Leatt / other neck brace users responses please

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December 20, 2011 at 7:50 pm #100850

Adrian Snowden
Member

Many riders are now using neck braces particularly one manufactured by the Leatt corporation in South Africa. I have been playing around the edges of a research paper on these accessories and the claims made about them, but now with a few quiet weeks at work coming up Id like to complete the paper. Having discussed with mal 5.1 his experiences with the brace, Im really keen to hear from anyone who has used a neck brace and has had a major get off. What I need is riders opinions on if they felt the brace did anything, if like Mal after a get off if you found you had a sor strenum or other body part and particularly form anyone who has had a major get off and found soreness around the upper thoracic spine near where the brace ends. Good or bad comments are what Im after – this is research not a paper against or for the item. I will put an edited copy of the final paper up on old Bulls hopefully by the end of January. Thanks Snowy

December 20, 2011 at 11:35 pm #213504

simon burke
Member

I reckon there great snowy…bought one 12mths ago…new in box off a dude on ebay..unwanted gift blah blah $300…….sat in my office for 12 months…in the same box…so i sold it the other day on ebay and got $365..i think they are tops!!! :cheer:
true story
Bol :woohoo:
ps…hope this helps

December 20, 2011 at 11:42 pm #213538

Adrian Snowden
Member

BOLLOCKS wrote:

I reckon there great snowy…bought one 12mths ago…new in box off a dude on ebay..unwanted gift blah blah $300…….sat in my office for 12 months…in the same box…so i sold it the other day on ebay and got $365..i think they are tops!!! :cheer:
true story
Bol :woohoo:
ps…hope this helps

Yeah helps remind me your a goose!

December 20, 2011 at 11:53 pm #213540

glenn
Member

Hey snowy,I`ll let you know soon, I just bought one the other day off ebay for $365.00,, what a bargain,,,I ripped that bloke off.

Boony

December 21, 2011 at 12:47 am #213541

Greg
Member

Honestly Snowy I dont know how you manage up there with those fools. If you expected any serious discussion on this thread you never expected it from Tamworth did you :laugh:

Good luck with it, are you hoping to prove they are a good thing or not? To help your project if you PM your address I will send you my new unworn EVS Neck brace for you to use and try against a Leatt or whatever if you wish

Details on the EVS here

TB

December 21, 2011 at 9:23 am #213542

Adrian Snowden
Member

Trailboss wrote:

Honestly Snowy I dont know how you manage up there with those fools. If you expected any serious discussion on this thread you never expected it from Tamworth did you :laugh:

Good luck with it, are you hoping to prove they are a good thing or not? To help your project if you PM your address I will send you my new unworn EVS Neck brace for you to use and try against a Leatt or whatever if you wish

Details on the EVS here

TB

Pure research TB I’m not trying to promote or denigrate them just find out if the claims made by the doubters and promoters are accurate. P M sent

December 21, 2011 at 11:16 am #213505

Mike Ruoso
Member

Hi Snowy,

On the 9th September 2011 I had a motorcycle accident while on an Adventure Bike ride after leaving Goodooga NSW on the dirt towards Bourke. I was wearing a Leatt Neck Brace but basically face planted into ground with sufficient force (80 to 100 kmph) that I was knocked out for two days and have no memory of the crash. I was taken by Ambulance to Lightning Ridge NSW and then by Royal Flying Doctor to Dubbo for further assessment. There were no eye witnesses to the accident as my riding partner was to far away from me , but the general consensus was that I as I went into a bull dust hole the front wheel was caught, causing me to basically go over that handle bars and head first into the ground.

Despite being knocked out, I had only soft tissue damage including some rib cartilage adjacent to my spine. This was described in my medical report as and I quote ” Log Roll – complaining of pain to lower thoracic region, not clearly to midline. No focal midline tenderness to back on multiple palpations, saddle sensation intact.” I cannot honestly say that this was caused by the base of the Leatt brace being forced into my back or a stray rock though.

A secondary survey showed that I had a mild bruise to my left forehead. This is consistent with the marks on my helmet (which I still have but now not in use). Regarding my back it noted ” no midline tenderness, but again complained of non-specific “muscular” lumbosacral level pain”.

Given the speed and direction of impact, my head would have effectively been snapped back, so I am of the belief that the neck brace protected me from a more serious neck injury. I had no pain or neck issues directly after the accident, nor any ongoing issues. I also wear other safety gear including, Asterisk Knee Braces, Body Armour, Dri Rider Rally Pro jacket, pants and gloves and SIDI Crossfire boots.

As you can see I am a believer in trying to ensure that I do not hyper extend any body parts be they my knees, neck or ankles. I do not even notice the neck brace now and have ridden 1680 km in 18 hours with it on. It also proved an asset in high cross winds when my helmet was being buffeted. I hunched down so the helmet sat on top of the brace.

Hope this assists with your paper.

Mike

December 21, 2011 at 11:24 am #213552

Greg
Member

Ratso61 wrote:

Hi Snowy,

On the 9th September 2011 I had a motorcycle accident while on an Adventure Bike ride after leaving Goodooga NSW on the dirt towards Bourke. I was wearing a Leatt Neck Brace but basically face planted into ground with sufficient force (80 to 100 kmph) that I was knocked out for two days and have no memory of the crash. I was taken by Ambulance to Lightning Ridge NSW and then by Royal Flying Doctor to Dubbo for further assessment. There were no eye witnesses to the accident as my riding partner was to far away from me , but the general consensus was that I as I went into a bull dust hole the front wheel was caught, causing me to basically go over that handle bars and head first into the ground.

