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You guys can argue the myths, what ifs, opinions, and facts all you want.
Praying for a complete and timely recovery for Tickle.
I have heard from some friends that they have broken bones in their backs right where the brace finishes and also collarbones.
When my son had his fatal crash he didn't have his Leatt on and everyone was amazed as even while racing a couple of riders commented that he always, always trained and raced in one, he had 2. But when he crashed he hit his head on the triple clamps and virtually passed away instantly, his goggles were not even broken nor his helmet in fact his brother raced in it some months later. I asked the Surgeon how was his neck and despite swelling he was pretty confident it was ok. Everyone is different.
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IDK what brace he wears but it could reach if he really got folded.
Sad deal for him I was really pulling for him to get up there and maybe podium but the SX attrition continues. So many guys out that the 1st semi looked like an lcq.
as a side note my son switched to an atlas from leatt cause it dug into his spine and he hated. The atlas kinda splits the difference and rests on the shoulder blades. My daughter still uses a-star but I think we will switch her up. I do not use one. cant stand 'em but the wife makes em.
GET WELL TICkLEBERRY!
The body has been taking licks since some prehistoric animal grabbed a club toting caveman and stuck him in the mud headfirst,
It learned to "hinge" a certain way,the neckbrace hinges your spine in a unatural way as the head tucks down into the sternum,
Putting to much stress in one area,
It may work if you were drop straight down ,vertical ,and transfer force to shoulder,collarbone area.
Where are the tests that say this thing is a "brace" because I would not call it that,at all.
Who did the tests? That must be one crazy muther.
I'd rather stick my head thru a boat trailer tire tube and pump it up after strapping my helmet on than a 400 buck shovel.
Some of you guys should read this:
http://www.dirtrider.com/features/the-neck-brace-should-you-wear-one/
Sounds like Broc got even luckier. I hope he heals up to ride again, he was doing really well. It is a vicious sport.
A neck brace is designed to protect the weaker, smaller bones in the neck..specifically C5 below the facet joint. If you rock your head back, feel the joint in your neck where most of the bend is. That is the facet joint. The C5 below the facet joint, and the C4 above will bear impact. The moment created by an impact will concentrate on each side of that pivot when bones contact after range of motion is exceeded.
If you have a 500# impulse to the forehead, perpendicular to the spine axis, that force acts about 5" from the facet joint pivot. The bones in the neck come together in compression probably .5." from the pivot. That means the forces get multiplied about 10 fold. You are talking thousands of psi at the contact point. Not hard to crush and break things... That is how necks get broken from the feared head back blow. Now...the bones above C4 and below C5 are not fused...so it is more complex than this...but this is just a simplification to demonstrate the concept.
Now...when you add a strut down the back, the lever works the other way. The end of the strut is about 9" from the facet joint pivot. Let me help you with the math. Balance the moments. Basic engineering mechanics.
500# * 5" = "X" * 9"
X = 277#
Without a neck brace...you get thousands of psi between the C4 and C5. With a brace...you have hundreds of pounds of force acting laterally to the larger and stronger thoracic spine bones. In reality, the strut flexes, so the load is spread across the whole strut. You basically have an integration problem applied to a cantilevered beam. The loads on the back are VERY low. If an impact is strong enough that the reacted load down the strut is large enough to brake your back from the lateral load applied by a flimsy piece of plastic, then you were dead any way. A load that will create a fracture when reacted across a 9" lever arm will simply explode the C5 when reacted across a 1/2" lever arm.
Can a brace "cause" a T7 fracture. The weakest link breaks first. If can see how in a huge impact with a brace, the load to the back could cause a fracture point to shift from T12, 11, 10 up to T7 because of that added load. But what on earth do you think would have happened at your C5 without the brace, when it sees 20x the contact forces because the lever arm reacting the moment is so short?
The net moment which comes from the blow to the forehead has to be balanced. When you want to tighten a bigger bolt...you us a bigger wrench. If you want to react a load wiht the lowest force...you use a larger lever arm to react it. The natural lever arm about the facet joint to so short.
Get real.....these are the guys that spend every available (and then some) dollar on the latest graphics/gear/sprocket/pipe, in the hope that it will make them faster.....and do so because that's what RyanChadJamesTreyKenny use. If all the pro's were wearing braces, they'd all be wearing them as well. As their hero's decide to chuck them, so are they. And then they'll come here to post about "studies that show they break your back!!"
Wear one if you want. Don't wear one if you don't. There simply aren't going to be any well designed clinical studies that prove/disprove their value.
MR
Pit Row
He made a tweet during X-Games a year or so ago about a certain advert being a load of shit and how can they claim that. I replied to him his tweet was wrong and that the product was in fact a very good recovery product.
He went on to tell me I was knew nothing about what I was talking about and that he knows its bullshit. I then sent him 3 links with the scientific validation and test studies and asked him if he knew about this? He told me he doesnt have time to argue with me and he knows what he is talking about yet a proven study told us otherwise in many test subjects.
After that I laugh at his theories and claims now and is always looking for attention for some reason or another.
Maybe its a mental safety issue for the rider to have confidence but it doesnt seem like there any less broken back/necks since the braces came on the market vs when there were none on the market.
1. The can opener effect. This is scary. Catch the strut when sliding on your back...and now the brace is trying to pop off your head. The solution to this is easy. Make sure the strut is not exposed by wearing the strap, or tucking it into a mating chest protector. I also believe the current generation braces are designed so the strut will fail if loaded this way.
2. They can impede your ability to tuck your head to your chest when nosing in. If you have a lot of action and board sport experience...you are probably good at knowing when to stay extended..and when to tuck, go fetal, and rotate. A brace can impede the tuck and roll reflex. No one ever talks about this...and it is a big deal. The idea that you are just along from the ride when you crash is nonsense. There is a lot you can do to manipulate your body if you have the experience.
I know damn well that in most cases...it wont help...but in some it will. What if you just barely take a hard enough hit to brake your neck. Just barely. If you had a brace on...just barely could become not enough. To me, it is one of those can't hurt, might help things.
Hopefully tickle will be back to normal in not too long of time frame. Growing up I use to see him killing it at a lot of local tracks around the area. He always seemed like a good duded any time I heard him talk.
Which means it will never be built,not enuff of us to recoup investment.
Helmets could be so much better but we still stick or head in a beercooler with nice paint,just thicker than my 1st.
StartedTooLate, awesome post, to bad most of these guys will just ignore it or claim you are paid by Leatt to post that stuff.
All sarcasm aside, you nailed it. Unfortunately I don't think one of these anti-neck brace idiots will possibly be able to comprehend what you wrote. I am a mechanical engineer, and i will back up you info.
For some reason there are many people that have a hatred for neck braces. It is bizarre.
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