All The Gear - Post Accident Review

So it’s been almost 4 weeks (!) since my accident and  I thought I’d follow-up and do an entry about all the gear I was wearing during my accident.  I’ve been riding since my early teens and this is my first accident.   I’m fairly religious about safety and practice ATGATT (all the gear all the time).  That means I wear the same gear regardless if I’m going to the corner for gas or on a long weekend trip.

Helmet

I just purchased my new Shoei RF-1100 helmet in December for Christmas and I’m glad I did.  Looking at the damage sustained in the accident I’m not sure of my older Nolin N-102 flip up helmet would have protected my noggin as well.  You can see a giant crack on the chin bar and  I’m assuming that was the first place my head touched down.   I’m not sure if the flip-up chin bar on the Nolin would have held up as well.  Not sure what happened to my face shield but otherwise I thought the helmet held up well.  I will definitely be replacing it with the same model.

Roadcrafter Suit

My beloved Aerostich suit.  It was cut to shreds by the EMT.  Overall I think it held up extremely well.  There are only a few small spots were it wore through the first layer of ballistics and I had no road rash whatsoever.  I was quite surprised after the accident that  I had no hip, back, knee or elbow pain.  I’m assuming the padding did its job.  This will _certainly _be replaced with the same thing.

Boots

My old Oxford Matrix boots held up well.  Actually the night before my accident I had picked up a tube of ShoeGoo and had repaired the sole on one which was falling off in a few spots.  The boots came through the accident with just a few minor scuffs. They were due for replacement and I will consider replacing them with the same model.

Gloves

My worst injury is my hand.  I’m not quite sure what happened during the accident and I’m missing my right glove.  I’m guessing due to the damage that the bike fell on it at some point. The left glove has a few abrasions and nothing more.  I’m assuming the EMTs cut my glove off and it simply wasn’t recovered with the rest of my stuff. I will be investigating a new pair of gloves but  probably not the same Aerostich Roper gloves.  They had no padding and no armor.  I’m not sure if either would’ve helped during this accident but it certainly wouldn’t have hurt anything.

Overall I’m very happy with my gear. Had I not been wearing a full face helmet I most certainly would be eating soft foods through a straw at this point.  Without my suit I would probably be looking at some extensive road rash and quite possibly more broken bits. The gloves were the weak spot and I’ll be researching whats out there and getting something with a bit more protection.

As far as my bike goes - it was totaled but I plan to replace it with another V-Strom DL-650.