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Any suggestions for something I can use to protect my arms when I take the fun route to work via some often overgrown trails?
When I wear a (tough) windproof jacket I’m fine but if I’ve got bare arms I arrive at work looking like I’ve had a fight with a furious cat and then fallen into some nettles.
Are any of those roadie arm warmers tough enough to fend off brambles?
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 ?
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.
Replying to my own thread after finally trying a trail shirt thingy - I got this one from Alpkit:
https://alpkit.com/products/aneto-mens
Wore it for the first time last night - I’m sure it won’t stop brambles completely but it makes a big difference and the bigger surprise is it felt less hot than a short sleeve base layer or cotton t-shirt (with or without the sleeves cut off). Quite amazed to be honest! Hope it lasts because even at a discount it’s a lot more expensive than what I normally wear. Highly recommended for HOT weather with or without excessive foliage.
I wear long sleeves, a shirt if it's cool enough or a long sleeve base layer if not, and trousers of varying weights, never shorts and short sleeves, I would rather be a bit warm than bloodied. I still get the occasional bramble to the face, had one merely brush my nose last week and it poured like a nose bleed, dripping all over my carbon frame (kept the blood stains as a badge of my idiocy). Like others I take secateurs and a pruning saw. It takes a while but is well worth it next time you ride that trail. Bit by bit over the summer it stops the brambles getting too much
A small rug wrapped around each arm, as used by police dog trainers? 🤣
Strimmer, secatuers and a walk home?
I probably shouldn’t ever resurrect an old thread with an answer to my old question!
In the summer I always wear 3/4 length sleeved tops in Delamere to protect the inner part of the elbow. I might get a few scratches on my forearm but rarely that bad. Unfortunately on Tuesday we went down a trail off Old Pale which, surprisingly, had not been ridden much recently and I paid the price for being first down.
I usually wear TLD Speed knee sleeves which, again, help to minimise scratches.
Long sleeved top, just push the arms up for non-brambly bits. It's not perfect, but it helps.
Leg-wise I bought some 3/4 Endura Shorts last year and wear longish socks that can be pulled up over my calves - helps stave off the worst.
Round me the gorse is high and very spiky, I fitted hand protectors. They look crap but keep my knuckles safe!
Have a look on eBay for. POLARIS OVERLAND LONG SLEEVE JERSEY
£15, special arm patches that work pretty well against brambles etc
“I probably shouldn’t ever resurrect an old thread with an answer to my old question!”
😉
