Advice re. protective clothing?

Hi,

I'm approaching my second boarding holiday, and was thinking about investing in
that protective gear you can get now; the mesh-type shorts and top with built
in protective pads.

Has anyone got any opinions on these? They're not cheap, but last year a rib
injury halved my holiday so I'm thinking it might be worthwhile.

Also (excuse stupid question) - suppose I wear a t-shirt and fleece top, would
you wear the gear over the t-shirt but under the fleece top, or over the fleece
top (ie directly under my ski jacket)?

Any thoughts appreciated -

Tom

EMOVE (Tom) wrote in message ...
that protective gear you can get now; the mesh-type shorts and top with built
in protective pads.

Has anyone got any opinions on these? They're not cheap, but last year a rib
injury halved my holiday so I'm thinking it might be worthwhile.

I'm in my second pair of padded shorts. The first pair were by
Crashpads (www.crash-pads.com) and were decent, but the construction
wasn't the greatest. I'm now trying out a product by Skeletools
(www.skeletools.com) which seems pretty good (only 1 day riding with
it though). Other recommend padded shorts are Burton's RED impact
shorts (although I don't like this year's model) and Dainese Soft and
Plus impact shorts (particularly popular in England & Europe - as seen
on http://www.goneboarding.co.uk/). I wanted the Dainese ones, but
couldn't find them easily in the US.

I recommend padded shorts to pretty much everyone as they are
warm/comfy to sit on, and protect you hips and tailbone, which are
like the number place for you to hit (after your wrists) when you
falls.

I have not worned a padded top since my first year, when I wore a pair
of light hockey shoulder pads. I would say most people probably don't
need padded tops (not as much as wrist guards). Dainese against sells
some items... mostly for spine protection (which never hurt). However,
falling flat on your back or on your chest usually isn't too bad (as
oppose to your wrist or your tailbone) so I don't think you really
needed unless your are very aggressive, accident prone or paranoid
(like if you were recovering from an injury).

Also (excuse stupid question) - suppose I wear a t-shirt and fleece top, would
you wear the gear over the t-shirt but under the fleece top, or over the fleece
top (ie directly under my ski jacket)?

Any thoughts appreciated -

I would wear it over your tshirt but under the fleece. Basically you
want the gear to be as close to your skin as possible without
chafing... the undershirt helps with that.

--Arvin

(Arvin Chang) wrote in message . com...


I'm in my second pair of padded shorts.

Upon leaving the dentist last week, I went into a store in his office
building that sells lacrosse equipment. When I saw the padded goalie
pants, my first thought was how good they would be for snowboarding.
They are made by STX, Brine, DeBeer, and Warrior. They aren't cheap.
Try this page, among many others, for more information.

http://www.sportsdepot.com/laxgoalie.html

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm approaching my second boarding holiday, and was thinking about
investing in
that protective gear you can get now; the mesh-type shorts and top with
built
in protective pads.

Has anyone got any opinions on these? They're not cheap, but last year a
rib
injury halved my holiday so I'm thinking it might be worthwhile.

I can certinaly recommend the Dainese butt protector. I reckon it's saved my
tailbone on at least 4 or 5 occasions including this afternoon when some
complete prat left a marker pole in the middle of the slope.

Protecting from farward falls is a lot more difficult than protecting from
backward falls. A friend of mine ended up with 2 broken ribs after a fall
earlier this year. Didn't stop him boarding though, he just took a couple of
asprin and carried on :-)


Also (excuse stupid question) - suppose I wear a t-shirt and fleece top,
would
you wear the gear over the t-shirt but under the fleece top, or over the
fleece
top (ie directly under my ski jacket)?

Normally I wear a set of ski underwear and have the protector over that. I
guess you could wear it over your outer pants superman style :-)

Any thoughts appreciated -

Tom

go into a well equipt hockey store, buy a Rollerblade Hockey girdle. or
ref girdle. the one i picked up was a Bauer set, nice foam, and tailbone
protector. 49 bucks cdn, thats probalby around 38 US works great, I pull
them over jogging pants and i took out the padding for the kidneys, so that
my waist wasnt padded up, just but hips and legs.

