Originally Posted by dirtbikedude
I personally like the hard shells w/protective foam underneath on the chest area rather then just protective foam. I have had branches go right through armor (661 Pressure suit) with just the padding and have landed on a few boulders with shard edges that left some pretty good stingers through the foam only protectors.
That's what I like about the
05 and above Pressure Suits - -and why I held out buying one until that redesign: the chest area has a hard-shell insert just for the reasons you stated. (People who
don't like it can unzip it and remove it.) I was all set to buy a hard-shell Defender, but Sean at 661 talked me out of it, as he said the parts have a tendency to shift around a lot more if you do get 'rag-dolled.'
I had set of Easton hockey pads before, because, at the time, they were much more substantial than any of the bike/moto gear. I took my PS one more step, though, for racing real rocky courses. I have velcro straps that let me add Defender shoulder caps to help add more hard armor to the tops of my shoulders and collarbone:
(photo by Jonathan Lomber - reproduced by permission)
They cover the gap left by the PS shoulder caps being so far outboard. Looks a little doofy, I know, but that all disappears under the jersey anyway
.