a cut knee

Fortunatly I've not had to put my Tuareg and Twat Suit (tm) to such a test but have had several low(ish) speed spills on and off road and the armour seems to have done it's job very well.

I think it is more crucial that whatever armour you go for fits well and can't move.

Personally I think I prefer soft armour for it's light weight and unobtrusive comfort but would be happy with either TBH.

Andres

 

[GS TRV]

80mph onto my arse and elbows wearing a Dainese jacket with hard armour. The jacket was trashed and both elbow protectors in a very sorry state. I walked away with a cut knee

I was thinking of trying to transfer my Dainese armour to my twat suit as I reckon it's top level stuff. The BM stuff just seems a bit mushy

Hope I never get to test it either way

 

[Duncan Richmond]

My wife crashed here CBR 600 in France a few years ago, went down like sack of spuds on a corner with gravel all over it. The Hip and knee armour from HG worked really well as she only ended up with brusing, I am sure without it she would have broken something along with major cuts.

 

[rdover]

I think it is great!

I came off my old 1200 Bandit at 50mph doing a knee down attempt (way too successful) whilst being filmed. I landed quite heavily and hit the kerb at speed. 1 tiny cut to the knee and a near terminal red face.