To ATGATT or not to ATGATT - and to what extent

[Louballs]

I ride full face helmet. I also ordered some custom wiley x prescription glasses so when it's stifling hot I can open the face shield and still have eye protection, but with nice airflow. I wear a tourmaster intake air 5 textile jacket and it has very good airflow in hot weather. A base layer of wicking material definitely helps as well. I usually just wear normal jeans, but I will upgrade to motorcycle pants when i'm at my goal weight. For boots i wear Stylmartins. They are comfortable to walk around in and look good as well as offer protection. I also purchased some alpinestar warm weather gloves which are holding up nicely in the heat.

 

[Bigjaype]

I like that - MOGMOT - most of the gear, most of the time. Sanity prevails after all (-: Not so easy on the ear, though - so it might just die a quiet death.

Nothing worse, to me anyway, than Tupperware torpedo pilots parading around gas stations and at breakfast (pee) stops on springloaded knees in their only one-piece branded (shall we add smelly) track-day leathers with scratched-up kneepad pucks.

I've stopped worrying about what other bikers and riders are wearing and concentrate on my own comfort and safety a long time ago.
I will however, whisper in a youngsters ear if I stop next to him at a stop light and he's wearing sandals, shorts and a t-shirt and no gloves.
But you can't cure stupid.

 

[Grumpy Ole Codger]

All yougsters tend to have this belief that they're immortal and it's always someone else who gets knocked off! Been there and worn the tee-shirt. Only took being lnocked off once (by a woman driver I might add - Tin hat worn) and the resulting gravel rash from ankle to hip. A painful way to learn a lesson.
These days, with all the Sport bike riders dressed up like Power Rangers waddling around car parks posing...?? Not for me, rather wear what's comfortable, safe, and I know will help protect me! Sod all that big brand name nonsense too. It's a matter of dong your homework on various brands, materials used, standards met etc... Could go on for hours boring the crap out of you all...

 

[Bigjaype]

I appreciate that modern kevlar® garb is good and proven, but I still find it hot and imposing to wear. Nothing yet beats leather IMHO - more so in terms of protection, convenience and presentation - and leather comes in more colours than just black. Neither Knox® nor leather helps much to dissipate impact energy, though. Lastly, Knox® is hardly cheaper than leather and conceivably not nearly as long-lasting. I still have a 1982 leather jacket that I can and do wear, whenever I manage to fit in it occasionally - and it is not that my lats will not fit )-:

Knox isn’t Kevlar. You can probably compare it to a vented jacket that is tight fitting, contains armour and a back protector almost like memory foam. I have several leather jackets and textile ones and this has revolutionised my riding comfort. In summer I can wear just a T-shirt and in winter I can layer under or over it. What I really love about it, when I reach my destination it folds up pretty compactly to fit in the pannier.
I no longer have the need to look like a biker in a leather jacket with patches all over it, forgoing comfort for presentation.

 

[Louballs]

Knox isn’t Kevlar. You can probably compare it to a vented jacket that is tight fitting, contains armour and a back protector almost like memory foam. I have several leather jackets and textile ones and this has revolutionised my riding comfort. In summer I can wear just a T-shirt and in winter I can layer under or over it. What I really love about it, when I reach my destination it folds up pretty compactly to fit in the pannier.
I no longer have the need to look like a biker in a leather jacket with patches all over it, forgoing comfort for presentation.

Which one do you use? In summer I have a textile armored jacket that is very light and breathable, Tourmaster Air Intake.

 

[Bigjaype]

Which one do you use? In summer I have a textile armored jacket that is very light and breathable, Tourmaster Air Intake.

Since I’ve bought the Knox, it’s all I use. In summer, under a tshirt. In winter, I use a heated undershirt, then the Knox followed by a warm jacket. You can still wear a leather jacket ...just remove any armour.

 

[Louballs]

Not sure I understand. I was asking what Knox gear was being used.

 

[estoma]

Knox isn’t Kevlar. You can probably compare it to a vented jacket that is tight fitting, contains armour and a back protector almost like memory foam. I have several leather jackets and textile ones and this has revolutionised my riding comfort. In summer I can wear just a T-shirt and in winter I can layer under or over it. What I really love about it, when I reach my destination it folds up pretty compactly to fit in the pannier.
I no longer have the need to look like a biker in a leather jacket with patches all over it, forgoing comfort for presentation.

Thanks, I'll have to try that. Only, my current body configuration is not well suited for 'tight fitting' (-:

 

[estoma]

Impact protection remains my main concern. Leather, Kevlar®, Knox®, etc., and padding mainly assists in mitigating abrasion-related injury. Our heads, necks and spines are podium candidates for life-changing impact-related injury, though. We all wear helmets, some use back-protectors (possibly even without knowing it), but very few consider and protect the neck.

Do we have anyone with neck-brace experience - either tried it, used it, plusses/deltas? Like I mentioned in the opening post, I am considering getting one for my pillion (my wife), but nobody seems to use them. Perhaps a pronounced back protector instead - so that the helmet can butt against that upon neck-whipping impact. But you can hardly use that with a pillion backrest.

 

[Tal]

ATGATT for me...seen too many close shaves with helmets worn nearly thru from grinding along on the bitumen thanx!...Its the coarsest grade sandpaper you can get...Dont believe me?...put the heel of your boot down hard when doing 50kph and you will soon see!!...If your imagination dosnt kick in from that experiment then NOTHING anyone says will help you!