# Armor that might actually protect collarbone - skeletools?



## marsb (Jun 6, 2004)

Anybody use Skeletools armor? It looks like it would actually protect your collarbone, shoulderblades and ribs. Wonder how breathable it is.

www.skeletools.com


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## keen (Jan 13, 2004)

I believe a lot of collar bone breaks can occur when you extend your arms and the impact is transmitted to the collar bone.


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## TrainingWheelz? (Apr 14, 2005)

It looks pretty crappy....


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## themarsvolta55 (Dec 23, 2004)

ya i dunno if i would trust it, when i broke mine 3 weeks ago i slammed the back of my shoulder and my shoulder went inward with so much force it just to much pressure for the bone and just snapped. ehh i dont know whatever


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## marsb (Jun 6, 2004)

themarsvolta55 said:


> ya i dunno if i would trust it, when i broke mine 3 weeks ago i slammed the back of my shoulder and my shoulder went inward with so much force it just to much pressure for the bone and just snapped. ehh i dont know whatever


I hear you, I broke mine the same way back in high school while skating. Hard impact to the shoulder flexed the collarbone out and snap! Shoulder pads might help a little in that case, but maybe not, depending on impact. The ones above look like they might at least protect against a direct hit to the c-bone, which most DH pads don't cover.


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## zedro (Jan 12, 2004)

looks like the V-Top style pads but with less coverage, not so sure, looks ok tho.

The shorts look pretty good tho


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## Guest (Aug 24, 2005)

The only way you can protect yourself from breaking bones is to not do anything...
Every bit of protection helps though...


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## LandonVega (Jul 14, 2004)

marsb said:


> ... they might at least protect against a direct hit to the c-bone, which most DH pads don't cover.


 there will still be a lot of presure on the c bone if you hit that pad. it only takes like 15 lbs of presure or somewhere around there to break it, correct me if im wrong


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## FrontRanger (Apr 28, 2004)

LandonVega said:


> there will still be a lot of presure on the c bone if you hit that pad. it only takes like 15 lbs of presure or somewhere around there to break it, correct me if im wrong


 That is about right. Probably one of the easiest bones to break. Trust me.


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## scabrider (Oct 3, 2004)

it looks okay, but i wouldn't trust it to save my c bone, btw it takes 10 pounds of pressure to snap your knee backwards...


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

pads only deflect the point of impact to a wider area....those pads would be better if they had some plastic over the top to distribute the point of impact. Pretty much nothing will save your collarbone if you hit it right


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## Saved1 (Sep 20, 2004)

crashing sucks


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## Saved1 (Sep 20, 2004)

SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:


> pads only deflect the point of impact to a wider area....those pads would be better if they had some plastic over the top to distribute the point of impact. Pretty much nothing will save your collarbone if you hit it right


These pads have plastic in them to disperse the "hit," but side, rear, or frontal impact can break the collarbone it as well. I have broke mine 3 times. Now I wear a 661 pressure suit with a 661 Defender Lite over top. All this and there still is no guarantee. This is Downhill riding and the risk involved is something we all will take to a certain limit...........


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## Renegade (May 10, 2004)

TrainingWheelz? said:


> It looks pretty crappy....


Contrary to this opinion which comes from someone who obviously hasn't seen or tried the skeletools product, it's not a bad one at all. Dude, you should'nt bother talking sh!t about things you don't know d!ck about.
I own one, and have used it for dh as well as dirtbiking. The majority of the pads actually have a thin, hard outer layer on them. The protection covering the collar bone is decent, and the rib protection is excellent. This vest becomes even better when worn in conjuction with a hard outer mx style chest protector.

However, I will echo what other people have said here; most collar bone breaks occur from sticking your arm out in a crash, and the extra padding afforded by this vest won't help much in those situations. But the vest is decent protection.


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## TrainingWheelz? (Apr 14, 2005)

Renegade said:


> Contrary to this opinion which comes from someone who obviously hasn't seen or tried the skeletools product, it's not a bad one at all. Dude, you should'nt bother talking sh!t about things you don't know d!ck about.
> I own one, and have used it for dh as well as dirtbiking. The majority of the pads actually have a thin, hard outer layer on them. The protection covering the collar bone is decent, and the rib protection is excellent. This vest becomes even better when worn in conjuction with a hard outer mx style chest protector.
> 
> However, I will echo what other people have said here; most collar bone breaks occur from sticking your arm out in a crash, and the extra padding afforded by this vest won't help much in those situations. But the vest is decent protection.


OOPPS....Did I hurt your feelings for talking smack about your gear? As you stated in your OPINION, it may work great for you, but you may try wearing your SKELETOOLS, your chest protector, and a little pink thong. You know, just so you have a little bit more protection.

Peace ya punk Biotch!

-C-note


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## Renegade (May 10, 2004)

TrainingWheelz? said:


> OOPPS....Did I hurt your feelings for talking smack about your gear? As you stated in your OPINION, it may work great for you, but you may try wearing your SKELETOOLS, your chest protector, and a little pink thong. You know, just so you have a little bit more protection.
> 
> Peace ya punk Biotch!
> 
> -C-note


No, you didn't hurt my feelings at all, you just irritated a sore spot I have today about people voicing opinions about products that they haven't tried or know absolutely nothing about. Your OPINION on this subject is worth nothing. Take your puny ego elsewhere.


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## TrainingWheelz? (Apr 14, 2005)

Renegade said:


> No, you didn't hurt my feelings at all, you just irritated a sore spot I have today about people voicing opinions about products that they haven't tried or know absolutely nothing about. Your OPINION on this subject is worth nothing. Take your puny ego elsewhere.


