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Hey,

Just completed my FJC and am preparing for the open world.

Looking at body armour and I quite fancy the 2017 Dainese Rhyolite 2 Safety Jacket as it seems to tick all my boxes, but I have read past posts saying people favour hard pads on the shoulders and elbows, but these posts were from 2002 and 2005, so wondered if anyone has any thoughts from 2017?

Cheers :-)

I prefer no pads on the shoulders. They just get in the way and restrict movement for me. I think most body armor was designed with the intent of having your arms being below your head most of the time.

Elbow pads are good but can be a potential snag hazard especially for people who have trouble falling flat and stable.

Hard protection often has a edge lip that can snag. For that reason I like the soft padding. This is what I have... I removed the shoulder and chest protection.

http://www.pocsports.com/....0-jacket/20331.html

That does look good doesnt it.

Yeah I was worried about elbow pads for that reason. I didnt like wearing them when going handheld on my FJC so removed them.

I ordered this http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/dainese-rhyolite-2-safety-jacket-2017/rp-prod157392

I am going to try it on and see how it is, but as you say, if I feel that the pads get in the way then I'll send it back and maybe have a look at the Spine VPD 2.0 Jacket you posted.

Thanks for your help

I'm not sayin your less safe for wearing this.... but you are definably way gayer for wearing it.

To me, in base, minor soft tissue is that last of my worries. Tell me one way that this space suit can keep my clavicle from turning into a wishbone on impact, or uncompressed my spine after correcting my heading to close to the ground.

I would really like to hear from some guys who's body armor honestly saved them from a serious injury.

I have bought all kinds of shit fuck body safety contraptions for a few sports over the years, and in the end the two things I have realized are 1. The only protective gear that matters at all is the gear you personally are willing to use on every jump. And 2. If you get sucked into the newest contraption and realize you won't actually consistently use it, sell it imidately, before it goes obsolete in 2 months. More importantly sell it and get what you actually will use. A pair of carhartts on your body is 10x better than a pair of 661 shin guards in the trunk of your car.

But if this is your perticular flavor of power rangers outfit I suggest contacting the manufacture for a sponsor fiananced version to match your sky rig ASAGDMFP! Me personally, if I was willing to wear all the shit or use my valuable Exit Beer time for useless shit like gearing up, I would invest in ankle braces, knee pads and a fucking gangster ass helmet before I thought about buying this terminator suit.

Have you considered protective tattoos? My lawyer swears by them.

After seeing someone bounce down the face of my local E, yeh I think I will wear one on every jump. New to the sport n all that, maybe when I'm a BASE ninja in about another 10 jumps I can throw it in the bin 😎

I saw a guy spin into a handrail under a tension knot about 15 years ago, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to walk today without the spine protector he was wearing (his spine surgeon also said the same thing).

It was an unusual impact mode for BASE, certainly, but it involved a thin handrail impacting his spinal column side on (more of a "cutting" than a "compression").

sarcasm
i like it

Back Drop on to cement curled up with my arms protecting my neck from the spikey things behind me. There's no way I'd be walking if I wasn't wearing my Spine guard that day.

I fucked up pretty bad. Everything hurt for a while.

Lots of opinions out there on what to wear as far as protection goes. I have seen anything from Iron man style suit, moon walking boots and gold plated visors to a short, pair of casual Vans tennis shoes and no helmet. Personally, I do not have a hard stance on protection. I evaluate every situation and let the mission dictate the tools. For example, I have a pair of hanwags (love them boots) which offer very good protection. However, they fucking suck for climbing fences. Sixsixone knee/shin protection are also great but there are situations where I don't want to look suspicious with them on and putting them at the exit point slow you down (depending on the exit and circumstance of course). BASE, just like anything in life, will present you with trade offs....there is no magical one size fits all mother of all master solution that works on every situation and keeps you safe. I am sure there are jumpers that could easily show situations where protection gear could actually increase the risk of getting hurt (special situations of course). I would say #1 priority is learn to make good judgements, #2 know your shit (knowledge: canopy skills, gear knowledge, weather...) #3 then worry about protection. Just my 0.02 cents.

The most obvious example of needing to match the safety gear to the jump is a high probability water landing. If your protective gear sucks up water and you drown....well, that's going to suck.

Radass!! In no sarcastic way, I am super stoked for anyone that has kept any of they're facultes due to these spine protectors. Trust me I understand, I got fractures to every vertibre in my L spine on a BASE jump a few years ago. After my accident I even bought a spine protector.

After I realized I would never actually use it I decided to make its death in the name of pseudo science.

Long story short, while I was slaughtering a goat (dwarf breed 70LBer) I wanted to know the amount of pressure the spine protector absorbed before it relied on the muscular and skelotol structure of the the spine. My scientific process was shit, but I can tell you I could easily fold my spine protector in half before I ever got anywhere near creating hard tissue damage. I just can't see how it gives your spine any major advantage or extra strength, even when impacting the the only postion these things even claim to help. I can see how it may, may, may, help change a minor extension fracture to a blown disk, but walking away from an otherwise parálisis injury is a bit much for me.

Don't take my word for it though, next time any of you slaughter an animal do some messing around with the spine before you make your heading cut. Again, i know, apples and oranges, but unless it's as the time described by tom with a single impact point sliding up the back at an angle I just don't see it.

When shit hits the fan, any piece of protective and rescue gear is well wanted and appreciated. But unless you are willing to carry and jump full body armor, 2 PLBs, a full trauma kit, 50m of rap line, a space blanket, a fat stack of fentynle, 10oz of honey, 1000$ bribe cash, and a fake ID to dodge the rescue fees you haven't even prepared for 50% of the possible shitty outcomes that might befall you.

Everyone has to literally and metaphoricly weigh their options, and accept their odds.

Me personally on most non specific needs jumps, listed in order of ascending importance, I carry a well fitting helmet, a set of carhartt diggers, a space blanket, high strength pain killers, and break cord. To me the break cord is the most important part. When in doubt SL it out! Break cord may not be rad, but it gets you home. when you have been camped out on the roof of a B for 8 hours and the winds go to shit, when you get lost on the approach to your morning exit and have to open a new exit in the desert heat, when you have a lady waiting at the base of a jump you shouldn't do... break cord has been my saving grace a few times.

Again, i know these are all personal choices, and I still keep my body armor for any FF below 200' and SL below 130'. But I'd take a fat handful of the fun stuff on a jump before I took a tron suit.

I trust body body armor less than I trust attrictave women...

I don't wear my spine protector (HighVelocityGear) because the bulk makes my harness too tight. Otherwise I bet it's a really effective item. I'd probably wear one on every solid object or urban jump, if I could find one that fit better. Haven't researched it in a while, so if anyone has found a brand that is low-profile without being crap, please post or PM.

Just to be clear, I understand that the jacket is not going to save me from bad landings, tension knots, 180s etc.

I simply want to prepare myself best as possible in case I get a 180 on my local E, and I believe wearing the jacket is better than not wearing the jacket.