The boy is riding a 65 now, and its time to get some real gear. He had pants/helmet/jersey/gloves when he was riding is JR50 but I let him ride in hiking boots, and no elbow or knee guards. He's outgrown all his old stuff and I'm gonna have to start from scratch except for the gloves and helmet. Anyone have any favorites, or had any bad experiences with anything? He won't be racing, but I want him well protected. I've never really bought a full set of dirt gear so I can use all the help I can get.
Kids Gear Recommendations
- Thread starter Skitspuce
- Start date
Jasle
Sponsoring Member
- Nov 27, 2001
- 1,358
- 0
Saftey Gear.
Well some may agree or disagree with me but I have 3 kids that race 8 and under. So this is my take on it.
HelmeT! Good one. DOT AND SNELL approved. Just DOT is not as good. You can get a good M2R helmet for $80 if you cannot find locally let me know. Don't buy used here!
Boots: Used is fine. Unfortunatley the higher end boots have better features like bracing and padding. Usually you can find nice ones for sale at the track from guys that grew out of stuff.
Pants/Shirt/Gloves...of course.
Knee pads: really helps,
Elbow pads:
Chest Protector: Might not seem importatnt but my little one crashed so hard he broke the back panel and ended up with only a little bruise directly on his vertabrae. He also wears a pad under his chest protector we got from YPG http://www.youthprotectiongear.com/
My kids also wear the padded under shirt which has pads on the ribs and lower back. Then some padded shorts that have thigh and hip pads too.
Neck Collar. Their has been debate about wether or not they help protect from collar bone breaks but at a minimum they keep the neck from compressing during a crash landing on your head...also they help with fatigue from wipping around your head.
MOUTH PIECE! Especially if he has his grownup teeth. Not many people do this one but if you think about it it makes sense. Basket ball guys are starting to wear them...their contact doesn't even come close to a crash.
My 4 year old wears everything mentioned above. He has crashed some pretty good crashes and not really even had a scratch. My 8 year old has pretty much added a piece of gear each time he crashed and we realized something wasn't protected. The thing is now he doesn't even try to skimp on the gear. Since it has been the ONLY way he can ride since we bought everything its a non issue. A few times he forgot his knee pads because he does not like to wear them. I make him strip all the way down and put them on. A few times doing that and he remembers now because I don't bend on this issue.
Well some may agree or disagree with me but I have 3 kids that race 8 and under. So this is my take on it.
HelmeT! Good one. DOT AND SNELL approved. Just DOT is not as good. You can get a good M2R helmet for $80 if you cannot find locally let me know. Don't buy used here!
Boots: Used is fine. Unfortunatley the higher end boots have better features like bracing and padding. Usually you can find nice ones for sale at the track from guys that grew out of stuff.
Pants/Shirt/Gloves...of course.
Knee pads: really helps,
Elbow pads:
Chest Protector: Might not seem importatnt but my little one crashed so hard he broke the back panel and ended up with only a little bruise directly on his vertabrae. He also wears a pad under his chest protector we got from YPG http://www.youthprotectiongear.com/
My kids also wear the padded under shirt which has pads on the ribs and lower back. Then some padded shorts that have thigh and hip pads too.
Neck Collar. Their has been debate about wether or not they help protect from collar bone breaks but at a minimum they keep the neck from compressing during a crash landing on your head...also they help with fatigue from wipping around your head.
MOUTH PIECE! Especially if he has his grownup teeth. Not many people do this one but if you think about it it makes sense. Basket ball guys are starting to wear them...their contact doesn't even come close to a crash.
My 4 year old wears everything mentioned above. He has crashed some pretty good crashes and not really even had a scratch. My 8 year old has pretty much added a piece of gear each time he crashed and we realized something wasn't protected. The thing is now he doesn't even try to skimp on the gear. Since it has been the ONLY way he can ride since we bought everything its a non issue. A few times he forgot his knee pads because he does not like to wear them. I make him strip all the way down and put them on. A few times doing that and he remembers now because I don't bend on this issue.
i have had real good luck buyibg thor gear. it has really lasted a long time and works well. in my opinion. i will continue to buy from thor.
i also have bought shift gear for my daughter which seems pretty good, althoug she really hasn't put it to the test like my son has. i bought the fox cheapy boots for her and wish i would have bought her thor boots instead.
anyways, hope this helps.
i also have bought shift gear for my daughter which seems pretty good, althoug she really hasn't put it to the test like my son has. i bought the fox cheapy boots for her and wish i would have bought her thor boots instead.
anyways, hope this helps.
