Selling point number one - price. As for the rest?

Reports say they seem to be of good quality, and that the mechanics seem like the real deal, with riders reporting no issues after having used them for a long time. But few if any reports that I have found... on whether or not they work. Are all the riders who got to the point of deploying them in real life either dead or too broken to write a review?

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Safety equipment - from China?

What could possibly go wrong...

Buy chinese garbage, get chinese garbage.

These are my concerns also. I have bought a lot of crap from China, but also stuff that is as good, or even better, than the originals they imitate. I just recently bought a camping chair - better than the original.

I also bought a water fiter - which looks like it is far better than the Lifestraw it imitates - with so many more acessories. But then I had second thoughts - I have no way of knowing wether it actually filters the water anywhere near its specifications. Nor have I any way of knowing if the plastics it is made out of is full of carcinogens. It will never be used.

As for the air bags. It is a very simple technology. A pull cord triggers a sprung hammer that punches a hole in a standard CO2 canisters, and the bag inflates in about a second. The vest needs to be able to hold the air without exploding/tearing upon either deployment, or the increased pressure at impact. This should be easy enough to test, even multiple times over.

Even though we have no guarantees that these Chinese items are made to western regulatory spesifications, or tested by reputable organizations, or that they can be held accountable - I'm not ready to write off these chinese vests just yet.

Today I ride without. Since I don't race, a dirt cheap airbag vest - one that maybe even only worked as it was supposed to only 80% of the time - that might still be worth the money. As such a vest wouldn't make me feel braver and ride more reckless, it wouldn't be false security to me. Spending 600 USD for something I'm not even convinced I will be using frequently - that I can't afford. Also, something that only had a 60% chance of working wouldn't be forth neother the money nor the hassle of using it.

In order to be convinced to buy one, I would have to read some convincing and positive deployment reviews. After purchase, I would ofcourse also test the deployment of it before using it myself. I find it strange how people ride with these things and have never tested them. My inflatable life vests for my sailboat - I test and service those no less than every two years.

Buying fakes is something I would not do - and not only for moral reasons, but because fakes are allmost allways inferior to the real thing (materials, workmanship, qyality control, etc). I would also not buy grey market items - products sold either under the original brand or a different brand - but where they use "leftovers" from the original manufacturing and supply some ineferior components to make up the remaining product. I would only buy a white label product or a genuine Chinese brand. Products inspired by the originals, and that don't brake patents???

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I agree that some Chinese stuff is very good - I also have a camping chair bought from AliExpress some years ago that is far and away the best camping chair I've ever had. If you pick and choose there's certainly some good quality and (often) economically priced stuff to be had. But ...

You may have heard the old joke about police response times - "when seconds count the police are only minutes away". If, as you say, the airbag takes an actual second to inflate then I'd have thought it was pretty close to useless. What sort of accident can you envisage where an inflated airbag would make a difference but there's a second gap between whatever sets it off and what you need protecting from? Car ones fill in the 60-80 millisecond range - 10 or 15 times as fast. My guess would also be that you're probably well into the accident before the mechanism triggering inflation is tripped. I suppose at least with CO2 you don't have the potential for a car style bomb going off in your face if you trigger it by accident.

Even now, decades after their introductions, car air bags are treated with some caution by the 'trade'. I used to work (part time) as a preliminary assessor for the car insurance world, looking at low level scrapes and dents type incidents. On (modest) cars more than five or six years old if the air bags had gone off, that was it, the car was written off. I can't imagine any circumstance where a rapid response style airbag would get approval as an aftermarket clothing item for bike use. The CO2 ones bring to mind the cartoon response where the parachute only deploys after the character has hit the ground.

And yes, I do know there's loads of them around and that some people swear by them.

Chinese stuff is not inherently bad. They are used as a production source by reputable western manufacturers, most of the world's big brand consumer electronics comes from there and they have their own space programme. I'll grant you stuff made for the domestic market can be pretty crap but I've bought bits like levers and adjusters and simple electronics direct from there and very pleased with the results.

For more complex stuff where you can't do a visual evaluation I might stick to branded gear, because that's supposed to be the point of brands - you buy a name and by inference the confidence it'll do what it's supposed to.

The subject of airbags is a different issue though. Firstly I wouldn't touch a lanyard triggered vest using a standard CO2 cylinder - for the reasons mentioned above and because it's too easy to forget a lanyard and trigger it by mistake. Secondly I am sceptical about the benefits that even a professionally designed article of clothing can offer. Race airbag suits are designed for an environment where the rider hits nothing more hazardous than the ground. On the road, most serious injuries are lower limbs, head and neck, caused by hitting other vehicles or solid roadside obstacles. A little airbag round the upper torso isn't going to help much with that.

