Helmet with shield or goggles, long sleeves, gloves, boots over the ankles, and upland bird hunting pants. These have cordura nylon up to mid thigh, and up to mid calf in the back of the legs. Mostly waterproof, great protection against brush, pretty good in a fall, and they cost the same as jeans ($20 in Cabela's or Sportsman's Guide). That is the outfit for trail riding we do in the mountains or deserts around Colorado and Utah. We always take raingear, and usually a fleece jacket or sweatshirt. But nothing under our kilts.

 

if i go to the local offroad park i wear full gear- HJC helmet, MSR chest protector, MSR racing gloves, MSR boots. if i'm roosting around on my natural track i leave the boots and just wear some beat up addidas sneakers lol. oh yeah- whenever i ride for an extended period of time my outer 2 fingers on both sides of the handlebars (i.e. the pinky and ring fingers of both hands) start to hurt like hell.it does it every time i go riding and it's annoying. what could it be? i think it's the vibration from the handlebars just getting to them.

 

Milkweed,

I wear a chest protector no matter what type of riding I do - I have fake *****....that's a big reason - wouldn't want to pop one of those!!! But I would still wear one at all times.....no matter what. Mine has saved my shoulder several times as well as my spine when my quad hit me in the back (don't ask!). It meant the difference between me going to the hospital that day or getting back up and riding some more. The crazy thing is......as you are flying through the air, landing, and sliding along the ground - you actually realize how much good that protector does. I mean.....I have actually thought as I landed "gee....this thing really works...that wasn't that bad!" It's nice to have for the roost protection at all times, obviously...but it does alot more than that.

Buy one that is comfortable...if it's not you won't want to wear it. I don't even realize mine is on....it fits so well. I'd say out of all my gear......the 3 must-have's for me are helmet, chest protector and Alpinestars......even at the dunes. Sure, the sand is soft, but when your quad hits you it's not...neither is that other quad that didn't see you over the top of that razorback......

Way better to be on the safe side - the worst thing that can happen if you buy and wear a chest protector is that you spent $140 bucks on something, rode for 10 years and never crashed. The worst thing that can happen if you don't is....well....use your imagination.

Oooooo....kidney belts are great, too. Saves lower back muscles and protects those kidneys from too much jiggling as well as impacts! Find a comfy one! The FOX Blackbelt is soft and comfy but still works great!

Ok...gotta work now - good luck!!! Seriously.....get a chest protector - someday you will be very glad you had it on!

 

Dunes-Helmet, gogles, gloves, boots (don't want to burn myself on that hot pipe!!), and chest protector. This is the MINIMUM I would use riding anywhere. In the dunes I will wear short sleves and short pants, becaues you aren't going to get road rash in a crash. Keep in mind that even though the terrain is soft, someone else might hit you. So, you need to wear at least basic safety gear.

For X-country or trail riding, I use EVERY PROTECTIVE DEVICE KNOWN TO SCIENCE!! I have walked away from a couple of bad crashes that would have been life threatening without safety gear.

 

Since all of my accidents last year, I got a chest protector, kidney belt, and so on, the wife said one more injury, and the quad goes. A few weeks ago I was chasing some dirt bikes, man, I'm glad I had the chest protector on then, them guys were roosting all over me. The bad part about the chest protector is I can't look behind me as well, because the helmet hits the shoulder guards on the chest protector..but this year SO FAR I have gone injury free....

 

.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img] Even though we are Utility riders, we always wear MX pants and shirts, gloves, MX boots, helmets, and chest protectors. We added the chest protectors after my wife flipped her Rancher climbing a hill, and it spun on a rear wheel, and body-slammed her. She ended up with 4 broken ribs, one of which punctured her lung. Her helmet got trashed, which means it prvented her head from getting hurt. We both decided to wear the chest protectors to prevent any similiar occurrence of the extended recovery time.

 

I think some times it takes an accident before you start wearing safty gear. Any kind of extra protection is good.

 

Helmet, long pants, boots, goggles, and a great big smile.

So far so good.

 

I use fox pants , jurssy, boots, chest protecter, and gloves and goggles! but i ride ALTO of pit and trail