More talk about air- vests

[JER]

[QUOTE=asterix;7079463]
What I didn’t realize, being face down in the dirt, was that my horse was doing the world’s slowest somersault and was now falling, upside down, towards me. :eek:[/QUOTE]

This happened to me last year, except I wasn’t jumping. I was trotting in a sand ring.

The horse I was riding – a mid20s 15hh schoolmaster kid’s horse – tripped. Usually, they recover, but this time it was ‘oh, we’re going down’. I wasn’t worried at all, I knew the scenario from previous experience: the horse goes onto its knees, maybe the nose hits the ground, and you slide off on your belly. No big deal.

So imagine my surprise when I turned around to look at the horse, only to see her hindquarters going up over the rest of her.

I scrambled out of the way and she landed on her back, her head and neck stuck underneath her. I will promise all of you that you’ve never seen a horse in this position before – all four legs facing skywards and the head underneath.

I thought she was dead with a broken neck. But she was still breathing, just not moving. After a prolonged struggle, I managed to pull hard enough on the few bridle parts I could grip to get her head out. She stood up about half an hour later and was fine, although a bit stunned.

I was nervous about doing anything other than walking in the ring for months after. I did a lot of trail riding because it felt safer somehow.

I always wear a vest when I jump and almost always when I ride at all – I’ve been doing so for about 15 years. That day I wasn’t wearing a vest because I was just trotting a pony in the ring. Had physics been different, it would have been a shame to have my EXO sitting in the house.

I don’t know what would have happened with an air jacket. I’m not sure I fell far enough to deploy the vest. I’m a very lightweight person (110 lbs) and I slid quietly off the horse while we were falling together. The lanyard may have kept me a little closer to the horse, and this could have been very, very dangerous.

[purplnurpl]

[QUOTE=Countrywood;7072874]
Lack of knowledge about basic anatomy? Some of the conclusions here make no sense at all. But I am no expert, but an airbag causing bone fragments seems impossible.[/QUOTE]

I had to stop and laugh at this.
Countrywood obviously doesn’t know who Delta and RAyers are, or myself though I haven’t posted anything because I knew anything I would say would be covered already.

All three of us–if not others, are experts in basic anatomy.

[goodmorning]

I briefly mentioned this air vest topic to my relative - a pretty special engineer - physicist, ‘experienced’ when it comes to both design & failure analysis, I guess you could say Told me to ‘back it up a minute’ & then laughed in my face, subsequently ending the discussion, when I mentioned the vest was connected to the horse by a ‘little string’ which activated the vest. Never a man to parse words, engineers seem to have a way with them ;). Anyways, I know that condescending laugh quite well…don’t ask for his thoughts on a product with a fundememtal design flaw before lobster :lol:

though bluntly making his opinion - thinking about all that ‘could’ go wrong due to the configuration and activation of the device, before all this other stuff, is enough to prevent me from wearing one.

What really stinks - is that with some tweaking and collaboration, it could turn into a product that does save lives. But we need to start with research. Too much to loose.

[Jealoushe]

[QUOTE=Countrywood;7079288]
Tipperary is coming out with a new (regular) vest in the fall…perhaps that is a better solution?[/QUOTE]

I tried one on at Rolex, not a whole lot different but it sure was nice. Definitely will be my next vest purchase!

[Winding_Down]

I just got a new Tipperary because the zipper malfunctioned in my old one. If anyone wants the old one who can replace the zipper, PM me. It’s navy, adult size small. I’d be happy to mail it out if you cover the postage.

[eqsiu]

[QUOTE=Winding Down;7079793]
I just got a new Tipperary because the zipper malfunctioned in my old one. If anyone wants the old one who can replace the zipper, PM me. It’s navy, adult size small. I’d be happy to mail it out if you cover the postage.[/QUOTE]

Out of curiosity, you wear an air vest for extra safety but not a certified regular vest?

[RAyers]

[QUOTE=eqsiu;7080621]
Out of curiosity, you wear an air vest for extra safety but not a certified regular vest?[/QUOTE]

Actually, that question is moot as the standards are only based on puncture resistance and not force transmission to a specific tissue or organ, e.g. helmets. As I stated earlier, the standards for vests are so inexact and not related to actual application the meaning of “certified” is only a valid marketing tool.

As I stated at the safety vest symposium at the USEA convention, the standards need to be redefined and redeveloped to better reflect the industry.

[Jealoushe]

[QUOTE=eqsiu;7080621]
Out of curiosity, you wear an air vest for extra safety but not a certified regular vest?[/QUOTE]

I thought the whole reason Tipp made a new vest was so that it could be certified…is it not?

[eqsiu]

@RAyers;7080629

As I stated earlier, the standards for vests are so inexact and not related to actual application the meaning of “certified” is only a valid marketing tool.

But much like the hype of air vests…

I guess it makes no sense to me to say you wear an air vest because you think it’s safer but then don’t think a certified vest would also be safer.

[eqsiu]

[QUOTE=Jealoushe;7080688]
I thought the whole reason Tipp made a new vest was so that it could be certified…is it not?[/QUOTE]

I thought they’re not actually available yet.

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=RAyers;7080629]
Actually, that question is moot as the standards are only based on puncture resistance and not force transmission to a specific tissue or organ, e.g. helmets.[/QUOTE]

I thought both the EN/BETA and ASTM standards required testing for shock absorption/attenuation.

[Winding_Down]

[QUOTE=eqsiu;7080720]
But much like the hype of air vests…

I guess it makes no sense to me to say you wear an air vest because you think it’s safer but then don’t think a certified vest would also be safer.[/QUOTE]

Of course it doesn’t. I am simply supremely stooopid. :lol:

[Marigold]

Bumping an old thread here since this seems to be the most comprehensive one. How do we feel about this article on EN? Something about using your day job as a nurse to quasi-endorse a product you know only as a consumer feels a little weird to me. Especially when you include the line

While there is still little research regarding airbags in equestrian sport

but immediately disregard that as irrelevant information.

From An ER Nurse: The Cross Country Vest I Trust With My Safety - Eventing...

Thoughts?

[Highflyer1]

That’s not so much a news article as it is an infomercial.

[Marigold]

@Highflyer1

That’s not so much a news article as it is an infomercial.

Oh, I agree with you. Which is why it feels extra weird to reference nursing.

[FrittSkritt]

I commented on Facebook asking why it wasn’t tagged as a sponsored post.

[trubandloki]

Can you give a summary for those of us who do not want to give Eventingnation the clicks?

[Marigold]

You can pretty much see from the embedded snippet above - it is a product review of one of the hybrid air vest/crash vest models that starts with “as a nurse who works in an Emergency Department, safety is my number one priority when shopping for any horse-related gear.” Later in the article, there is a brief acknowledgement that “there is still little research regarding airbags in equestrian sport”, but the rest of the context heavily implies that you are much safer with an airvest than without.

To clarify, I am a strong supporter of Eventing Nation. I love their event coverage, they have published some very interesting thinkpieces over the years, and I think they put a massive effort into actually walking the walk when it comes to diverse representation in the sport. I also don’t think there is anything wrong with posting product reviews from time to time. There was just something about the use of nursing credentials in a way that seemed to imply air vests would keep people safer that rubbed me the wrong way. The correlation between air vests and safety is far from proven, in either direction.