I was wrong on the deployment time. Hellite - a recognized brand touts 0.1 seconds with the cannister. Hit Air touts 300 milliseconds, 0.25 and 0.1 seconds depending on model. Flyastar (Chinese) does it at 0.5 seconds (has both Chinese and European Safety Certifications). Most of the ones I find on Aliexpress touts 0.5 seconds (to be trusted?). Now, 0.5 seconds to full deployment may be a bit long if you hit something dead on while on the bike - like the side of a truck. But, hit the side of a car and go flying over it, then 0.5 seconds should be enough before you hit the ground.

As for lanyard - this is the only deployment mechanism I would ever conscider for everyday road use - not one based on me having to remember charge batteries and also counting on not only the electronics and software working, but also to the deployment mechanisms in addition.

You need a very hard tug on the lanyard to deploy it, so much that the risk of accidentally deploying it is very unlikely - atleast on the tarmac. Offroad, accidentally dropping the bike, with you tethered to it - could deploy it if the tether is short.So,in a close to stand still tumble - you might not be so happy with the airbag. In conditions where this is a risk, running with a slightly longer tether might be a better compromize?

Unlike a car where an airbag is a one time only - motorcycle airbag vests are intended to stand up to several uses...

The main concern is not so much wether a tethered air bag that deploys at either 0.1 or 0.5 seconds is a good idea or not. I'm pretty certain that they protect far better than the plastic pads we wear (which could still be worn). I can see a future where wearing airbags in Europe becomes law (unfortunately). My main concern is wether or not the stuff on Aliexpress is any good. Vests from Hellite for instance is prohinitively expensive.

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Funny thing - one of these manufacturers proudly presents a EU ISO Certicate and test... Dig a little deeper and you find this is for flotation devices and life jackets

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I found a deployment video on youtube for the most sold model on Aliexpress (he does two firing tests - both successful). On the looks of it, it looks ok. But how much pressure is it filled with????



Anither popular model - fails:





Here is a real life adventure bike accident with tethered Helite (quality). A good explanation of tethered vs electronicly deployed vests:

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There is nothing inherently wrong with stuff produced in China. A lot of what is sold by Western companies are made there. HOWEVER, there is a big problem in Chinese manufacturing with consistency of quality. Often, an early batch is good, which leads the Western company to think that everything is fine. The next batch can then be produced at a lower cost, with lower quality. They may even be produced in other factories, using different raw materials and components.

This is countered by the Western companies by establishing control structures. Some have on-site quality observers, others run off-site quality control before accepting the goods. This adds cost, but as the Chinese factories have enormous economies of scale, it still works from a financial point of view.

Western companies will also have worked hard to achieve certification, which includes a review of production processes to ensure consistency. Certifying safety equipment costs tens of thousands of euros per model, plus administration costs for that. That also adds cost, but you as a consumer will know that you're not buying a shit product.

What you lose when you buy on AliExpress is all that work that's done to ensure consistency. You don't know if you're buying something that "fell off a truck", something that's built from B-quality components, or something where the seller just takes a smaller margin. All that is fine if it's something simple and unimportant. An air bag seems like one of the things where you want to be sure about the quality of the one you get. And AliExpress is the worst place for that.

And trusting Youtube reviews of safety equipment. Nah.

My main issue with that device is that it does not address 360 degree stationary impacts or side impacts only head ons . As for not trusting the software on a standalone vest eg dainese or alpine star is that s serious statement? You drive a car or ride a motorcycle that is packed with electronics....... no different at all . I personally wouldnt use a lanyard system as by the time it deploys you have struck the bike clocks and screen . The other reason is I sell the aforementioned products , the lanyard one doesnt even come close......other then price .

In terms of what is more suitable, I think it is very important to conscider how you use them. The electronic non tethered types, if they deploy - you will have to ship them to the manufacturer to have them reset... and they can accidentally deploy. Also, they depend on batteries, which need to be charged. This may be all and well when using it for track days or day trips - but on longer adventures?

I do get that the advanced algorithms and electronics will make for faster deployment and therefore is safer. But, on a long trip, getting into smaller accidents is inevitable. If you can't reset your vest yourself, you won't have it when you get into the big accident. Also, you need to stay ontop of charging it.

The lanyard type is very difficult to accidentally deploy - but it can be done. Ofcourse it could also be deployed by dropping the bike, etc. However, you can reset it yourself, over and over - and without braking the bank.

The most common accident on the road is running of it - especially on left hand turns. In most of these cases impact is not instantaneous - or atleast not with one single impact and then full stop, but usually involves slides and tumbles - not like when hitting the side of a truck crossing one's lane.

The way I see it, a lanyard type air bag vest would deploy fast enough to significantly reduce injuries for most of the type of accidents we get into. A 0.1 second is really fast (gravity accelarates at 9.8 m/s). Even 0.5 seconds is fairly fast conscidering that even at only 50 kph you will slide and tumble on tarmac for several seconds befor coming to a complete stop.

Even if the vest offers no protection on the side (the most common areas of injury after your legs and hands), it is injuries to the head, neck, back and chest that is most likely to kill you - or cause the most severe types of injuries. The vests adds protection for many types of impacts to the torso and neck.

