Body Armor: Ultimate protection or Overkill?

[TonyC]

I've seen some discussion about body armor in the boating community and would like some opinion. I'm thinking protect shoulders etc from rocks.

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f11/ ... 821-2.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's one designed for mountain bikers:

http://greenfishsports.com/product/468_ ... -2008.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is this kind of stuff a good idea or total overkill? As much as I hear about shoulder injuries around here (and my own dad had shoulder surgery for this kind of thing last year), prevention is on my mind.

Already got elbow pads, but upper body protection sounds like it would be worth it if it will protect shoulder impact injuries. Whadda ya think?

-Tony

[Shep]

We will see what the experts say on Monday night, but in my opinion, most shoulder injuries, and probably a fair number of elbow injuries, are sprains, strains, and dislocations. There are primarily due to indirect impacts and forces, not due to the direct impacts that pads can protect you from.

my $0.02
Shep

[vtsquid]

I'm no white water paddler, But I did my fair share of DH mountain biking, I know my pads and armor for MT biking are perfect for when I am on the bike, but off the bike i feel like they are forcing me in a position like I am still riding... Meaning, not the range of movement you would like to have paddling!

There are the "race suits" check out sixsixone stuff, they have a better range of movement, but still all of these are designed for sitting on a bike of some sort... Its hard to say,

good luck finding something you feel safe in!

Bryan

[TonyC]

Yeah, I'm hoping we get the training on injury prevention we almost had at the last NW meeting (flooded roads blocking the instructors travel). Wish I knew somebody that has some protection similar to what was in the two links above so I might be able to ask to try it on and see how free I remain to move.

Anybody actually have any gear you'd classify as "Armor"?

[justin.payne]

elbow pads are usually a good idea if you are doing any creeking

[panicman]

Elbow/arm pads are a must on steep creeks and just recently I came down on a big boof without pads on and hit my right elbow hard on my deck and did some damage. Its been a good 3 weeks and my elbow is still very tender and feels like something is floating around in there.

[shelbyjohnson]

I wear a sixsixone compression suit under my dirt bike gear and I think the main thing that would be uncomfortable would be the back protector. This suit has chest, shoulder, elbow, forearm and back protector all in one. The back protector goes down to near your tailbone and while you could take a direct hit from a rock wearing it I think it would limit your range of torso motion and be uncomfortable in a kayak.