Armor: It's Not Just For Knights Anymore
The better jackets on the market today feature protective armor in the shoulders, elbows and forearms, and even over the spine. Why? Because in a crash those parts are susceptible to being injured and require more protection than just a layer or two of leather. When examining the specs on a jacket with armor, look for material names and descriptions such as memory foam, Tempur foam, visco-elastic gel, dual-density foam and CE-approved.
CE-approved means the armor has been laboratory tested and has met specific European standards for impact absorption. However, it's still possible for a non-CE-approved piece to be equal to or better than an approved one. While a CE-approved piece of armor might only reach the necessary CE standard, that doesn't preclude a manufacturer from making non-CE-approved armor that exceeds it. Generally, manufacturers from Europe will have CE-approved armor in their apparel, while U.S. manufacturers that sell only in the U.S. might not, because of the expense of CE certification and the lack of any required safety standard in this country.
Some armor also has an outer plastic shell or even plastic sandwiched between layers of foam. The purpose of this is to disperse the force of an impact over a wider area. And if the leather wears through, the plastic will provide added abrasion protection. Foam that depresses easily between your fingers-open-cell foam-won't give you much. Make sure the armor is correctly covering the body part it is intended to cover or it won't do much good in a crash. -EK