What are your thoughts on air vests? Was reading through some older threads and was surprised that they don’t seem to get a lot of support on here versus the solid body protectors. This is surprising because body protectors don’t protect the neck or come down very far on the hips. I’ve had several whiplash injuries so neck protection is important! I’m doing mostly dressage In the ring so don’t expect to come in contact with a lot of hard or sharp objects. Curious to know if anyone is using an air vest and if so, which one and what is your experience?
Air vests have ZERO research showing they help or provide any additional safety to the rider. Absolutely ZERO. The companies that manufacture it are silent on requests for more information. There is small research showing they can in fact, cause more severe injuries than a plain vest. The only benefit I have heard is that it can be easier to roll away in the event of a horse fall.
NO vest protects your neck or from whiplash.
The thing with air vests is they are designed to be worn with a regular vest underneath. If you are not going to wear it this way, you are going against the recommended way of wearing it and it is basically pointless.
The lanyard does not always deploy properly, so it does have a fail rate. It can also spook horses after the fall. I was just at a clinic the other day where the rider fell and the vest did not deploy until she was already on the ground.
For dressage, a standard vest should be sufficient. I love my champion titanium which is extremely comfortable.
6 Likes
Well from what I understand, some of the air vests inflate around the neck Preventing hyper flexion. How well does this work, I don’t know. But at least it’s more than a body protector will do. The thing with body protectors as they are pretty limited as to what parts of the body they are protecting. Seems like they are good at protecting the front area of the torso, like chest, ribs, and abdomen. But they do not protect the spine, neck, or tailbone very well or at all. Again, this is based on the reading I am doing, Like you said it appears there is no independent research available. Point Two does seem to be making some specific claims about effectiveness based on studies.
But you may be right. Many people on Facebook are swearing by the air vests. They are so expensive for something that may not be effective. If they are effective, it’s totally worth the money.
People swear by air vests because it makes the fall softer, that’s it. They aren’t privy to research or the stats. There is no neck protection, so I would be curious to see what you are reading that says that? Without research it is just a baseless claim.
Imagine a horse falls on you and you break your neck. Your vest doesn’t deploy until the horse stands and the lanyard activates, now what happens with your broken neck? Paralysis?
The air vest companies get by on giving them to upper level riders and having them promote them. They have been purely sold on this marketing tactic.
Tipperary protects the tail bone. Vests are more for protection from impact, no vest will save your life in a very bad fall.
FWIW I was trampled in my vest, horse actually stepped on me and didn’t have so much as a bruise. Fall in an air vest and there is a good change or broken collar bone, ribs, punctured lungs, etc.
2 Likes
I have a Helite Air Vest, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking to purchase an air vest. One particular throw landed me on rocks. I have no doubt that results would have been very different without a vest. I chose Helite because it was recommended by my motorcycle driving boyfriend, as he’s a fan of the company. I’m not an eventer, so I didn’t feel the need for the hard shell of a Tipperary. Also, there are a number of companies (DadaSport, Oscar & Gabrielle) that make shells and jackets specifically for the Helite (as opposed to the Hit-Air). I can’t speak for the eventing set, but I found value in it for trails and arena.
I have one. It’s the Hit Air. It has deployed twice. The first time, I forgot to detach it. I jumped off my horse, who looked at me curiously when it went off. I was concerned that it would make a loud noise that would spook my horse, but it wasn’t that loud. The second time was (another) dirty buck from same horse. I hit the ground fast. The vest deployed, and I’m certain I would have had yet another fractured sacrum, since I usually fall the same way: land on upper part of butt & slam the back of my head to the ground. With the vest, the gusset around the bottom deployed as did the collar around the back of the neck. No injury to my back, and my helmet never touched the dirt. I don’t have that horse anymore, and my new horse is wonderful. While I feel very safe on him, I still wear the vest–just like I wear a helmet. No vest or helmet will protect every type of fall, but it’s just another tool to keep me safe.
1 Like
Love how they had to include the truth!!:
In a study conducted by the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, researchers reviewed cross-country falls that occurred at FEI events from 2015 through 2017 and compared the rate of injury between riders who wore an air vest and riders who did not. Statistical analysis showed that riders with air vests in fact had increased odds of sustaining a serious injury. However, this study did not show that the air vests caused the injury, and other factors may be at play.
They are sponsored by Point Two are they not?
I bought an air vest out of an abundance of caution and after reading a lot of research. My eventing days are well behind me, I will not be jumping a solid obstacle again. In fact, I’ll probably not be jumping 3 feet again. I have bad bone-scan numbers and don’t feel I can afford to fall off because I’ll break something.
