Best Neck Brace for C class rider????

[RocketRobin]

So since things are pretty stale around here on Pitracer.com lately, here's a spark.

My son is now 16 years old and driving. He wants to ride a little more this coming year and I'll be starting him out on an older 2 stroke KTM 125 or 200 as he's too big for mini bikes now. My question is, what's the best neck brace for a C class skilled rider who doesn't want to get hurt for his stick and ball sports that he's still got 2 years of playing in high school?

 

[John250]

Really? Your opening up a neck brace thread? Matthew and I ditched the neck braces a few years ago. I guess there is a lot of different opinions out there on them.

That being said, seems like more people are wearing Atlas braces than the Leatt these days.

 

[Mark414]

I will never wear one again, I tore a muscle in my upper arm because of one At snoeshoe racing Downhill, Cartwheel to lawn dart into a ravine tapped out in the rain( If you have been there you Know how Nasty it gets) and pinched it against the brace and helmet.

 

[jfalat]

i or my son have never worn one...I have debated on this a lot. Mostly for my son and his safety.. in the end I really didn’t see any real information that would sway me to wear one.. I know there are tons of studies out there and some people swear up down it’s a must have , but still don’t know if it’s going to help or hurt in a bad crash.. one thing I have noticed or maybe it’s just me,but it seems like there are only a few pro guys wearing them in super cross now.

 

[Bass 67]

as parents we always are thinking about the safety of our kids. You can have every piece of equipment required and still something can go wrong. I have seen my son in few bad wrecks on the track from the up hill triple at Malvern to the step on step off at Malvern to Briarcliff last year when the bike pulled one of his boots off going over the bars!! I guess it depends on how much confidence and courage you ride with! NO FEAR! or the kid will ride within their limits until they get past that fear of pulling the trigger on certain parts of the track that they ride. My son is 16 and still wears his neck brace. I guess maybe it’s just preference as you get older and decide not to wear it. Hope this helps.

 

[Bass 67]

Through all of those crashes he’s been through he was wearing a leatt 5.5 neck brace. He wants to get an Atlas now. If ya want you can contact me and try the leatt and see if he likes it or not. Text 330sixone893zero4

 

[BriarcliffMx]

Dog collar.......

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

I’m pretty firm on my stance with this one. I don’t go for something Is better than nothing.

your neck by design is the only region of your body meant to hyperextend.

I also haven’t seen how every moto variable can be taken into consideration.

not one company can show me third party studies on these devices. They all do their own research. I mean that’s nice but....any company can pick and choose what to put in there stats.

finally, back in 04-08 it was like the new fad. Everyone quickly went out and purchased them. Me included. Everyone had them—so it seemed. Now at Loretta’s this year I still saw them but not nearly the numbers like I remember.

You have expert knowledge of moto and hockey. I don’t know anything about hockey. Whatever decision you make will probably be the correct one.

my brother spent 42 days in an icu. Didn’t have one on. i think your best bet is great chest protection, head protection, knee and boots. Tried and true.

 

[sq2208]

evs foam is all i ever use. i have had plastic ones and fell and it dug into my collerbone and broke it to peices and now i have a plate and 6 screws..

 

[jfalat]

Going to see if I can count how many guys are wearing then to night...seem like the popularity of the neck brace is going down.

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Barcia alpinestars brace
Anderson Is an atlas maybe ?

there’s really not many guys wearing them. Who’s else ??

 

[jj584]

My kid had a crash where he landed directly on the top of his head. Pushed the helmet into the neck brace and pushed that into his body. Broke both the helmet and the neck brace. Helmet slit down the sides along the goggle strap, neck brace over the shoulders. I was very curious and took his equipment to his sport’s medicine Dr and the spine specialist he saw because or residual pain that wouldn’t go away. Both Dr’s said it save his life or atleast kept him out of a chair. Not a maybe, both believed. My kids not fast, he just landed perfectly on the top of his head. He will wear one as long as I have a say in it. Two or three collar bone breaks is Worth the one time it came through.

 

[hershey]

If you are going with one, go with an Atlas or similar that does not rest on the spine. That's what we run, after seeing the original Leatt breaks spines and cause paralysis I wouldn't use those.

 

[jfalat]

Barcia alpinestars brace
Anderson Is an atlas maybe ?

there’s really not many guys wearing them. Who’s else ??

They where the only 2 that I could tell had them on in the 450 class..not many guys in the 250 class either..seen a few high number guys with them on during qualifying.

 

[RocketRobin]

Thanks for the comments and ideas everyone! I’ve ridden my whole life and got one when they came out, I still wear it now when I ride. I know that’s it’s all in the fall as to whether it helps or not in THAT PARTICULAR crash. He has worn one since he was little but he doesn’t ride very much. Now that he is driving and will be able to get himself to the track, I expect he will ride more this coming summer and on a big bike so I want to keep him as safe as possible because his hockey is important to him and that’s the focus for him.
If anyone has an Atlas brace that they are not wearing and getting rid of, let me know. I’d be interested.

 

[Jack Bierbower]

Ryno is pretty strong against them - Ryno is kind of kooky about some stuff but I think he's onto something here.



Work your body so it bends and doesn't break.

 

[jj584]

Yea but Ryno was just hurt a ton in the last two years. Didn’t he break his foot walking up steps barefoot?

 

[RocketRobin]

I'm guessing that there are a lot of opinions out there both for an against neck braces. I believe in the idea behind them and limiting the far range of neck movement that would cause severe paralysis or death in a crash. No one wants to talk about or think about that stuff, but it is a danger of the sport we all love. At some point if you do this long enough, you will know someone that paid the ultimate price for enjoying riding motorcycles off road, that person for me was Ronnie Boyas who always had a smile on his face and passed way too young doing what we all love to do. So I'll go a little extra in the protection dept just to ease my mind although I know that nothing can keep us totally safe no matter what.

 

[Double D]

I have a leatte for nick wondering if it is the right thing since I don’t wear one and I blame it for breaking his clavicle last year. I brushed my uterus this year and kept me off the bike.

 

[Matt Mangano]

It’s definitely a preference thing nowadays. Either you wear one or you don’t and have your reasons as to why.

I’ve been wearing an Atlas since 2013 and can think of a few separate occasions where I would have suffered paralysis or would have been paralyzed had I not been wearing it.

One time I swapped out through a set of rollers at Daytona amateur day and landed on the back of my head. Basically did a reverse scorpion. My head shot forward and my chin/lip caught the front of my brace and stopped my face from touching my chest. Went to the infield care center and one of the doctors told me had I not been wearing my neck brace then there would have been a much worse outcome.

I can see both sides of the argument. I’ve just been wearing one for so long that I can’t ride without it. I get that Ryno says if you wear it then it puts you in a bad riding position/restricts motion blah blah blah...

If it came down to it, I’d much rather have a broken collarbone than a broken neck. Does that mean you or your kid should wear a neck brace? No. Like I said, it’s all about preference.