After the third crash in a year in which he's damaged his back (not seriously, just stiff for a couple of weeks), a friend of mine is seriously considering buying some kind of spine protection. His riding style is more towards the aggressive side of XC but not really all that crazy.

I think it might be overkill personally and suggested that, at the most, he should look at a hydration pack with built in spine guard. I have no idea if these are any good though.

So… does anyone have any experience of hydration packs with spine guards (specifically thinking of the EVOC ones), or do regular, 'ordinary' riding with back protection?

And before anyone says, I've suggested he might need a skills course (or at least to learn when pre-jumping is the better option) 🙂

I wear armour for DH – it's mandatory for SDAs and a few other race series too.

I would say, if you wear *just* a back plate (i've some dainese with the arms cut off) it's a lot cooler and less restrictive than the full suit. Just like wearing a rucsac and an extra base layer really.

Is there a common theme to his crashes?

you can buy back only from dianeese

What do the spine guards prevent, over-articulation or impact damage?

What do the spine guards prevent, over-articulation or impact damage?

Some of them are designed for both – they have an overlapping-plate design which limits hyper-extension, although it won't do anything for twist (which is how I broke my back!).

I've always figured having a big water bladder should be enough protection if wearing a camelbak, I can't see how much more protection a spine protector will add. When doing DHing with no camelbak then I'll wear a pressure suit whcih has a spine protector

You can get all sorts of back protectors from motorcycle shops – including lightweight foam ones. Knox are a company making them
http://www.mandp.co.uk/products/list/Clothing-and-Helmets/Body-Armour

Deuter make a hydration pack which has a back protector insert – they look pretty unobtrusive.

I've only witnessed one of his crashes (yesterday), but according to him the way he lands is usually the same. He landed on the rear wheel from about 5ft after being launched off a stile-cum-cattlegrid thing. The bike just kept tipping back and dumped him flat on his spine. Luckily, he reckons, his Kriega pack took the brunt of it. His post ride banana was well and truly mushed. Obviously his technique is the main contributing factor. We'd been mucking around earlier and he'd got the hang of landing both wheels at once off smaller drops, but this cattlegrid thing makes quite a kicker and he just hit it too fast.

I've sent him links of pratically every back plate CRC sell, but figured since he'll be wearing a hydration pack too, then an integrated one might be the way to go.

he needs to sort out why he lands rear wheel first

Oooh, lots more replies while I slowly typed 😀

Thanks for that link TJ, I hadn't considered motorbike stuff, but it certainly seems more reasonably priced and less Robocop than most of the full-on DH gear.

If he is landing flat on his back I assume that's an impact injury, right? So what he's really looking for a some kind of pad rather than an articulated hardshell?

EDIT:

jedi – Member
he needs to sort out why he lands rear wheel first

Yeah, I'm not much use though since I generally avoid that kind of situation anyway. There aren't any skills courses I know of here in Sweden unfortunately, but the local club (who we ride with occasionally anyway) do a 'Technique night' once every couple of weeks.

Evoc pack could be a more versatile option.

Could try one of the Evoc backpacks. I've never used one but I think they come with built in spine protector.

POC do a flexible back protector that is enclosed in a vest. I have the full DH version but it's the comfiest armour I've ever used. Once it warms up the VPD spine guard moulds to your body shape and is really flexible and doesn't restrict movement like the hard shell armour.

I remember hearing about that vest thing but couldn't for the life of me remember who made it. Thanks! I assume it typical POC prices though.

I'm still sceptical as to whether he needs it, but this last crash seems to have put the fear in him (he's a new dad too so I guess he has a few more responsibilities than me).

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll forward them to him.

– I am not a harbinger of doom! –

However, irrelevent of the riding style if your mate lands on his back wrong once (As could any of us) then it could be end game for his cycling (or worse). If your mate feels like he needs one then he should wear one, I would suspect he'll feel safer doing so and have the confidence to concentrate on his riding and not whether he'll fall off or not, it's a personal choice at the end of the day if you wear safety equipment or not.

But in this case I'd advise for it.

I'd get him to fix his jumping style which will reduce the amount he crashes rather than spend money to protect him when crashing – although doing both will e good.