You did the same thing! Voiced your OPINION. How about a little background as to why YOU feel it works so well. How about...maybe some other brands and styles of body armor you have tried and how it compares to this product? I just said it LOOKS crappy, not that it was ineffective. Although, the chest protection does look a little meager. I just want to know why wearing two separate pieces of armor is more beneficial when you can get one suit to do it all. and not look like lingerie.

C-note


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## Renegade (May 10, 2004)

TrainingWheelz? said:


> You did the same thing! Voiced your OPINION. How about a little background as to why YOU feel it works so well. How about...maybe some other brands and styles of body armor you have tried and how it compares to this product? I just said it LOOKS crappy, not that it was ineffective. Although, the chest protection does look a little meager. I just want to know why wearing two separate pieces of armor is more beneficial when you can get one suit to do it all. and not look like lingerie.
> 
> C-note


That's better. I have used dainese armor for years so that is what I'm comparing the skeletools to. Pluses of the skeletools: The padding in front of and over the clavicle is thicker and more protective of that area. Also, the padding in the rib area is thicker and more widespread than my dainese was.
The benefits of two pieces of armor: products I have seen from dainese, rockgarden, 661, etc, have meager amonuts of padding, with little or no hard shell padding on the chest. Having a hard outer shell to minimize the damage done by the penetrating power of rocks, trees, etc AND a thick padding to absorb the energy of the impact transfered to the outer shell IMO is an excellent way to avoid damaging your body.
And what do I care how it looks? I wear a shirt over it. I care about the protection, not geek factor.
So, on what do you base your opinion of this product other than it's appearance?


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## MVRIDER (Jan 15, 2004)

*Most common mtb related injury*

I think the only thing that is gonna "protect" your collar bone is to learn to roll out of big crashes, and dont stiff arm the ground. You should try mini bails on your lawn or something. Use every bit of armor you have. Roll off your forearm protection, on to the shoulders, hell, use the helmet if you have to, just run out a little bit of that momentum.


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## Renegade (May 10, 2004)

To add to all the constructive input I've put into this thread, here is a bit more. I had a crash, wearing a dainese gladiator jacket. Dainese is pretty much the standard that all other body armor is compared to. I launched over the bars, and tucked my arms in next to my body, knowing that sticking my hands out in front of me was NOT an option for escaping injury.. I did not have the option to tuck and roll. I landed on my right shoulder first, then the rst of the front of my body. Result = 3rd degree shoulder separation. Even the mighty dainese protection couldn't prevent that.
So am I paranoid about over protection when riding dh by using lots of protection layers? Mabey. I have sustained enough injuries to my 48 year old body that I don't give a sh!t about the geek factor look, or what people think about my armor. If it works, or gives you the mental edge to feel protected, then wear it.
Do you think you're immortal? WRONG. Do you think a little injury now won't haunt you ten years from now? WRONG!


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## marsb (Jun 6, 2004)

Renegade said:


> To add to all the constructive input I've put into this thread, here is a bit more. I had a crash, wearing a dainese gladiator jacket. Dainese is pretty much the standard that all other body armor is compared to. I launched over the bars, and tucked my arms in next to my body, knowing that sticking my hands out in front of me was NOT an option for escaping injury.. I did not have the option to tuck and roll. I landed on my right shoulder first, then the rst of the front of my body. Result = 3rd degree shoulder separation. Even the mighty dainese protection couldn't prevent that.
> So am I paranoid about over protection when riding dh by using lots of protection layers? Mabey. I have sustained enough injuries to my 48 year old body that I don't give a sh!t about the geek factor look, or what people think about my armor. If it works, or gives you the mental edge to feel protected, then wear it.
> Do you think you're immortal? WRONG. Do you think a little injury now won't haunt you ten years from now? WRONG!


Renegade-
Thanks for your input on the skeletools and armour in general. It's a topic that I am just getting into, having only recently considered it after a couple of crashes these past two seasons- dislocated shoulder and broke helmet/mild concussion in two seperate incidents. I also started a bit of racing, and can see the benefits of some added protection. I, too, am finding that the years of wear and tear are adding up, and preventing me from bouncing back from hits quite as fast as I used to.

How does the Skeletools armour compare heat and breathability-wise with the others you have used? I figure if it's not comfortable, I wont be as likely to wear it - so I have been leaning towards plunking down the cash for the Dianese.

Oh, and Trainingwheelz, thanks for your valuable insight. "It looks pretty crappy..." -was positively brilliant. Really. Awesome. Can't say enough. I mean it. You, sir, are a credit to this message board. I salute you.


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## Renegade (May 10, 2004)

marsb said:


> How does the Skeletools armour compare heat and breathability-wise with the others you have used? I figure if it's not comfortable, I wont be as likely to wear it - so I have been leaning towards plunking down the cash for the Dianese.


My dainese jacket was an older model that was based on a spandex background, as opposed to the more recent ones that use a mesh background. My dainese was VERY warm. The skeletools fabric is a very thin and porous stretch fabric that is significantly cooler than my old dainese. I cannot compare it to current dainese as I've never worn those. My old dainese jacket would get unzipped for every chairlift ride, I don't feel the need to do that with the skeletools. The lack of full arms helps make it cooler. The shoulder pieces are adjustable in regards to their position, so you can tune it to fit your body. For dirt biking I wore a Moose M1 chest protector over it, for dh biking I only wore a breathable mesh shirt over it. Underneath it I wear a sleeveless, breathable biking shirt.
The newest dainese jacket looks really nice, as if dainese put some time into thinking it out. It's pretty spendy too; go-ride sells it for $400.


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