Safety Gear

If you do a google search on ATV Protective Gear you will get many results and many different opinions.  You will also get many different, what I'll call angles or view points from riders. Some will say bar-none you need the most expensive gear going as it will offer the best protection.  Others will say things along the lines of how many decades of riding they have done and all they wear is a plaid shirt and work boots.

Gear is constantly changing, and over the years I have worn many different styles, as well as quality levels of protective gear.  Hopefully here I'll break down the importance of gear and what you can and can't, or shouldn't pivot on when it comes to quality and level of protection.

What is protective gear ? well, it's items we wear to protect ourselves from bodily injury. The most basic and instantly thought of piece of equipment is a helmet.  Regardless if your location requires the use of helmets or not, you need to think do I want to protect my brain and my good looks, or risk all that so I look cool. 

When we teach courses we break down into what is suggested a rider wear, and why. The most basic understanding is that we want to limit any bare skin from exposure, this is from scratches from vegetation,  burns from hot parts on our machine or even the sun, cold such as snow, ice and frostbite, any at an extra level some support, reinforced clothing like boots that cover over your ankle, or even the next step riding boots that will help limit the over-exertion of your joints.  This is all relative to they type of riding, and level of rider you are.

In our course we go from our head to toes in covering a DOT approved helmet, and then discuss the different times which we will do a bit later on here. Then talk about various forms of eye protection, and talk about what is require in some riding areas and what is actual ticket able offenses. Long sleeve shirts, full finger gloves, long pants, and again boots that cover over your ankles.