Right Gear for the RideBe smart, wear protective gear!

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Helmets

• Types of helmets:

– Full Face

– Open Face

– Half Helmet

Helmets• Finding a good helmet is as easy as remembering the 4 S's: Size, Strap, Straight and

Snell. • Size: Try on several different helmets before you purchase one. The best way to

gauge comfort level and fit is through comparison. The helmet should fit comfortably all the way around your head. Additional pads can be used to make it snug.

•Strap: Pay attention to the chin strap. Make sure that the chin strap fits around your ear and under your chin snugly and comfortably. The helmet should not shift on your head.

•Straight: Know how a helmet should fit. A helmet is meant to be worn low on the forehead, just above your eyebrows. Look into a mirror or have a friend/parent help you determine the proper fit.

• Sticker: Look for Snell certification. Snell Standards are the most stringent in the world, exceeding those set by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Need to know which helmet is Snell certified? Browse through our helmet certification lists.

Helmets

• Should be Dot and/or Snell approved• Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 (FMVSS 218) and is known

commonly as the DOT helmet standard.

• A Snell sticker is your best assurance that the helmet meets both Snell and DOT.

• Snell link below gives a listing of all the helmets that are Snell approved

• William (Pete) Snell, auto racer died due to failure of helmet and his friends start the SNELL testing in 1957.

• http://www.mxdirtrider.com/h-resources/s-about-Snell.htm Snell link

• http://www.smf.org/articles/dot.html DOT Link

Riding Clothes

• Shirts and jackets should be long sleeve• Pants should be of leather, blue jeans, or synthetic

material (kevlar), and be full length no shorts.• Bright colored for safety.• Rain gear comes in breathable (frogg toggs) or in a

non-breathable form and that should be taken into account for the season.

• Should fit to the body and not flap in the wind or tangle in moving parts of the bike.

Gloves

Full fingered

Non Slip

Made of cowhide, animal skins, & man made materials (nylon, kevlar)

Need the palms of your gloves reinforced with leather or knitted kevlar for abrasive resistance.

Footwear

• Should cover the entire foot and ankle• Non-skid soles• Good material would be thick leather or second a

durable pair of over the ankle athletic shoes• If laced make sure they are tucked in to boot to keep

from becoming attached to things like the foot pegs making braking a challenge.

Eye-ware

• Shatterproof

• Scratch free

• Vented to prevent fogging

• Full eye coverage

• Goggles

• Helmet Shields (clear only at night)

• Windshields do not count as eye-ware.

SummaryWear the five pieces of gear in case you go down that can keep

the injuries to a minimum:

Helmet, gloves, over the ankle boots or shoes, long sleeves, and

shatterproof eye-ware. Remember, only cover up what you want to keep!