Tested my Leatt Brace today!

I bought one over the winter and have worn it every weekend since the spring. Well today I got to test out its effectiveness. We were riding our normal whooped out single track trails when my front wheel got crossed up in some deep sand on the front of the whoop. My bike immediately stopped and sent my flying. I did my best lawn dart impression and landed on my head about 15 feet past my bike. The force knocked the wind out of me and bruised me up pretty good. I have a nice bruise between my should blades where the brace rests when on. I'm convinced it saved me from breaking my neck and I will never again ride off road without one!

If you've thought about buying one, DO IT! :I believe it to be the second most important piece of gear right behind your helmet.

trav72 wrote:

I bought one over the winter and have worn it every weekend since the spring. Well today I got to test out its effectiveness. We were riding our normal whooped out single track trails when my front wheel got crossed up in some deep sand on the front of the whoop. My bike immediately stopped and sent my flying. I did my best lawn dart impression and landed on my head about 15 feet past my bike. The force knocked the wind out of me and bruised me up pretty good. I have a nice bruise between my should blades where the brace rests when on. I'm convinced it saved me from breaking my neck and I will never again ride off road without one!

If you've thought about buying one, DO IT! :I believe it to be the second most important piece of gear right behind your helmet.

A good end of ride story!

Acerbis Cosmo and Leatt Adventure are on order. Waaaay too old to expect to bounce gracefully.

Trav glad it worked for you--I've had my neck brace for a while and I don't always wear it--normally only when riding heavy single track. An issue with mine is fitment over a "pressure suit" type jacket--mine is a Fox. I had to modify my jacket to have the brace fit correctly.
Rule292--you think you don't bounce well at your advanced age--try adding 15 or so years It don't get any better

Akasy wrote:

Rule292--you think you don't bounce well at your advanced age--try adding 15 or so years It don't get any better

Uh huh... You pretty much slide/flop and undulate across the ground like a frisbee'd jellyfish.

I never wore a Leatt brace. I don't even like to were chest protectors. ...and by namesake, I'm not going that fast anymore.

Chances are I'm going to only have an accident getting in-and-out of the back of the truck. Tailgates can be tricky at times ! I know, I've crashed off of many !

Sounds like a potentially life-threatening crash. Glad you're okay.

I only auger-in snowboarding these days. * twitches *

Over 24 hours later and my neck is sore as hell. It feels like I sprained it. Is that possible? I guess it is since you can sprain just about anything else. I can't imagine what could have happened if I didn't have the Leatt on.

The crazy thing about the crash.....the dismount happened so fast but the landing seemed to take forever. Once I was launched from the bike everything seemed to go in slow motion. I remember flying through the air looking at the ground and feeling my legs rotate over my head. Then thinking this was going to hurt. Next thing I know my head hit the ground but my feet kept going. My body slammed the ground past where my head hit and I immediately lost every bit of oxygen in my lungs. The next few moments I basically panicked trying to get any air I could as well as trying to assess if anything was broken and if I could feel everything. Once I started to get air and realized nothing was broken I started to relax and just laid there for a bit.

It was about that time the other guys behind me came around the bend to see me and my bike laid out on the trail. I was about 8-10 feet past my bike but my bike was about 5-8 feet past the area that launched me. I'm not sure if it flipped or somehow slid that far. Not one of them saw it nor did my buddy that was in front of me. To bad, it would have made for some good video footage.

I'm also happy to report that the big IMS tank took the crash without damage.

trav72 wrote:

Over 24 hours later and my neck is sore as hell. It feels like I sprained it. Is that possible? I guess it is since you can sprain just about anything else. I can't imagine what could have happened if I didn't have the Leatt on.

Yea... Ya never know. ....but fate have it you were wearing it. Thank-goodness....

trav72 wrote:

The crazy thing about the crash.....the dismount happened so fast but the landing seemed to take forever. .....Once I started to get air and realized nothing was broken I started to relax and just laid there for a bit.

Uh huh... Isn't that weird ? It's like your mind is going so fast, relative to real space and time, it all slows to a crawl.

...and about the time you finish saying "This is going to hurt", the next thought (besides "I can't breathe" was "What the hell just happened ? "

The worse thing is next time you get into that predicament, your mind reminds you of it and the tendency is to approach it with more caution. ...which for me NEVER works out. I lose my edge.

It's better IMO to go into "it" at speed with full confidence level and no hesitation what-so-ever.

In my experience, once I think twice about it I'm all catty-whompass.