Since my tipover last November, there have been quite a few questions raised about what gear I was wearing. After all, if I had such severe injuries I must not have been wearing the proper gear, right? The truth is that while in hindsight I'd change a couple of things pertaining to my gear, I'm confident that it was top quality and in fact minimized the extent of the damage. Here is the rundown of what I was wearing and how it fared.
On my noggin, I had a Joe Rocket RKT101 carbon helmet. This had been my commuting and testing choice for quite some time because it is comfortable for a long ride, light and I am convinced good quality. Given the severity of the injuries to my face along with the damage to the helmet itself, it appears that something fit through the eyeport and did the bulk of the harm. The plastic surgeon that fixed things up said it was a miracle that I didn't have a brain injury (or worse) and in fact I didn't even pass out in the crash. This tells me the impact protection of the helmet did its job properly. It's worth noting that the RKT101 is Snell approved, and this is a good thing; DOT-only helmets are unrestricted as far as the chinbar is concerned, and some lower-quality DOT-only helmets have no Styrofoam material in that area. I'd hate to think what would have happened if that was the case in my incident.
As I've been doing for almost 10 years now, I was wearing my trusty Aerostitch one-piece suit on the ride. Unfortunately, it remained on the helicopter and hasn't been seen since, so a study of the outcome is impossible. However, a few conclusions can be drawn. While I did break a few bones, I didn't have a scratch as far as roadrash is concerned so I think the suit did a great job. A few years ago, Jeff Hughes wrote a Benchracing column about ATGATT ("The ATGATT Myth", May '07) and how even the best gear cannot protect you from the really damaging impacts in a crash. This was true in my case; even though the Aerostitch is fully padded with elbow, hip and knee protection, I crushed my elbow, broke a knee and a wrist. That said, I have to wonder how the repair of my injuries would have gone if the doctors were dealing with lacerations and embedded gravel as well as broken bones. And how much worse would my elbow have been if it was unpadded? Certainly the suit saved me from even worse injuries, and if I were to ride again for sure I'd continue with an Aerostitch.
Ironically, just a few days before the accident I had slipped a new back protector inside the suit. Previously, I had used the standard Aerostitch foam-and-plastic pad along with a plastic back protector from a set of leathers tucked in behind. I had substituted this for a Tpro pad made specifically for the suit. This back protector is CE Level 2 approved and is a plastic honeycomb design rather than the usual armadillo-type setup. It's hard to say how I would have fared with something different; the back protector disappeared along with my suit so we can't see if it was damaged. And as I've found out after a few months of rehab, every accident and spinal injury is different. I did break my back, and my choice of back protector is something that will be in the back of my mind for a long time.
Food for thought: I was also wearing a Shift Departure backpack, which itself is quite heavily padded as well. On one hand, this undoubtedly added protection. On the other, if I landed squarely on whatever was in the pack, it would certainly have caused trouble. For the ride I had mounted a tailpack to the passenger seat of the bike and had just a camera in the backpack. The camera was undamaged, so I doubt that was the case. Still, it's another thing that I'll be thinking about for a while.
On my feet were a pair of Puma Desmo boots, one step down from the roadrace GP1000 Pumas. The Desmos are quite sturdy for a street-oriented boot and provide a lot of protection, and I didn't hurt my feet or ankles at all. I've long been wary of footwear and usually wore a combination street/race boot, and that decision paid off in this case.
I honestly have no idea what I was wearing for gloves, and those that know my glove affliction will understand: I am constantly changing what gloves I use based on factors ranging from the weather to the phase of the moon. However, just like my choice of footwear, 90 percent of the time I wear full roadrace gloves, and again this decision paid off. The only mark on my hands was a blackened thumbnail (although I did break a wrist), with no abrasion damage.
Overall, even though I was fairly beaten up in my accident I'm satisfied that the gear I was wearing saved me from even more significant injuries, and may have even saved my life. Certainly I'm happy that I erred on the side of protection rather than comfort: On a hot or cold day my usual setup could get quite uncomfortable, but I could rarely (if ever) bring myself to sacrifice a certain level of protection. On an even more important note, the best gear in the world won't help you if it's sitting at home in the closet while you're out riding. Disaster, as it happened to me, could strike at any time.