Another factor to conscider is that the non lanyard types can be prohibitively expensive - a pipedream that is of no use to the person who cannot afford neither the vest itself, nor the service and resetting of it. This is the major point of the discussion in the first place - if affordable vests from Alibaba are reliable - then many can actually get some extra protection. If not, for the very same people - it won't matter one bit how great the far more expensive alternative is if you don't have the money to spare.

A vest that is convenient to use (rquires no charging), and comfortable enough, that is set and ready - is better than a vest left at home for charging, or one that is on an airplane to a service senter to be serviced or reset... which brings me to another point, many freight companies won't ship such cannisters by plane as they are conscidered dangerous goods. So what then if you need to send it away to another country every time you need it reset?

For long distance adventure motorcycling, I think that the lanyard type is a better compromise than the non lanyard type - IMHO.

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As we all know familiarity breeds contempt. How often do people ride off forgetting the disc lock they've put on or the cable lock round the rear wheel. Or even, back in the days when intercoms were connected by cables, forget to unplug themselves. Sooner or later you'll get off the bike without undoing the lanyard.

With the algorithm powered ones, I'm sure the electronics making the deployment decision will be absolutely state of the art - especially if you buy a Chinese made one. I have an electronic guardian that's tasked with working out if I have a serious fall, and if it detects such an event, calling the emergency services. As it's part of the software built into my Apple watch you'd reasonably expect it was good at its job yet normal life triggers it about once a month. Each time it's a desperate scramble to cancel the damn thing before it dials 999. And yet when I did actually have a serious fall a couple of years ago (fell while trail running and cracked a couple of ribs) it didn't go off. If that was controlling my airbag vest I'd want my money back.

But what price safety I hear you say. If it even might work it's got to be a good idea, surely? And of course any answer that doesn't start with 'yes' risks being dismised as irresponsibly cavalier. How can you argue against safety. But of course you're not trying to be safe, just safer. Risk in inherent in what we do and we all have to decide what level of personal risk we're each comfortable with. For me it stops short of buying an unproven technology of dubious manufacturing quality, but if you think an airbag vest is an important addition to your personal road safety then allow me to ask why you're not looking at ones with at least some kind of pedigree. If cost is an issue then you really are putting a price on safety. The old adage 'buy cheap, buy twice' has some relevance but this is an area where buying cheap may preclude buying twice.

I still use an old Touratech catalogue (2012 vintage I think) as a doorstop to prevent my office door slamming shut on a breezy day. The quantity of 'must have' gadgets in there must put adventure motorcycling right up there with golf, kitchen utensils and DIY as the areas of life best served by 'this will revolutionise your life' gadgets that are used once and forgotten about. I think you can talk yourself into believing that this item or that item will be mission critical but the reality is that until they've been engineered properly (and I don't think a lanyard - or algorithm - operated vest powered by CO2 cartridge technology has been as yet) then buying this stuff is a stab in the dark. You're as likely to end up with freezer burn as road rash.

Back in the 1970's when this appeared in Bike magazine it was regarded as a joke. Now it's starting to look like next year's model. The only difference is that instead of government decree it's come about via Chinese marketing power -

Ummm think you missed the point on side impacts , if you are hit hard from the side you are likely to hit the cars window screen hard , likewise from a rear or frontal Impact when stationary . I get the maintenance issue on an rtw journey......in this case the cheaper laynard vest probably is your best bet . Of course cost also comes into as well . If you are that worried take a car......motorbikes are more vulnerable by design . Although I sell them as yet I haven't taken the plunge , I accept the risk and do my best to try and mitigate it when riding .
What ever option you take just go into it with your eyes open .

EN1621-4 would be what I'd be looking for

EN 1621-4 Motorcyclists' protective clothing against mechanical impact - Part 4: Motorcyclists' inflatable protectors - Requirements and test methods - This European Standard covers requirements and test methods for mechanically activated inflatable protectors for motorcycle riders (in the following text called protector). It specifies the minimum level of protection, the minimum intervention time of inflated bag, and the minimum coverage to be provided by motorcyclists' protectors worn by riders. The requirements of this standard are applicable to various design of inflatable protectors and refers to all body areas and their combinations which are claimed to be protected. Inflatable protectors covered by this standard may be incorporated in motorcycle garments or equipped with by appropriate restraint systems and worn on their own. The standard contains the requirements for the performance of the system during an accident and details of the test methods, requirements for sizing, ergonomics, innocuousness, labelling and the provision of information. Inflatable protectors other than mechanically activated are not covered by this standard.

It is not a comprehensive standard by any means, but I think currently the best test requirement there is.

The Chinese remain a problem for faking what they view as paperwork though. Personally I want to buy from a company with a CEO who might just go to prison if they fail to control this. The CPoC is not who I'd choose to ensure my safety.

Andy