Air Vests...Has anyone used them?

[Andrew Kass]

I just saw a video on air vests and of course they seem like a great idea.  Has anyone used/use one or even crashed with one.  Let me know.  Thanks, 

Andrew

[James R. Davis]

I was sent an air vest along with sufficient CO2 cartridges to inflate it three times by a well known manufacturer in an effort to get me to test it and write up my reactions.

I had earlier told him what my measurements were so the vest was properly sized.

After rigging the vest (inserting two CO2 cartridges, setting their triggers, and attaching a lanyard to activate them), I donned the vest and had my riding partner simply pull the lanyard. ONE of the two CO2 cartridges worked, the other did not - well, the second one merely 'leaked' its contents into the vest over a period of about FIVE SECONDS. First test - NEGATIVE.

Second test, with the vest off so that I could watch the triggering mechanism to see if that was the source of the first problem - the vest inflated properly and VERY quickly. Second test - POSITIVE.

Third test, this time I donned the vest and again had my riding partner pull the lanyard, again both cartridges worked very quickly. BUT!!! The vest then became so tight around my chest that I LITERALLY COULD NOT BREATHE!!!! If I had survived a get off, I'm not at all sure I would have survived the vest! Instead of acting like an air bag in a car that has inflated and then quickly deflated, the deflation of the air vest was extremely slow. It was so tight that my partner and I could NOT GET IT OFF OF ME - the zippers were stretched too tight for that. Finally, it deflated enough to get the damn thing off. Third test - NEGATIVE.

Two out of three tests were so negative that I would never put my body into one of those things again.

By the way, I returned the vest and the spent cartridges along with my negative assessment. In reply the manufacturer apologized for having sent me the WRONG SIZED CARTRIDGES. So much for quality control.

[Andrew Kass]

Thanks for your experiences.. Sounds like I am going to hold off for now.. Hopefully, they will get this product working flawlessly in the future and we can all benefit from it!!

James R. Davis said:

I was sent an air vest along with sufficient CO2 cartridges to inflate it three times by a well known manufacturer in an effort to get me to test it and write up my reactions.

I had earlier told him what my measurements were so the vest was properly sized.

After rigging the vest (inserting two CO2 cartridges, setting their triggers, and attaching a lanyard to activate them), I donned the vest and had my riding partner simply pull the lanyard. ONE of the two CO2 cartridges worked, the other did not - well, the second one merely 'leaked' its contents into the vest over a period of about FIVE SECONDS. First test - NEGATIVE.

Second test, with the vest off so that I could watch the triggering mechanism to see if that was the source of the first problem - the vest inflated properly and VERY quickly. Second test - POSITIVE.

Third test, this time I donned the vest and again had my riding partner pull the lanyard, again both cartridges worked very quickly. BUT!!! The vest then became so tight around my chest that I LITERALLY COULD NOT BREATHE!!!! If I had survived a get off, I'm not at all sure I would have survived the vest! Instead of acting like an air bag in a car that has inflated and then quickly deflated, the deflation of the air vest was extremely slow. It was so tight that my partner and I could NOT GET IT OFF OF ME - the zippers were stretched too tight for that. Finally, it deflated enough to get the damn thing off. Third test - NEGATIVE.

Two out of three tests were so negative that I would never put my body into one of those things again.

By the way, I returned the vest and the spent cartridges along with my negative assessment. In reply the manufacturer apologized for having sent me the WRONG SIZED CARTRIDGES. So much for quality control.

[Joel Moses]

Fascinating. In your limited exposure to the vest, did you get an impression of weather it would succeed to protect in an accident, if in fact it actually worked properly?

James R. Davis said:

I was sent an air vest along with sufficient CO2 cartridges to inflate it three times by a well known manufacturer in an effort to get me to test it and write up my reactions.

I had earlier told him what my measurements were so the vest was properly sized.

After rigging the vest (inserting two CO2 cartridges, setting their triggers, and attaching a lanyard to activate them), I donned the vest and had my riding partner simply pull the lanyard. ONE of the two CO2 cartridges worked, the other did not - well, the second one merely 'leaked' its contents into the vest over a period of about FIVE SECONDS. First test - NEGATIVE.

Second test, with the vest off so that I could watch the triggering mechanism to see if that was the source of the first problem - the vest inflated properly and VERY quickly. Second test - POSITIVE.

Third test, this time I donned the vest and again had my riding partner pull the lanyard, again both cartridges worked very quickly. BUT!!! The vest then became so tight around my chest that I LITERALLY COULD NOT BREATHE!!!! If I had survived a get off, I'm not at all sure I would have survived the vest! Instead of acting like an air bag in a car that has inflated and then quickly deflated, the deflation of the air vest was extremely slow. It was so tight that my partner and I could NOT GET IT OFF OF ME - the zippers were stretched too tight for that. Finally, it deflated enough to get the damn thing off. Third test - NEGATIVE.

Two out of three tests were so negative that I would never put my body into one of those things again.

By the way, I returned the vest and the spent cartridges along with my negative assessment. In reply the manufacturer apologized for having sent me the WRONG SIZED CARTRIDGES. So much for quality control.

[James R. Davis]

I have no doubt that some injuries would be less like to occur if the vest properly inflates.