Heres a comparison of d3o and other armor. Very scientific study. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejN62qMPorc
In my experience, hiprotec doesn't get "stiff" like the other pads, but the little nubs are less pliable in the cold than at room temperature, and I would imagine that they do a little worse too. You have to import them yourself, but I haven't found a vendor willing to ship to the US. I have been using two comfort pads per knee in my Aerostich AD1 pants and I have to say they perform much better than I expected for the amount of comfort they provide-I lowsided onto at ~40mph and I didn't even know I touched my knee down until I got home and saw the scuff marks. By comparison, I lowsided <10mph with the original TF3 pads and I was limping for the next two weeks. The downside of Hiprotec is that it is relatively heavy and floppy, so you will need a good way of securing it in place. An alternative to Hiprotec would be the T-pro stuff. If you are curious where Hiprotec falls on their charts, it is helpful to know that Hiprotec is actually made of Astrosorb, although it is dimpled to reduce weight/cost, so it may not be as good as a solid sheet.
I have seen this, and agree with their results. I think D30 needs to be thicker and have more coverage if it wants to compete with the other serious armors.
or you ask one of the ADV members living in Germany to be so kind jep, it is heavy and floppy allright, but in a pocket or fastened to the liner with the original snaps it stays like any other armor I did not fall of my bikes lately, some 20mph spins on rocky or gravely forestry service roads, never got as much as a bruise, armor did not move either, maybe because it is so floppy it does not want to spin around your joint as much? as long as the weight is close to my body it does not seem to bad, every time I put my suit on a hook it seems unbearable heavy now remember the Sport is 12mm only had the Forcefield back armor, the style they still use in the extreme harness, can anyone tell me, if the limb protectors feel anything like that?
This data above quotes the D30 being 10mm thick. The actual thickness if the Klim pads I don't see on Klim's website, but at Motorcycle-Superstore they show the elbow/knee, hip, and shoulder pads to be 13mm, and the back pad to be 18mm. IF this is true, AND if you extrapolate the data above that would put the D30 on par with the Sas-tec data from above. As to the video, I wonder if he used the same Klim pads, the shape looks the same, but who knows if they've increased the thickness or not. In any event I think I'm ready to consider purchasing the Badlands. As to freezing it and finding it is stiff... I wonder if you start out riding with a jacket at room temperature, then put it on and tighten up the sleeves.. I wonder how well your body can keep it warm enough to not be extremely rigid when riding at cold temps. I'm guessing the elbow pads would get pretty cold and hence stiff.
The manufacturer is actually publishing their data now and it is a little higher than what the patent says. Surprisingly, it does better in the cold. http://www.d3o.com/d3o_products/t5-evo-xt/ http://www.d3o.com/d3o_products/t5-evo-st/
T-pro has two different kinds of limb/knee/elbow protectors. Their slide over the limb protectors use the softer more pliable protectors. The strap over knee/elbow have the hard armor on the outside. The hard amor is mostly for off-road use, and ironically easier to get on since its two velco straps and doesn't need to be put on before boots/etc. The slide over is a tube and needs to be slid in place but is much more pliable and useful for extended road use.
now that is all information from their web site the 'old' back armor felt like a rubber floormat did not like to heavy and to warm even with all the vent holes it was sweat-running-down-underneat-it-despite-under-armor-bad in summer down here and I am pretty sure I do not like to put on armor a piece at a time when commuting, kinda defies the easy on/off of the 'stich when riding down here in summer it is very nice to be able to take off everything that traps heat without completely stripping at the Huddle House (riding with my best buddy inevetibly leads to a Waffle or Huddle House) meaning my armor must fit in the pockets of my riding gear
I have the D30 and wish the product was built a little larger. For the dirtbikes my son and I use the Forcefield body armor. Forcefield also sells replaceable armor for existing gear. I think this would be my next move. http://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com/product/upgrade-performance-armour/2362
That is interesting, leads to more questions. For me, I am interested mainly in evaluating the d30 used in the Klim Badlands Pro jacket. I'm not sure what thickness they use, like I said above I haven't seen Klim list it, except the Motorcycle-Superstore shows the Klim arm/elbow to be 13mm. So I wonder how the Klim armor compares to the ones on the d3o site, because they do not look identical in shape and holes (close though). And the d3o site clearly says 10mm. Anybody know what Klim actually uses in their jackets (which jackets exactly) and also... is it the same as the pads sold separately.
Any CE raw measurement data on the Forcefield armor? BTW a bit larger makes sense, yet the hip pad you linked to is almost exactly the same size as the hip pad at the d3o site referred to earlier, it would appear. 185x155 FF vs. 185x140 d3o. And technically the d3o protects all the way to the edge whereas the FF has as sewn edge that could account for the size difference. This is over analyzing, the point is the FF doesn't seem that much bigger. Perhaps your d3o pads are different from their website...
I took one of the shoulder pads the other night - the name didn't directly correlate with those listed on the d3o site but it did have 'pro' at the end. I take it that means it's the thicker version. Has anyone asked Klim?
I just did.. let you know if I get any data. For comparison, I just found this cool widget that shows you the test results interactively for Sas-Tec armor at the Sas-Tec Test Center. You can also poke around and find all the dimensions of their armor pads. I've only researched this starting TODAY but I get the impression that Sas-Tec is regarded quite favorably by most, for what I'll call "soft/pliable" armor.
while you are at it, can you more computer savvy people please tell me how the green Sas-Tec does in comparison does not look like it will fit standard pockets, anyone tried? like this http://www.kneedraggers.com/product/661521/Held-SAS-TEC-CE-Knee-Elbow-Protector-for-Gore-Tex in no way associated with the seller, just the 1st English link I found
Looks like the "pro" versions are 14mm, and also are level 2. Pretty impressive numbers. I wonder what the difference between the Pro XT and the Pro ST is? They look identical, yet test slightly different with the ST edging out.
Email back from Klim today said, regarding what type of d3o is used, and in which jacket/pants: -- Badlands Pro: - T5 Pro Armor in elbow, knee, hip, and shoulder (Passes CE Limb protection standards.) - Viper Pro (Level 2) back pad (Passes Level 2 back pad standards) Current Adventure Rally jacket and pants now uses Same T5 Pro and Viper Pro D3O. Latitude uses YF pads, but the D3O pads will fit in Latitude. -- I can try to get more answers as to the thickness, but I specifically asked whether it was XT or ST type of "d3o T5 Pro" and they did not answer that specifically. I also asked a sales guy on the phone and he didn't know the exact thickness so I won't quote his guess. They just refer to it as "T5 Pro". I'd probably have to get a tech or a design person to answer that. Also they said they are still shipping Badlands jackets (what I was asking about), however the d3o armor bought by itself is apparently out of stock for quite some time in the future (sounded like months to me if I understood correctly). Yet I thought I saw them in stock at revzilla? The Latitude comes with "YF", I see it on their site but what is YF? anybody know (I know it is not d3o of course).
Its been cold here, and the armor definitely gets stiff if its below 40 or 50 or so, and stays that way if its colder out and you are well insulated below your jacket. It still fits really well at least... And the armor is damned heavy I've noticed, or rather others have when they pick up my traverse and say "Damn thats a heavy jacket!".
