Research on Body Armor

As noted here, I'm looking for new body armor. This page will be periodically updated and referenced in my regular blog posts. If you've read this before then you may want to read it again. Last updated 7/14/2010 with information on d3o Labs.

What I hope to achieve:

• List the many brands of armor available
• Discuss the European Personal Protective Equipment standard
• Discuss the British Equestrian Trade Association body protector standards
• Link to info on the latest high-tech fabrics

The Motorcycle Council of New South Wales has a series of articles on Safer Equipment. I'll post a few quotes, but you'll want to read it all yourself. Under Protection from Injury:

A German study of motorcycle crash casualties, found that riders wearing protective clothing spent less time in hospital, and returned to work on average 20 days earlier, than those who were not protected. The protected riders were also 40% less likely to have suffered a permanent physical defect. The authors concluded that protective clothing was significantly effective in preventing or reducing at least 43% of injuries to the skin and soft tissue and 63% of deep and extensive injuries (Schuller, 1986).

Make sure you check out the injury risk zones page for an interactive display of what gets injured and how often. This is great stuff.

Popular Mechanics published a very interesting article on Football Physics: The Anatomy of a Hit. Check out this chart, which shows the G forces of various real-world events. Walking: 1G. Concussion: 100 G's. Extreme football impact: 150 G's.

A tackle with half a ton of force sounds like a crippling blow. But, according to John Melvin, an injury biomechanics researcher for General Motors and NASCAR, the body can handle twice that amount — as long as the impact is well-distributed. That job usually is handled by the player's equipment, which spreads out the incoming energy, lessening its severity.

There are some good links in the comments of the PopMech article. For instance, this explanation of translational kinetic energy.

... the energy due to motion from one location to another... The amount of translational kinetic energy which an object has depends upon two variables: the mass (m) of the object and the speed (v) of the object. The following equation is used to represent the kinetic energy (KE) of an object.

 

where m = mass of object and v = speed of object

OK, that's all well and good, but I'm no physicist and I'm not going to bother figuring out the kinetic energy my body has as it falls off my Honda XR650R. But I have to believe that some fabrics will protect my body more than others. The question is, who to believe?

For instance, I've run across several different fabrics used in modern armor:

• Honeywell makes SpectraShield used in these bull riding vests from CLG Pro. And it seems to have its origins in military armor applications. Check this article from High Performance Composites.
• Confor Foam is used in these vests. And CLG Pro also uses it, saying it's "one of the most impact absorption materials available. Basically, 'the harder you hit it, the better it works.'"
• Davies Odell makes something called TPro Body Armor, marketed under the ForceField name.
• Astrosorb is used in the latest Velocity Gear Juggernaut armor.
• Hiprotec is used in some Hein Gericke leather suits, according to this 2004 article in Popular Mechanics. (That's old news, though.)
• Equestrian vests may provide the best overall torso protection available: the Charles Owen line, including the JL9 Body Protector; the Tipperary Esprit; the Woof Exo Body Protector; and others. Check out the riding supply shops. Adams Horse Supply seems to have a good selection.
• d3o Labs is using DuPont Hytrel for combat gear, and is planning to release motorcycle related products soon.

But which of these is better for dual sport motorcycle riding? Should motorcycle armor use a combination of abrasion-resistant, penetration-resistant and impact-absorbing fabrics? Is there something better I haven't found?

I'll just take the products one-by-one, in no particular order. SpectraShield is anti-ballistic only, and apparently must be combined with some other impact absorbing material, so I'll leave it for later. Hmmm ... how about starting with TPro? Lots of riders seem to use it...

TPro Forcefield Armor

It's been awhile since I wrote the previous section, so let's begin, shall we?

First off let's find out what fabrics TPro is using. RPM Cycles, a licensed dealer in Ventura, CA, says it's "a combination of both Coolmax® and Meryl Actisystem®, both advanced and highly engineered fabrics in conjunction with the new TPro 'high performance' Armourflex® ..."

Not being a materials expert, this tells me nothing. Let's hop over to the Forcefield site.

All Forcefield products have been independently assessed and conform to the requirements of the EU Personal Protective Equipment Directive 89/686/EEC.

There's that European PPE standard again. Forcefield says:

The PPE Directive establishes common technical requirements for all safety products, and is primarily concerned with enabling free passage of such goods between Member States. A manufacturer who claims or implies in their marketing that their products provide a protective function is required to comply with the legislation. At Forcefield, we have been working within both the letter and the spirit of the legislation since day one!

