[Axis]

My buddy broke his collarbone in 2 places yeaterday. What body armor/chest protector is the best for preventing this?

 

[Pedalist]

My friend broke his 3 months ago and had a rod put in it. I do not think that there is a good way to protect it. Most collarbones are not broken from a direct impact to the chest. They generally occur from landing on the shouler and those the bone gets crumpled. My friend landed on the side of his shoulder and head. I wear a motorcross style chest protector. He can not wear it now because it rubs him where he got his surgery. 661 makes a couple of different ones that my buddy says are compfortable. I still do not think it matters what kind you are wearing. If you land on the side of your shoulder hard enough something is gonna give. Most armor just keeps you from getting puncture wounds and scrapes anyway. It is kind of like saying that if you wear shin guards you can fall off of a ladder bridge and not brake your tibia. Hope this helps.

 

[dw]

Same thing that happened to Pedalists buddy happened to me. I was armor free.

I now rock the Rockgardn Jacket, and that thing RULES. FOr me its a lot more comfortable than the Dainese jackets. Ive never had experience with anything else. Ive laid my shoulders into some trees pretty hard with the armor and never got a scratch. No jacket in the world could have kept my collarbone from breaking though.

dw

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

the 661 pressure siut is pretty good, i think it is very similar to the rockgarden one... SUPER COMFY to

 

[Joss DeWaele]

I think the body armor is useless unless you know how to fall first. All the collarbone injuries I have seen have resulted in awkward landings. My suggestion: take some judo to learn how to control your body at high speeds and distribute the force when you land. If you know how to land the right way, then any body armor will help in high-speed crashes.

 

[DLo]

I think the body armor is useless unless you know how to fall first. All the collarbone injuries I have seen have resulted in awkward landings. My suggestion: take some judo to learn how to control your body at high speeds and distribute the force when you land. If you know how to land the right way, then any body armor will help in high-speed crashes.

I agree.. we had some judo instructor come in when were in high school (P.E. class), and they taught us how to roll and such. The guy said it would be very helpful in motorcycle crashes. Isn't the collarbone one of the most notorious for breaking in biking? The problem with me is, when I fall, my mind isn't telling me how to roll - it's saying "Oh sh*t Oh sh*t" while I'm in the air :mumble:

 

[evilbob]

The problem with me is, when I fall, my mind isn't telling me how to roll - it's saying "Oh sh*t Oh sh*t" while I'm in the air :mumble:

Sorry but I had to laugh at this comment....actually I mean laugh with it........so true so true. :mumble: I have broken my left collar bone 4 times and never have I done it in a manner that armor could protect. One time I broke it, my shoulder never even touched anything, that was a speed skating fall and what hit was my elbow when I cartwheeled over. Armor can be built that would eleminate most broken collar bones in cycling however it would be heavy, reduce movement and be uncomfortable. I think the best thing is ....... don't fall and don't look to me as an example on not falling because I have this stupid ankle thing going on from falling... :mumble: :mumble: :mumble: :evil:

 

[JRogers]

I broke my collarbone a while back; wasn't from biking but based on the way I fell and how easily it broke, I am convinced that armor generally does not do anything for collarbone protection. I fell sort of on my side, hit my shoulder and rolled and it broke right at impact. Basically, my shoulder just drove in and up and snapped the bone. I don't see how any armor could really protect that. Maybe an MX protector, but even then, it might not do a thing.

 

[Dartman]

My buddy broke his collarbone in 2 places yeaterday.

Well d@mn! He better stay outta them places!!

What body armor/chest protector is the best for preventing this?

What everyone else said, not really. Learn to roll when you fall. I separated mine when I augered in and landed on my shoulder with my arm tucked into my body (which crushed the elbow). I wasn't wearing any armor at the time.

Mike

 

[Spunger]

I don't think there's one piece of protection for the collar bone. I've never seen one but at the speeds that you may hit on your bicycle it isn't going to stop you anyways.

I agree with "what your thinking when you fall", all I think about is it won't hurt, please don't break anything, and please don't break anything. I'd care less about falling and crashing, but the last thing I want is to break something, either a bone or spraine etc.... For me falling envolves some slow motion in my head. The camelback and rockgardn jacket help take up some of the impact pretty well though.

It's all toss of the luck. Some people get hurt going like 4mph and others it takes going 15+mph. It's just all with the moment when you fall.

 

[Axis]

Thanks for the info.

 

[JoeRay]

Body armor to protect your collarbone is like trying to strap your shoulder so it doesn't dislocate, a big waste of time. Because your shoulder is a ball joint it's too mobile to protect. The collarbone is sort of an anchor for the whole shebang so I guess the same applies.

Never broke collar bone, but have dislocated shoulder twice. Hopefully will never have the opportunity to compare between the two.

 

[JRogers]

I don't think there's one piece of protection for the collar bone. I've never seen one but at the speeds that you may hit on your bicycle it isn't going to stop you anyways.

I agree with "what your thinking when you fall", all I think about is it won't hurt, please don't break anything, and please don't break anything. I'd care less about falling and crashing, but the last thing I want is to break something, either a bone or spraine etc.... For me falling envolves some slow motion in my head. The camelback and rockgardn jacket help take up some of the impact pretty well though.

It's all toss of the luck. Some people get hurt going like 4mph and others it takes going 15+mph. It's just all with the moment when you fall.

Yeah, crashing all depends on the situation. I have taken some really really hard hits on my MTB and back when I played football for about 9 years. I've gotten stepped on, laid out, crushed, rolled over and just about anything else you can imagine. Aside from lots of bruises, scrapes, cuts, one concussion and some pulled muscles, I have not really gotten hurt. Only been too hurt to ride maybe 5-10 times and never missed a game.

The only bone I broke was my collarbone when I dove to tag someone in a heated game of capture the flag. How lame.

When I crash, sometimes it's slow motion and some sort of knowledge might help. A lot of times, I don't think anything would do any good. I am just riding and all of a sudden I'm on the ground with the wind knocked out of me.

 

[MikeD]

Check out the Casel-Equi armor.

; you can buy it from www.yodobike.com. Personally, I think it's rad. I had the Balfa-branded vest. The longsleeve version is cool, too. If anything can protect your collarbone from an impact, this is it...the foam really is great. I don't think ANYTHING is going to be 100% in an impact situation, but it's your best bet. It's unique armor, for sure, but I liked mine a lot. I like my Rockgardn, too, but I know it's not going to help my collarbones.

I definitely think knowing how to crash (and fall off 2-story roofs-I have a great amount of practice in eating sh1t of all kinds from a young age, plus Aikido experience) is part of it too...

MD

 

[Banga]

get it removed.
ala Jk and marla streb, cant do anything to stop it breaking.