I choose my horses carefully now, and wear an air vest. It may not save me in a fall, but it does allow me to ride with more confidence (probably even misplaced confidence), so I am not riding defensively, which itself can more likely set one up for a fall.
1 Like
Timely article #2 with our very own @Reed giving his input.
https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2020/09/15/air-vests-are-all-the-rage-but-are-they-truly-safe/
2 Likes
Interesting that the scientist giving input in this article condemns anecdotal evidence, and then uses anecdotal evidence to support his argument that the vests are dangerous. I’m not sure what to believe.
2 Likes
It was an actual research study that determined this. Its referenced in the USEF article. I mean, it sounds like you want an air vest regardless of the opinions and research anyways.
2 Likes
I’ll admit it’s a little bit of wishful thinking on my part. If I knew I could reduce chances of injury I’d be a much more confident rider.
1 Like
I’m with you there. Post #7 link to article made me reach out to the manufacturer to have my vest serviced. I will be sending it in for service which will make me feel like I’m not wearing a helmet while riding. I’ve gotten used to wearing it. If I fall, I will break. I prefer to reduce those chances.
1 Like
A standard vest and a helmet can do that!
1 Like
Definitely a good idea to get it serviced. hopefully the turnaround time isn’t too long and that you’ll be back riding in it soon.
I have a HitAir vest and it’s deployed a few times and definitely softened the falls! When I was younger, falling off didn’t hurt so much, these days it can be much tougher and the vest has made a huge difference.
2 Likes
I would agree that a standard vest will give you some additional confidence, even though it also won’t protect you from injury in every fall.
I started wearing a standard vest after falling and bruising some ribs, and that was painful enough that I didn’t want to have it happen again. (The horse tripped and I came off). I found immediately after the fall, that wearing the vest (for whatever reason) just gave me a bit more confidence riding again. At the time, three-plus years ago, I looked into air vests as well, and when I found out that they were really designed to be worn along with a regular vest, my research ended there.
I know that there are people who wear air vests by themselves, but I’m not sure why.
3 Likes
I’ll chime in with my personal experience. I have both a passive vest and an air vest. I don’t jump. I usually wear just the air vest. My main goal in wearing it is to stabilize my neck in a fall in an effort to try to prevent a TBI. Research on TBIs shows that people with stronger necks have better chances of not sustaining a TBI. So I figure that the neck roll on the air vest is like having a very strong neck. Basically you’re trying to prevent your brain from slamming into the inside of your skull, so reducing whiplash is the goal.
I chose the Hit Air Advantage because at the time I bought it, it had the largest neck roll available. I haven’t looked at others recently so that may have changed.
Fortunately/unfortunately, it has gone off a few times. One time from a nasty, huge buck. I hit the ground hard on the left side of my back, below the air vest. (The Hit Air sizing is kinda stupid, so to get one that fits me around, it is really too short). I then would have hit my head, but the air vest prevented it. Absolutely saved me there. Another time my horse tripped and I somersaulted over her shoulder. I’m not sure if the vest really helped my head in that situation but I think it did. The last time from a stupid half hearted buck where I just got off balance and tipped over her shoulder. It was super slow motion and I just mostly slid to the ground. Definitely didn’t help that situation in terms of head, but it didn’t really need to.
All things considered, I like wearing one as additional insurance. I can understand eventers who are worried that it might exacerbate other injuries, but for the kind of riding that I do, I feel like that risk is much smaller than the risk of a TBI from a more typical fall. So it makes sense for me.
For what it’s worth, I also just bought a MIPS helmet. 
For a while after the fall from the nasty buck, I wore my Tipperary under the Hit Air. I finally stopped doing that because the end of the Tipp interfered with the cantle of my dressage saddle. It also made it hard for my trainer to see what I was actually doing. I will say, however, that the snug hug of the Tipp is actually kinda nice. And if I ride a new horse, I would absolutely consider wearing both at the same time again.
1 Like
@Pico Banana that is the exact reason why I was looking into the air vests. I’ve had several whiplash injuries, one which I believe resulted in a concussion - had extreme fatigue for two weeks… had my neck been stabilized, it likely would not have happened. I am looking at the hit air advantage as well, I am interested in the increased neck and hip coverage. I get that it won’t be the solution in every single situation, but from everything I’m hearing it does help in many scenarios. Thank you for sharing your experiences.
