FkNAmerican
15th May 2008, 09:14
Ok, so as many of you know now I was in a BAD accident about 11 days ago. http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=73213
Injuries include:
broken jaw
broken nose (more like shattered into dust really but rebuilt with metal plate)
partially severed tongue
2 missing teeth and 2 teeth broken in half.
broken face (shattered most of my face including eye orbits, cheeck bones, upper jaw and upper sinus cavities)
huge gash in my face running from my forehead down between my eyes and ending at my upper lip just to the right of my nose.....
Shoei Tempest TZ-r TC-1: didnt work so well as all my injuries were neck and above. Face shield came off right when my head hit the ground and just before my face impacted a street sign and did all the damage. Face shield was locked down too. If it had held up as it should have......I'd have prolly walked away from the accident with nothing but a very sore neck and a bruised hip. On the plus side for the Shoei it did save my life.....but I honestly think that ANY of the top helmets from HJC, Arai, Nolan, Shark, etc would have performed just as well in that regard. What Im less sure of is if these other brands face shields have better attachment systems that wouldnt have failed so badly in my accident.
Jacket
Fieldsheer "Corsair" jacket. This was the second Fieldsheer jacket I've owned, the first being a "Tour Temp" which I also liked. "Corsair" jacket was VERY good to me. Comfortable as all hell, came with a removable liner, CE armor with back protector, and it was cool in the summer. Not as good in the winter as my "Tour Tempt" due to the collar design directing freezing air right down my neck but this same "flaw" was a godsend in the summer when its a million degrees outside. The "Corsair" held up perfectly in the accident. Not a scratch on my upper body despite sliding a long way on road, through mud, rocks and debris, and accross a grassy field. Not only did the thing function superbly in terms of protecting me but it doesnt look so bad even after taking that beating. The most noticable "damage" to the jacket is the fact that the entire front of it looks like its been soaked in a vat of blood.....which came from my face. So overal I give this jacket a 5 out of 5. As long as the blood comes out, I'll wear it again. I really dont care about blood but, really, its an insane amount of blood Im talking about. It would scare people if I wore it heheheh.
Gloves
Gloves were Joe Rocket "Speedmaster 6.0" and they worked exactly as I would have wanted. I low sided and my hands hit first. My head, hands and arms took the brunt of the intitial impact (and it was a hard impact let me tell you) and the gloves had my entire body weight (182 lbs.) sliding on them accross road, gravel, rock, debris, and sand for a LONG slide. As was the case with my jacket. Im planning to use these very same gloves again. Only significant damage besided scuffing is that they look like they've been thrown into a lake of blood for a week. No damage to my hands at all. Not even a sprained finger which is simply amazing. Also they are VERY comfirtable in general and fit perfectly. Icing in the cake is that they look hot as shit too when matched to a black jacket hehehe. 5 out of 5.
pants
Pants were Alpinestars "Stella" track leathers. These held up great. They were scratched up pretty good but they did thier job as advertised. I've got some bruising over my left hip and some soreness there as well but other then that Im prefectly fine. No road rash and no borken bones. In general I'd say they arnt the best for summer. Way to hot and not enough ventilation. Personally, Im looking for some nice kevlar lines jeans for the daily comute in the future and full leathers for the Tuesday rides and track days. 4.5 out of 5 for the pants....losing points for not looking like new after the accident like my jacket was kind enough to do. They also lose points for not being so obviously cool that the EMT's were afraid to hurt them. They had me take off my jacket because they didnt want to cut through such an expensive and cool looking bit of kit. Not so my Alpinestar leather pants. They cut them right off me in the ambulance....thats $350 (on sale no less) worth of pants!!!!! Bastards. Clearly Alpinestars needs to work on making thier pants LOOK more expensive so as to avoid this sort of thing in the future.
Boots
Boots were Alpinestars "Stella SM-X 4" racing boots. They sustained some damage as well and, unlike my jacket and my gloves, they LOOK like they've been in an accident (not just blood all over 'em but scuffing too). No damage to my feet at all though. Not so much as a sprained ankle or sore toe and I did tumble at one point as I slid into a ditch and bounced off the lip so I could easily have broken an ankle if not for these boots. Also they STAYED ON MY FEET which is nothing to sneeze at. Everyone knows how often lesser footwear comes right off in an accident and toe's/ankles get broken and ground down into mush. 4.5 out of 5 stars....losing points for not looking like new after the accident hehehe. Hey, I have high standards.
