RxR Protect MX Organic Body Armor Review - Dirt Bike Apparel - Dirt Rider Magazine

Rxr Protect
Mx organic Body Armor

When this inflatable roost guard/chest protector arrived in the DR office, I was a little skeptical. It looked like a life preserver and had no hard plastic shell to protect from large impacts. I tested it in spite of it being different than your run-of-the-mill roost guard. When wearing it over a jersey, it looks a little as if you are entering a wakeboarding competition in your riding gear, so I changed up the installation order of my moto gear and went Euro, with the guard under my jersey.The body armor feels light, and it conforms to the bends of your body so it is super-comfortable provided that the air chamber isn't overfilled. That makes it stiff and doesn't allow your back to bend naturally, tiring certain muscles after a while. The armor stays in place and doesn't bounce around like a plastic protector, and after a few minutes wearing it, you forget it is there. The only drawback in the comfort department is the lack of ventilation to the midsection of your back and chest. Side venting is not a problem, and on cool days less venting can be a plus. Roost bounced off without my feeling a thing. How did the moto airbag protect in a crash? Well, for the life of me, during my testing period I couldn't get myself to crash hard, so we took the armor to the DR lab for a little analysis. First, to test blunt impacts I had our semi-trained lab technician whack me with the broad side of a 2x4 square in the chest. With a swing like that he should have played major league baseball because the impact sent me staggering backward-but without damage to my vital organs and no pain. That was good! Next, he rammed the 2x4 into me like a battering ram to test how the armor would protect when landing on an object like a rock. It did make contact through the protector, but the force was damped considerably. At $145, it is a little pricey, but your internals are surrounded by a cushion of air not provided by your average chest guard-Derek Steahly.