Despite being knocked out, I had only soft tissue damage including some rib cartilage adjacent to my spine. This was described in my medical report as and I quote ” Log Roll – complaining of pain to lower thoracic region, not clearly to midline. No focal midline tenderness to back on multiple palpations, saddle sensation intact.” I cannot honestly say that this was caused by the base of the Leatt brace being forced into my back or a stray rock though.

A secondary survey showed that I had a mild bruise to my left forehead. This is consistent with the marks on my helmet (which I still have but now not in use). Regarding my back it noted ” no midline tenderness, but again complained of non-specific “muscular” lumbosacral level pain”.

Given the speed and direction of impact, my head would have effectively been snapped back, so I am of the belief that the neck brace protected me from a more serious neck injury. I had no pain or neck issues directly after the accident, nor any ongoing issues. I also wear other safety gear including, Asterisk Knee Braces, Body Armour, Dri Rider Rally Pro jacket, pants and gloves and SIDI Crossfire boots.

As you can see I am a believer in trying to ensure that I do not hyper extend any body parts be they my knees, neck or ankles. I do not even notice the neck brace now and have ridden 1680 km in 18 hours with it on. It also proved an asset in high cross winds when my helmet was being buffeted. I hunched down so the helmet sat on top of the brace.

Hope this assists with your paper.

Mike

Awesome response Mike welcome to the web site as well mate

TB

December 27, 2011 at 10:51 am #213506

Adrian Snowden
Member

bump

May 29, 2012 at 1:56 am #213705

adam
Member

I had an early EVS neck brace that didn’t feel right or allow enough movement to see ahead properly so I got rid of it.

I have a Leatt GPX2 which is good as it allows adjustments in fit and movement range unlike the other Leatt versions but getting a jacket like a ralley cross etc to work with it is not the best.

I wear mine under the jacket but can’t zip it up for fast cold riding conditions. Safety to hyper extensions in a crash is proven though for me after a unexpected get off at about 70 or 80 km/h where I hit my helmet on a tree mid flight that turned me midair … it let me get up and dust off before continuing again. I did think at the time that could’ve been very much worse.

I still find it a little annoying trying to look up a hill while still heading downwards but now I won’t ride without it as i’m adjusted to it.

May 29, 2012 at 2:00 am #222950

adam
Member

I think Ben Grabham might agree to their effectiveness too. He tested his out recently with good results.

May 29, 2012 at 7:22 am #222951

Michael Passau
Member

A few months ago I had a disc replaced in my neck and took the opportunity to discuss the benefits of neck braces with my neurosurgeon, as a result I don’t wear my brace any more.

He had an artificial vertebra and showed me how it reacts when the head impacts an object and the resulting trauma of the spine. He explained the various areas and how they combined to absorb the force on the impact, but further explained when using a leatt style neck brace, the mechanics of the spine are interupted and the force of the impact is centralised lower down the spine.

He had to dumb it down, but essentially instead of a large area of the spine working to absorb the blow, the neck brace forces the impact in to much smaller area, putting much greater stress on that smaller area.

I’ve seen the end result several times from a high speed off on a road bike resulting in a snapped neck. From the trauma around the neck area, it is obvious to see that the torso has rotated faster than the head, resulting in the fatal injury.

This is of course different to offroad riding where the speeds are substancially less, but when previously wearing my neck brace, I have always been concerned that if I had a big off at a reasonable speed, the neck brace might dig in to the ground, preventing a normal rotation of the head and a subsequent snapping of the neck.

Wearing a neck brace is always going to be an individual decision, but the only benefit I see is to take a bit of weight off my wallet.

I would actually like to see a decent study done on neck braces, which would need to be independant and involve two groups, one group using a brace and the other not. All people would need to have Xray, MRI and CT scans prior to the study, and the same done every time they have an off and one at the conclusion. After a 2-3 year period then crunch the data and get a result that was worth printing. To my knowledge no such study has ever been done.

November 16, 2012 at 4:35 am #222964

Greg
Member

Attached is Snowy’s Leatt paper, the first is the brief version for OBT. If you really shouldnt be on this site cause you half more than half a brain read the full paper

Thanks for letting us post these on OBT

Great work Snowy only Boony holds you back :laugh:

[attachment=3626]LeattConclussionforOBT.doc[/attachment]

TB

November 16, 2012 at 4:52 am #232515

Amy Harburg
Member

Hi TB,

Thanks for posting the paper up. It’s good to see there is starting to be some independent research into the brace.

From my point of view it is an essential piece of my riding gear.

Here is a great girls analogy…I think it’s kinda like wearing a bar…sure, its a little uncomfortable when you first start out wearing one, but soon you get used to it and then you don’t even notice you have it on. Later you realise just how important it is and that it might just stop things from heading south. Cheap insurance if you ask me.

This is a difficult debate and each to their own…..I dont wear knee braces (yet!) eventhough they are highly recommended.

Flying Fish

November 16, 2012 at 9:07 am #232516

Adrian Snowden
Member

PLEASE NOTE UNFORTUNATLEY THIS LINK IS ONLY TO THE CONCLUSSION OF A 25 PAGE PAPER.

IM HAPPY TO SHARE THE FULL PAPER WITH ANY INTERESTED OBT MEMBER JUST PM ME. THANKS MAL SB250 AND THE OTHER BULLS WHO CONTRIBUTED. THE FULL PAPER HAS BEEN SUBMITTED TO AN INTERNATION MEDICAL JOURNAL AND MAY ALSO APPEAR IN ADB SHORTLY IN ANN ABREVIATED VERSION

SNOWY
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