I've been wearing a Hit-Air airbag vest for several years now. I won't ride without it.
One of the members over on the NT-Owners forum was leading a group. The road turned...he didn't. He has no recollection of what happened. His helmet and other riding gear did its job of protecting him, but he broke something like 17 bones in his chest, fractured a vertebrae and crushed another. If he'd been wearing an air bag vest, it might've let him walk away from the accident. As it is though, for months they didn't know if he'd live or die.
I've deployed mine twice. Both at less than a mph. The first made a believer out of me. I came up to a busy intersection at rush hour and wanted to make a right turn. I realized the light had just changed, and if I hurried, I could get ahead of the cars that were just starting to move from the left. I let the clutch out...and as I turned my head to look ahead, a teenager walked out in front of me. I grabbed the brake...no time for anything else and promptly found myself on the ground.
Here's the part that made me a believer in these airbag vests. As I'm taking stock of things, I realized I didn't hurt. I was lying on the edge of the curb, but I felt no pain at all. Just a bruised ego. The airbag kept me from breaking a couple ribs.
Ventilation has not been an issue. On a couple of my trips, I was riding for hours at over 100F temps. The airbag vest actually helped by limiting the amount of hot air coming through my mesh jacket to my cooling vest. Another rider said hers dried out in 30 minutes in those temperatures. Mine lasted me 3 hours.
For those considering an airbag jacket, consider this. Most jackets are at best a three-season jacket. For that fourth season, we go to another jacket. If your airbag is a vest, you can wear it on the second jacket without additional cost. If it is built into the jacket, you can't. And few jackets are designed perfectly...which is why we keep buying new jackets.
Also, the tether works great. It's simple. It deploys the airbag in enough time that it is deployed by the time you hit the ground. When it deploys, it will deflate on its own over several minutes. You inspect it for damage. Repack it. And replace the CO2 cartridge for about $22. If you have one of the high tech versions, it's not so simple. From Revzilla on one of the Dainese D-Air jackets,
Special Notes:
The Dainese Tuono D-Air Jacket requires registration with Dainese. Due to the technical nature of the D-Air System , special care and maintenance is required. For example, the system must be overhauled every 5 years and air bag battery charged every 2 months. If the air bag is deployed, the jacket must be sent to Dainese for inspection and to reset the air bag. Owners of the jacket are responsible for any costs associated. Please read the User Manual in detail and let RevZilla know if you have any additional questions.
While the jacket is off for inspection...are you riding still? Your airbag is unusable, and your jacket is off being inspected. Do you buy a spare jacket to use? Or quit riding?
Chris
watchyourselves.com
www.popularmechanics.com
www.hit-air.com
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