Why Should You Be Buying Motorcycling Body Armour?

Have you ever seen motocross riders zipping across the dirt? They often look like they aren’t wearing any riding gear. That is because they don’t use traditional motorcycle riding gear to keep themselves safe. When you are riding on tarmac, you need two kinds of protection: impact and abrasion. But when you are riding on dirt, the latter is not needed. That’s because dirt is not as abrasive as tarmac and a lot more forgiving on your skin. But you still require impact protection and that is where body armour comes into play.

Body armour is specifically designed to safeguard the impact zones of the human body such as the chest, back, shoulders, elbows and knees. Your head, hands and feet continue to be protected by a helmet, gloves and boots respectively, albeit of the off-road variety. Now sticking to body armour for the time being, there is a brand called Forcefield that makes all the gear you would need to start riding off-road. And if you are looking to go off-road on a motorcycle soon, here’s the king of gear you should be looking at:

Forcefield EX-K Harness Flite

The EX-K Harness Flite from Forcefield combines a chest protector and a back protector into one. It’s like a vest that zips up in the front in between the two chest protectors and should ideally be worn over a base layer. The zip in the front makes it quite easy to pull on and off. All the armour employed in the EX-K Harness Flite is CE level 2 certified and is rated to take multiple impacts. It’s also flexible in nature, so wearing it doesn’t feel cumbersome, allowing you to retain your agility off-road.

Forcefield EX-K Shoulder and Elbow Protection

You can pair your EX-K Harness with the EX-K shoulder and elbow armour. This completes a full set of upper body armour, that is not only CE level 2 certified, but also pliable enough that wearing it feels like putting on a second skin. The entire armour set is also breathable due to the air channels built into all the pieces. On a hot day, you'll not be left wanting to pull the armour of your body every time you stop to take a break.

Jersey

Now wearing a body armour as the top most layer isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing sight. A quick remedy for that is donning a large jersey that can cover all of that upper body armour. What’s more, the jersey will protect the armour from getting any muck on it, if you are playing around in wet conditions. Simply pull off the jersey at the end of the day and rinse off the mud.

Forcefield Pro Tube 2

If you are looking for individual protection for your joints, Forcefield makes a really versatile piece of kit called the Pro Tube 2. The genius here is that you can use it to protect your elbows, or your knees. Once again, it’s got CE level 2 certification so you can be assured about the levels of protection and it's quite easy to pull on and off as well. There are two elastic bands that make sure the armour doesn’t move from its place in the event of an impact. The armour is also removable so you can easily wash the Pro Tube 2.

Is that all you need?

These are some of the basic pieces of motorcycling riding gear that you will need before you start venturing off the beaten path. Now when it comes to riding safety, in most cases you will always be able to buy better riding gear. But if you are a newbie who is looking to hit the trails for the first time, this basic set of riding gear should be enough to get you started.