Originally Posted by
mandovoodoo
The damage resulted from her impact quartering to the right front, and she slid that way, the helmet and her protective glasses taking up most head abrasion as she bunched up a bit following impact and loss of consciousness.
People overestimate the abilities of cycle helmets in many ways, but a decent one can definitely eat up abrasion damage in a slider. Your wife is to be congratulated on being among the minority of riders to wear one correctly, preventing it from separating during the slide. I'd interested to know what model helmet she was wearing?
The mesh jacket was the most interesting. It's by First Gear and is a poly material. CE certified armor in the elbows, shoulders, and back. Cordura patches in elbows. First impact on her hip was protected by the jacket. I can hardly see a sign of what had to be a strong impact, based on the large amount of purple flesh! The elbow armor and cordura worked well. Little abrasion on the cordura.
You can get cordura gear designed for mountain biking. Search for Endura Singletrack shorts.
..I want better protective gear for cycling. A helmet with a light chinprotector.
These exist - look at offroad and trials helmets.
And lightly padded, abrasion resistant shorts and jersey. And better armored gloves. This stuff should be available. Shoulder pads, hip pads, and abrasion resistant panels on shoulders, back, hips. I am thinking the mesh material backed by something as a melt barrier would be excellent. The material is thick and provides some padding right there.
Again, it's already available:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/c/cycle/7/Body_Armour_-_Cycle/
I don't how good this stuff is or what the overheating is like; I do know some hardcore messengers favoured it BITD.
The problem is really in climbing. So unzipping is an option.
I think unzipping on the move will create more accidents than the gear protects from. The real need for protection is at the joints and the side of the legs anyway - these are the slide areas.
That said, with good technique accidents should be very infrequent - your wife got unlucky.