Injuries include:
broken jaw
broken nose (more like shattered into dust really but rebuilt with metal plate)
partially severed tongue
2 missing teeth and 2 teeth broken in half.
broken face (shattered most of my face including eye orbits, cheeck bones, upper jaw and upper sinus cavities)
huge gash in my face running from my forehead down between my eyes and ending at my upper lip just to the right of my nose.....
Shoei Tempest TZ-r TC-1: didnt work so well as all my injuries were neck and above. Face shield came off right when my head hit the ground and just before my face impacted a street sign and did all the damage. Face shield was locked down too. If it had held up as it should have......I'd have prolly walked away from the accident with nothing but a very sore neck and a bruised hip. On the plus side for the Shoei it did save my life.....but I honestly think that ANY of the top helmets from HJC, Arai, Nolan, Shark, etc would have performed just as well in that regard. What Im less sure of is if these other brands face shields have better attachment systems that wouldnt have failed so badly in my accident.
Jacket
Fieldsheer "Corsair" jacket. This was the second Fieldsheer jacket I've owned, the first being a "Tour Temp" which I also liked. "Corsair" jacket was VERY good to me. Comfortable as all hell, came with a removable liner, CE armor with back protector, and it was cool in the summer. Not as good in the winter as my "Tour Tempt" due to the collar design directing freezing air right down my neck but this same "flaw" was a godsend in the summer when its a million degrees outside. The "Corsair" held up perfectly in the accident. Not a scratch on my upper body despite sliding a long way on road, through mud, rocks and debris, and accross a grassy field. Not only did the thing function superbly in terms of protecting me but it doesnt look so bad even after taking that beating. The most noticable "damage" to the jacket is the fact that the entire front of it looks like its been soaked in a vat of blood.....which came from my face. So overal I give this jacket a 5 out of 5. As long as the blood comes out, I'll wear it again. I really dont care about blood but, really, its an insane amount of blood Im talking about. It would scare people if I wore it heheheh.
Gloves
Gloves were Joe Rocket "Speedmaster 6.0" and they worked exactly as I would have wanted. I low sided and my hands hit first. My head, hands and arms took the brunt of the intitial impact (and it was a hard impact let me tell you) and the gloves had my entire body weight (182 lbs.) sliding on them accross road, gravel, rock, debris, and sand for a LONG slide. As was the case with my jacket. Im planning to use these very same gloves again. Only significant damage besided scuffing is that they look like they've been thrown into a lake of blood for a week. No damage to my hands at all. Not even a sprained finger which is simply amazing. Also they are VERY comfirtable in general and fit perfectly. Icing in the cake is that they look hot as shit too when matched to a black jacket hehehe. 5 out of 5.
pants
Pants were Alpinestars "Stella" track leathers. These held up great. They were scratched up pretty good but they did thier job as advertised. I've got some bruising over my left hip and some soreness there as well but other then that Im prefectly fine. No road rash and no borken bones. In general I'd say they arnt the best for summer. Way to hot and not enough ventilation. Personally, Im looking for some nice kevlar lines jeans for the daily comute in the future and full leathers for the Tuesday rides and track days. 4.5 out of 5 for the pants....losing points for not looking like new after the accident like my jacket was kind enough to do. They also lose points for not being so obviously cool that the EMT's were afraid to hurt them. They had me take off my jacket because they didnt want to cut through such an expensive and cool looking bit of kit. Not so my Alpinestar leather pants. They cut them right off me in the ambulance....thats $350 (on sale no less) worth of pants!!!!! Bastards. Clearly Alpinestars needs to work on making thier pants LOOK more expensive so as to avoid this sort of thing in the future.
Boots
Boots were Alpinestars "Stella SM-X 4" racing boots. They sustained some damage as well and, unlike my jacket and my gloves, they LOOK like they've been in an accident (not just blood all over 'em but scuffing too). No damage to my feet at all though. Not so much as a sprained ankle or sore toe and I did tumble at one point as I slid into a ditch and bounced off the lip so I could easily have broken an ankle if not for these boots. Also they STAYED ON MY FEET which is nothing to sneeze at. Everyone knows how often lesser footwear comes right off in an accident and toe's/ankles get broken and ground down into mush. 4.5 out of 5 stars....losing points for not looking like new after the accident hehehe. Hey, I have high standards.