So far so good, but Coolmax (is this the "BeCool" fabric mentioned by TPro?) and Meryl Actisystem don't seem to be the protective part of TPro. We want to know more about Armourflex, I think.

Our products have been certified by SATRA Quality Assurance Limited, a UK Government-appointed testing and accreditation facility for PPE, for their conformity to the requirements of the relevant standards and are “CE” marked to denote their compliance with the requirements of the PPE Directive.

Hmmm. This sounds promising. I think I'll ask SATRA Ltd some questions. (Email sent 1/9/09. I'll continue while we wait for an answer.) They do a lot of testing, as this 95-page Schedule of Accreditation exhaustively documents. I hope they can get back to me within the decade.

Pete Doughty over at SATRA Technology Center in the UK was kind enough to respond to my questions. See my post here.

Unfortunately, much of the testing carried out at SATRA is funded by and carried out for particular clients so becomes confidential to them. But some general advice would be that several of the standards detailed in the attached article have more than one performance level and in this case the higher the number the greater the protective performance being measured - hence performance level 2 products offer more protection (in the areas measured) than performance level 1 products.

I figured on getting something like that, but it was worth a shot. He did point me toward the SATRA Spotlight web site, which has this article on motorcycle "stone shields". I'll definitely be looking at that site more thoroughly.

Forcefield has collected a bunch of product reviews. For instance, this one from Motorcyclist:

We’ve been testing a Force Field back protector for the past few months and have come to love the lightweight Armourflex shock-absorbing material that conforms exactly to the shape of the wearer’s body for unparalleled fit and comfort. It carries a CE Level 2 (highest possible) protection rating and, unlike some EPS-based protectors, can withstand multiple impacts without losing effectiveness.

And this one from Trail Bike and Enduro Magazine, saying: "It's claimed to be the safest and most technologically advanced protection on the market."

Equestrian Vests

I haven't yet found out what these vests are made of, but I'm looking. Regardless, the armor worn by horse riders seems to have a lot more full-torso protection than motorcycle products. In addition to that, the British Equestrian Trade Association has body protector standards that seem to exceed the European Personal Protective Equipment standard that governs most motorsport gear.

One manufacturer in particular -- Charles Owen -- has caught my eye with the JL9 Body Protector and Collarbone Protection System.

There's no elbow and forearm protection, but many other manufacturers offer those. My main concern here is the total amount of torso protection -- and the motorcycle suits I've seen lack the full-torso protection offered by the best equestrian vests.

Someone with the Internet moniker of License2Ill has been posting on this topic all over the web. Search Google if you want. Here's a great thesis on back protectors in general, with info on equestrian vests and other stuff.

There is a horse rider's torso protector standard that takes the allowed force numbers down to the more apporpriate 4kN level, the BETA 2000 Level 3 standard. It uses 45kN of impact energy, but also requires chest, rib and clavicle coverage area. There's a couple of vests certified to that standard, and they may be a great alternative for better overall protection. The Tipperary Esprit and Jack Owens body protectors. The Esprit is relatively inexpensive at only $140. I don't know how well the extra clavicle coverage/straps will do in a more tucked position, but jockeys seem to wear them with no issues.

The Tipperary Esprit has had favorable reviews at AdvRider and other forums, but seems to be obsolete. Stores are stocking the Tipperary Air Esprit, but from what I can tell, that model lacks the higher BETA standard of the previous one.

d3o Labs

Awhile back I was salivating over a pair of Klim offroad pants. Today (7/14/2010) I found the d3o Labs site.

d3o is an Intelligent Shock Absorbing material containing intelligent molecules that flow freely when moving slowly, but on shock lock together to absorb impact energy.

Check their FAQ page for more, and their product page where I saw the new Klim Adventure Rally Gear.

The team at Klim have spent the last 2 years developing the Adventure Rally Gear, which is possibly one of the most technically advanced products now on the market. Technical features include GORE-TEX fabrics including high performance GORE-TEX® SUPERFABRIC®, & LOCK-OUT™ closures; a fully integrated harness system; heat / abrasion resistant leather pannels in key locations; fully waterproof neck brace compatible collar; an integrated water baldder system and high capacity storage system. Last but by no means least is the inclusion of d3o™ intelligent shock absorption to the elbows, hips, knees, shoulders and back. All these features and the passion put into their making means this is truly phenomenal adventure riding gear.

According to the April 2010 d3o newsletter, they're using "d3o™ with penetration resistance and flexibility of DuPont® Hytrel®" for combat gear, and motorcycle products are on the way to the market.