Safety Gear - whats next after a helmet?

[punkdSICO]

Hey all - decide to get some safety gear for myself for Christmas.  Got a helmet so, what would you recommend to get next?  I guess I will be spending up to £100 (max) but hopefully less.

I only go to parks once a week for an hour or so, so Im a very occasional rider.  Im too old to take many risks and try crazy life threatening jumps.  I’m 1.73m and slim(ish).

Im just looking for the next obvious level of protection after a helmet..??

Thanks for any suggestions..

Paul

[Gary72]

Gloves, Knee and elbow pads

[fugazi]

Gloves, Knee and elbow pads

What He said, plus some shin pads, should get that lot on sale for under £100 

[Hmoon27]

Try chain reaction, I got 661 knee and elbow pads for about £30. Worth every penny

[lk_97]

Gloves, Knee and elbow pads

What He said, plus some shin pads, should get that lot on sale for under £100 

This

[Spen69]

Fook that Paul, spend it on vodka or something over 40% proof and just man up!

Chicks love scars and pain is temporary, pride is forever....

But wear a helmet ;-O

[m1ke]

gloves next id say its amazing the lack of stuff you cant do with a messed up hand 

[58 delray]

don't listern to spen (apart from the helmet bit) unless of course you want to end up looking like him 

[DoubleD]

My Kneebrace 

[griff]

all of the above ^ I don't bother with shin pads but helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and gloves have all come in handy
after missing the boardroom because I overextended my thumb falling off funny, would maybe look at some kind of wrist protection too
(if anyone knows of anything good please advise)
suppose I should have just landed on my head instead of putting my hand out 

[moomin]

Try chain reaction, I got 661 knee and elbow pads for about £30. Worth every penny

Ditto, the 661's are pretty comfy too

[john4130]

knee pads, as a wise man once said. look after your knees,  once their gone you'll miss them.

[Wadz]

Youll regret not getting shin pads when you slip a pedal , they also make you a tad braver when hitting the ramps.

[hunterdubber]

I found TSG and Dainese to be best I've tried 

I prefer hard shell to the 661  chicken wings neoprene bobbins

Helmet gloves , knees  are the bare minimum ,, and don't buy crap stuff , i

If you  buy quality , you only need to buy it all once 

[DoubleD]

knee pads, as a wise man once said. look after your knees,  once their gone you'll miss them.

knee pads  are usefull but not good  to protect your ligaments 

[punkdSICO]

Huge thanks all - I just ordered from Chain Reaction the below.  In the end I did not go for the 661 stuff as I fancied the hard plastic stuff.

RaceFace Rally DH Arm Combi 2011 @ £20
RaceFace Rally DH Leg Combi 2010 £30

They claim this is a total price for this lot should have been £125 so I saved £75!!

thanks again everyone..

Paul

[gobshite]

helmet and knee-pads,

anything else and you start to look a cnut.

[Jon The Bassist]

helmet and knee-pads,

anything else and you start to look a cnut.

...but if you're that bothered what you look like, you might be riding for the wrong reasons. Get padded-up to the level you think is right. My patchwork of scars suggests I need to protect my knee/shin and elbows - so I do.

[griff]

helmet and knee-pads,

anything else and you start to look a cnut.

no worries there, can easily look like a cnut in just a helmet 

[popedante]

helmet and knee-pads,

anything else and you start to look a cnut.

...but if you're that bothered what you look like, you might be riding for the wrong reasons. Get padded-up to the level you think is right. My patchwork of scars suggests I need to protect my knee/shin and elbows - so I do.

Yup , totally agree - ive a dodgy back so use a pressure suit to protect my spine ( and it makes me look hunky in a "mad max" way)   

[TwoBobRob]

helmet and knee-pads,

anything else and you start to look a cnut.

 

It's a good point actually. I wear knee pads & gloves. More often than not I leave my elbow pads in the bag as I started suffering with some wicked arm pump a while back. If I put them on now, I feel a little overdressed....

There's a reason why skaters generally don't wear pads. In my experience once you get your head around actually trying some of your harder stuff without that safety net you do pull it more often. Can make you ride a little smoother too. It's all in the head.

[Bob_Acid]

My shin pads paid for themselves many times over.   

[Jon The Bassist]

I went down hard on tarmac at Yeadon track just 1.5 days before we drove to the British Champs. The pants I was wearing were shredded and had to be binned but I was fine cos of my pads. If I'm wearing racepants I wear shinpads rather than my knee/shin guards, cos the racepants are thick nylon and take sliding biffs pretty well.

[gobshite]

helmet and knee-pads,

anything else and you start to look a cnut.

...but if you're that bothered what you look like, you might be riding for the wrong reasons. Get padded-up to the level you think is right. My patchwork of scars suggests I need to protect my knee/shin and elbows - so I do.

Yup , totally agree - ive a dodgy back so use a pressure suit to protect my spine ( and it makes me look cnut in a "cnut" way)  

a "pressure suit".......




ffs......



it even sounds fooking gay!



no,
not for me all that,
the day i need a "pressure suit" just to be able to ride is the day i hang up my spurs.

i've always thought of bmx as part of my everyday life, i used my bike to commute for 5 years, i wouldnt and still rarely buy clothes and shoes i cant ride my bike in, just the idea of being able to grab my bike and knee/shin pads and go ride, or ride the concrete parks on the way home every night,
i dont want to cart a big bag of pads around with me just in case i fancy a roll-around,
i dont want to dress up like darth vader to do a few airs and tyretaps,
i'm not dave fooking mirra in the 90's,
too many pads and i start to feel clumsy,
false sense of security,
i dont even wear a helmet, its my life, my choice,though i make my kids wear them,

might be a bit of inverse snobbery but if i see a guy turn up at the local park wearing full body armour and a full face helmet i expect ^ft airs and if robocop doesnt deliver i think he looks a cnut,
just being honest.....

[TheGuvnor]

Ditch all the safety gear and buy a big foam pit and a quite large ramp to jump into it !!! 

OR

Helmet
Elbow pads
Knee pads
Shin Guards
Chest and Back Protector (only if you plan to go real BIG)
and finally
Prayer