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Advice on back protectors

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
I am seeing what appear to be some bargain buys on back protectors which are tempting (I'm getting more and more injury averse with every ski trip!)

Grateful for any advice; are they worth it? Have they prevented you suffering a serious mishap? General thoughts?

Thank you, in advance.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
They are compulsory for French races so I had to get one.

Mine is quite warm, what brand are you thinking of getting ?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
The ones I have seen are Dainese.
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@LOTA, Dianese are top notch. They have a long history with motorbike safety.

Check they can ship to the UK. I know they have a warning on NI due to Brexit.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
LOTA wrote:
The ones I have seen are Dainese.


I believe they've been working in this area since late 1970s with initially Barry Sheene, always highly regarded for all of their equipment protection properties in motorcycle field.

Certainly a good manufacturer to start looking at to see if they match your requirements.
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Thanks all. They are available on SportPursuit so no problem with shipping to the UK, I suspect.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@LOTA, Someone spotted a few weeks ago that Dainese also have discounts on their own website.

My back protector is a Slytech one which is made of flexible plastic that hardens on impact, like silly putty. It is very comfortable but doesn't breathe so gets hot.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
@LOTA, They are on the Dianese website at special deals as well.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Salomons flex cell ones are quite comfortable, as are forcefield ones. You can get them as separate armour with straps, or zip up gilet types to be worn as a layer. They are, unfortunately quite warm and not very breathable. Dainese ones tend to be a harder shell type.
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
rjs wrote:
@LOTA, Someone spotted a few weeks ago that Dainese also have discounts on their own website.

My back protector is a Slytech one which is made of flexible plastic that hardens on impact, like silly putty. It is very comfortable but doesn't breathe so gets hot.


My kids have similar (D2O foam) which is great - totally flexible in normal use, very hard on impact. They love them.

This type also avoids overloading the neck vertebrae; I can recall some debate about the hard/articulated type potentially transferring a load that wouldn't have broken your back, into one that does break your neck.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I'm currently using a POC VPD 2.0. It's flexible and is the gilet type that I find stays in place better than the alternatives and is more comfortable to wear. Key thing is that it tests at the higher level of the motorcycle standards for back protectors. If I were buying again I would look at whether kit is tested to the appropriate CE standard.
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 And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
I'd also be looking at the motorcycle ones. There's a big variety of thickness & flexibility so you can pick the most appropriate. You could also go the whole hog & get one of the airbag vests which have the added benefit of protecting your neck.
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 So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
McKenzie wrote:
I'd also be looking at the motorcycle ones. There's a big variety of thickness & flexibility so you can pick the most appropriate. You could also go the whole hog & get one of the airbag vests which have the added benefit of protecting your neck.


I think the motorbike back protector thing is possibly going down the wrong path.
For sure companies such as Dainese who make such things will be good because they know what they are doing, and you'd expect their skiing back protectors to benefit from the motorcycle back protector experience, but not sure a motorbike back protector for skiing is the way to go.
For example, a skiing back protector is not the same as a Downhill MTB back protector. I'm no expert in the field of spinal neck protection but I'd have thought it's because the impacts and usage are quite different. Downhill MTB armour has chest plates, shoulder plates, hard back plates... because you are likely to be hitting something hard and pointy (including the bike itself) . The body movement and exertion is also completely different, the way you wear them is different, the way you crash is different, the temps are different...
Even more so between skiing and motorcycling, where one impacts and falling are relatively common at relatively low speed with no hard fast moving vehicles to hit, and no bars to go over, the other not so much - so an inflatable back/neck protector - whilst useful for motorcyclists and skiercross/downhill racers, maybe not so useful for your everyday skier.

I've had a back protector for skiing (first a Dainese one, now a POC one) for a long time after some over the rock incidents in some serious places. Obviously I can't say what the outcome would have been without one, but I have hit a tree, several rocks, and several people have ski/boarded into me for which the back protector took the impact.
It also saved me from an apres beer incident when I slipped on ice getting on the bus and slammed my back on the ground - the bus driver was looking a bit shocked when I got straight up pointing to the back armour (skiing back protectors were pretty uncommon at the time) Madeye-Smiley
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
@stuarth, the POC stuff is ski specific, it is just tested to the European standard for motorcycle protection. Essentially they hit it with a hammer in lab conditions and see how much force is transmitted.

There is no European standard for MTB or ski back protection so the motorcycle one is the only way of knowing whether the gear works or is basically decoration.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@stuarth, thank you )and also to everyone else). You don't have a lot of luck, by the look of it, so back protection seems especially prudent! Very Happy

Anyway, I've ordered a Dainese protector; for just over £50 I thought it worth a punt.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
GlasgowCyclops wrote:
@LOTA, Dianese are top notch. They have a long history with motorbike safety.

Check they can ship to the UK. I know they have a warning on NI due to Brexit.


Just to conclude, ordered on Thursday, delivered this morning.
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