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Casel-Equi Body Armor Review

Freak

...............................................
Aug 15, 2001
3,728
0
Redmond, Washington
Protect Yourself!
By Jen Castle (Jr_Bullit)

If you’re into what’s commonly referred to as “extreme” sports and you enjoy pushing yourself to the limit and beyond in terms of levels of adrenaline pumping through your veins, besides the gear needed to take that leap, what is the most important form of equipment you can buy? Why that’s easy, any form of equipment or gear designed to increase your personal safety. It’s the sort of gear that provides enough protection to allow you the opportunity to embellish your insane tale of adventure over a good beer, rather than moan about it in a hospital bed. If you’re into extreme versions of cycling such as downhill racing and free-riding, the important protective gear generally falls into two categories: helmets and body armour.

As the name would suggest, Washington State based Rapid Descent Racing (RDR) Team members love going fast, downhill. The primary operative often goes something like, “how can I get to the bottom of this hill as fast as possible, and conquer that massive rock drop in the process?” However, surviving that massive rock drop is equally as important to the team, and they focus on testing various forms of protective gear when given the opportunity. The team recently had such an opportunity, and spent a large portion of their racing season testing out Casel-Equi protective gear.

Casel-Equi has been manufacturing protective gear for numerous sports for over eleven years, using contributions from professional athletes in numerous sports to design the best gear for its various purposes.

First and foremost, when choosing Casel-Equi body armour make certain that you have the correct size of gear for your body. One interesting note, unlike many popular brands of body armour, when purchasing Casel-Equi’s protective gear you select your vest, and then you select your detachable protective sleeves. RDR tested the Pro-1000 vest combined with the BL-200 full arm sleeves.





The vest is made up of large foam pads that are incorporated into the lining. This gives the vest the appearance of being bulky and stiff. However, once you’ve zipped up the front of your vest, admired the nifty pockets designed to hold important things like your insurance card, and adjusted the sides so that the vest conforms to your torso shape, you realize how comfortable this vest really is. The foam pads that absorb impact (rather than deflect it as many other plastic-encased armours will) completely surround your torso, giving you total coverage. The sleeves attach to the torso with a super strong Velcro, and have plastic encased foam sections around your forearms, elbows, and shoulder areas. Following the vests example, the sleeves are also super adjustable, with Velcro straps running both below and above the elbow to ensure the best fit possible to your arms. One note though, if you choose to wear the body armour without some sort of undershirt, you will most likely be a little uncomfortable from the rub of the Velcro.

On hot days, the Casel-Equi protective gear can get fairly toasty inside, if you stand around for awhile. Once you got started riding, however, the minor irritation of being warm fades away.

Casel-Equi has done all sorts of nifty tests and experiments, studied physics like crazy, all to provide what they feel is the best protective gear out there. RDR went out and put all those experiments to the test, and they found that the Casel-Equi armour greatly exceeded their expections. Bouncing off rocks and trees, sliding down stretches of loose dirt and shale, at no point in time did the rider’s upper body receive even a bruise or did the armour itself show any wear and tear.

What’s the hardest part about all this great protective gear? The process of getting it off of you when you’ve completed your ride. As with any synthetic material, when you sweat inside of it, and it fits snugly to your body, it can become quite a struggle to get it back off when you’re done.

Oh, and for those of you who absolutely can’t stand smelling like a gym sock after a few rides, the Casel-Equi vest benefits from a product called FENDOFF, which essentially protects the fabric from bacteria, fungus and body odor.

To learn more about Casel-Equi protective gear, and how to get some for yourself, visit: www.yodobike.com and click on the Casel-Equi link on the left.





 

Attachments

Roasted

Turbo Monkey
Jul 4, 2002
1,488
0
Whistler, BC
Thank you,

I have been looking for a light weight chest protector with some shoulder protection. This seems to hit the spot as most other companies either make a small chest protection OR full upper body armour. Neither of which interests me.
 

SandMan

Monkey
Sep 5, 2001
123
0
Montreal QC & Greenwich CT
Got the same body armor. Actually bought it when it was being sold with a Balfa label on it. It's going on it's 3rd season next year without any problems, can't say the same about my friends Dainese armor.
 

Vasili

Chimp
Apr 12, 2002
3
0
Montreal
We apologize for the small oversight, so without any further delay here are the MSRP for all Casel Equi gears.

PRO-1000(torso): $225.00 US

BC-100(short arm): $20.00 US

BL-200(full arm): $80.36 US

If you have any questions regarding this product or any other do not hesitate to contac us at:

info@yodobike.com

or,

Dom
Yodo Distribution Inc
6809 Saint-Denis
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H2S 2S3
pho: 800 745-2415


Thanks
 

Freak

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Aug 15, 2001
3,728
0
Redmond, Washington
Originally posted by ricebowls
this armour looks dpoe but i don't see any hard shell plates over the spine. how solid is the back protection?
I believe it will protect your spine just as good as other body armor on the market.
 

Mitzel123

Crash Test Dummy
Feb 9, 2002
210
0
Originally posted by Freak


I believe it will protect your spine just as good as other body armor on the market.
I've got this armor and yes, it protects you very well. I've crashed with it many times, even at high speeds on rocky trails, bashed into trees but this armor absorbed the hit and let me keep going down the trail unhurt.
 
Oct 26, 2001
403
0
God Hole NC
Originally posted by Mitzel123


I've got this armor and yes, it protects you very well. I've crashed with it many times, even at high speeds on rocky trails, bashed into trees but this armor absorbed the hit and let me keep going down the trail unhurt.
I have had it for 3 seasons and have had the same experience and as a bounus it does not smell if aired out to dry after use! The other cool thing about it is that it has pockets on the front that are great for holding your allen wrenches or whatever you may need to carry with you.:thumb: :thumb:
 

tammy

spyderzmom
Oct 10, 2001
226
0
lost
I've also had this chest protector since it was sold under the Balfa name (about 3 years now, I think), and I can vouch for it's protective capabilities. As far as the spinal protection, when I crashed in a rock garden and had my 40 pound bike run directly over my spine, I had no bruises or cuts, and barely even felt the bike trample me. It also absorbed all the impact of me falling chest-first onto my stem, with no bruises or cuts then, either. It does get a little warm in the summer (although I don't believe any warmer than any other body armor), but luckily unzips to let cool air in during the ski-lift ride :D

And I just air dry it after wearing, and no stink!
 

tammy

spyderzmom
Oct 10, 2001
226
0
lost
Originally posted by SpasticJack
Tammy, I've picked your bike up, there is no way it weighs 40 pounds. :P

BTW nice job @ Conyers
Guess again, sweetheart - you just don't know your own strength :)
 

SpasticJack

Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
344
0
I weighed mine @ 42.5 this past weekend and your's seemed quite a bit lighter. Hmmmmmm must have been the custom bashring...