Bramble protection in the summer?

wear the scars with pride 🙂

I was once asked if I was self - harming they were so bad

Occasionally I take a walk down my local trails and cut the brambles back

Allow extra time on the way home and pack gardening gloves and secateurs for a spot of gardening. Do a bit at a time to avoid a search and rescue operation for you though.

Arm warmers? Long sleeves?

Brambles get through anything & snag on pretty much all technical clothing. Have you thought of a decent battery strimmer and an hour of your time? I've also been known to wander along a path with a rucksack sprayer laden with evil glyphosphate to deal with a nasty patch of nettles that wouldn't succumb to the "If I ride over them repeatedly they will surely die" method.

If you are specifically after arm protection for brambles there are horticultural solutions, an example from Niwaki

I would advise against using glyphosate on any weeds

As others have suggested, I take a small pair of secateurs and a 130mm folding Silky pocketboy saw to handle stubborn brambles and pokey eye level branches, which fit nicely in a bumbag

Carry a machete and start flailing it around furiously  ?

https://youtube.com/shorts/_UI6N2MC6Pk?feature=share

its more the nettles that are getting me at the moment, stopped wearing knee pads on localish rides and now im getting stung to buggery on arms and legs, then itching and tingling all night - part of me wants start wearing my trousers again but its too damn hot

I've not found anything that protects one's arms and legs adequately. As others have suggested I've resorted to trail cutting.

As others have suggested, I take a small pair of secateurs and a 130mm folding Silky pocketboy saw to handle stubborn brambles and pokey eye level branches, which fit nicely in a bumbag

This certainly works but it takes unacceptable time to do 800 m of single track in this fashion.

Battery powered hedge cutter is the solution. It requires a special trip, but you will be able to do WAY more.

Long sleeved jersey?  Personally I hate riding in long sleeves but they’ll help keep the brambles off. And offer a bit of protection if you crash and slide

I've actually had to stop using an offroad section of my commute as it's just too overgrown. This is to the point where you actually can't see the trail though.

Worst one I had a few years ago, bramble that had grown neck height across a downhill run in Puddletown forest.

DH jersey every ride for me... Partly bramble protection, partly sun.

I wear long sleeves anyway - I’m supposed to keep out of the sun if possible. It my legs that get butchered by nettles and brambles. So I have the same question, but for legs.

i wondered about roadie leg warmers which I’m hoping could be pulled up when needed and then pushed down to my ankles when not in use? I assumed the arm warmers would be the same type of solution?

I wear Decathlon trousers all year round. They can be a bit hot in summer but still better than nettle stings and bramble scratches.

“bramble that had grown neck height across a downhill run in Puddletown forest.”

That’s nasty! Which trail in Puddletown was that on?

My fairly heavyweight Paramo windproof seems to stop most brambles - I’m sure my more typical packable windproof would get destroyed by them…

This was when I arrived at work on Monday:

“Allow extra time on the way home…”

Time is my current life problem, this is why I’m trying to squeeze some proper MTBing into my commutes!

These might help a bit if you keep the speed up and get your Moses on.

“I wear Decathlon trousers all year round.”

Legs are fine - baggy shorts plus knee pads, and the brambles are generally higher up. Probably also that when cornering my tyres are protecting my legs!

“These might help a bit if you keep the speed up and get your Moses on.”

Already got them, this is my commuter bike! (And yes, they do help a bit).

Remove goggles and swap full-face for open-shell and that’s my commuting outfit.

@chiefgrooveguru “The last will and testament of Adrian Broome”