CalvaryCougar

Hey guys I had a prettty bad slam last year where I was trying to get a ton of speed for a 25-30ft jump and was too far in the back seat and ended up slamming my back on the knuckle. After an ambulance trip and some xrays luckily all i had was a bruised back. I was looking at the spine protectors and wondering if they were made for that? Like preventing your back from hyperextending backwards? Or are they more for sharp impacts on like rocks and stuff? Thanks!

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Snowboarders For Christ USA

poutanen

I ride with upper body armour all the time incl. a spine protector. I think it would do nearly nothing with regards to the amount you can bend backwards. It will absorb some impact when falling on your back, and for me the main one is it should work really well protecting from quick blunt object hits, running into trees, rocks, etc.

Donutz

That's an interesting question, so I went out to the garage and checked my spine protector (I have a pro-tec). The thing provides a bit of resistance at an extreme bend, but only a contortionist would notice. I don't think you can expect any protection of that kind.

What it will do though, is spready any impact out over a larger area of your back, which I would think would mean that more muscles would be involved in absorbing the impact. Not going to keep you injury-free, but it should reduce the scope of any injury.

Honestly, I think a spine protector is as much a no-brainer as a helmet. I may occasionally skip wearing it, but not on park and jump days!


Wow, back-slam on the knuckle! I've knuckled any number of times, but only board-first. Hope it healed properly.

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Illegitimi non carborundum

Mountain Days: 30

Tarzanman

Spine protectors are supposed to protect your back and your spine from hard hits.

Bruising is one thing, but trauma hard enough to injure or even sever the spinal cord are not uncommon in sports like motorcycle racing (where spine protectors are standard issue equipment).

They don't really do much to prevent hyper-extension because there is usually only a velcro-fastened belt/stomach loop to hold the bottom of the protector in place.

Its padding for slams onto hardpack or other objects (rocks, tree stumps, rails, ski patrol).

Also, it makes you look like a power ranger in the lodge when you take off your jacket.

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Read on another forum: "If someone held a gun to my head and said, "You have to move to Salida tomorrow", I'd probably do it. If they told me I had to go to Breckenridge instead, I think I'd just let them pull the trigger."

poutanen

I'm not gonna lie, I find it funny when people give me looks when I take my jacket off.

christoff

You reckon you get funny looks...I have to wear a neck brace and full face helmet now after some savage neck/spine trauma...I look like frickin robocop on a bad day...

kleraudio

I had a bad slam on sunday and now am bed ridden for probably a week or so... my upper half is on a 45 degree angle..

any recommendations on a spine protector? Im at the point of not wanting to ride hard anymore... too many injuries.. its catching up to me now that i just turned 30

Tarzanman

The Icon Field Vest is pretty easy to get on and off. There is a D3O version called the Stryker Battlescar vest

Stryker Battlescar

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Read on another forum: "If someone held a gun to my head and said, "You have to move to Salida tomorrow", I'd probably do it. If they told me I had to go to Breckenridge instead, I think I'd just let them pull the trigger."

CalvaryCougar

Thanks it did, still on the fence about spine protection. What good would it be on rails and jumps? I live in the midwest and thats all i really do.

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Snowboarders For Christ USA

lonerider

Helps protect you spine (it's not going to make you invulnerable) if you slip on the heelside edge and slam your back into the rail by spreading out the impact... probably reducing the force your back by a factor of 10 at least (Pressure = Force / Area, if the area of impact is increase by a lot, the pressure on your spine is reduced a lot). Also the padding increases the time of impact... (Impulse = Force x Time, since the impulse is constant per impact, as your increase the time of impact, the force applied to your spine is reduced).

Physics... it's happening to you whether you understand it or not.

I like the Demon Flex Force Pro... or if you want to be Fancy the Demon Flex D3O Pro which hardens at the moment of impact.