"Rob." wrote in message
...

"Tom" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm approaching my second boarding holiday, and was thinking about
investing in
that protective gear you can get now; the mesh-type shorts and top with
built
in protective pads.

Has anyone got any opinions on these? They're not cheap, but last year a
rib
injury halved my holiday so I'm thinking it might be worthwhile.

I can certinaly recommend the Dainese butt protector. I reckon it's saved
my
tailbone on at least 4 or 5 occasions including this afternoon when some
complete prat left a marker pole in the middle of the slope.

Protecting from farward falls is a lot more difficult than protecting from
backward falls. A friend of mine ended up with 2 broken ribs after a fall
earlier this year. Didn't stop him boarding though, he just took a couple
of
asprin and carried on :-)


Also (excuse stupid question) - suppose I wear a t-shirt and fleece top,
would
you wear the gear over the t-shirt but under the fleece top, or over the
fleece
top (ie directly under my ski jacket)?

Normally I wear a set of ski underwear and have the protector over that. I
guess you could wear it over your outer pants superman style :-)

Any thoughts appreciated -

Tom

Hi Tom,

I got a pair of Dainese impact shorts for my birthday and I found that
they're great. They're warm so sit on and really take the edge of any
impact. I took a fall of a railing onto my ass and I'm convinces I would
have really wrecked something if it weren't for the shorts. They'll
protect your hips and coccix aswell. Trust me, after the first fall you
take you'll be convinced they're worth every penny.


Good luck


Alistair





On Sat, 13 Dec 2003, Tom wrote:

Hi,

I'm approaching my second boarding holiday, and was thinking about investing in
that protective gear you can get now; the mesh-type shorts and top with built
in protective pads.

Has anyone got any opinions on these? They're not cheap, but last year a rib
injury halved my holiday so I'm thinking it might be worthwhile.

Also (excuse stupid question) - suppose I wear a t-shirt and fleece top, would
you wear the gear over the t-shirt but under the fleece top, or over the fleece
top (ie directly under my ski jacket)?

Any thoughts appreciated -

Tom

Arvin, Beloved Leader, Rob, Marty and Alistair - thanks for the advice - nice
one.

I've seen the Dainese stuff at Xscape so that might be an idea as I could try
stuff on. Not sure if our extreme sports shop in Wycombe sells any of this,
I'll check it out.

I'll definitely grab the shorts. As for the top, it looks good, but does
anyone know if there's much in the way of rib protection? It's ribs that I'm
aware of as I kept falling in such a way that I did eventually mash one.

Tom
High Wycombe
UK

EMOVE (Tom) wrote in message ...
Arvin, Beloved Leader, Rob, Marty and Alistair - thanks for the advice - nice
one.

I've seen the Dainese stuff at Xscape so that might be an idea as I could try
stuff on. Not sure if our extreme sports shop in Wycombe sells any of this,
I'll check it out.

I'll definitely grab the shorts. As for the top, it looks good, but does
anyone know if there's much in the way of rib protection? It's ribs that I'm
aware of as I kept falling in such a way that I did eventually mash one.

Tom
High Wycombe
UK

LOL, I for a second there I thought you were calling ME your "Beloved
Leader." I don't know which top you are referring to... but some tops
do have rib protection (one of the dainese ones does and the
www.skeletools.com ones does too), some do not. I usually tuck my arms
in front of my chest so bruised ribs have yet to be a problem. See
what you can find...

--arvin

but some tops
do have rib protection (one of the dainese ones does and the
www.skeletools.com ones does

I like the look of Skeletools; they offered to ship to Uk no problem, but then
they said they had a UK importer anyway...sorted!
The chap over here is doing a deal which means I can get the shorts with the
Torso Tool for an OK price, so I'm going ahead with this. The Torse Tool looks
ideal as even has side-rib protectors. Last year I fell on my side with my arm
tucked under, and it was (I assume) my elbow which mashed my rib.

The protection will be extra peace of mind, though pleasingly, I've had some
session at MK indoor snowslope recently and have been drastically reducing my
"crashes per high speed turn" ratio.

I just can't wait to go on holiday now....

Tom