We’ve seen this brand of armor used in FirstGear and Icon products and we like it a lot. And now you can purchase it separately (not just with a new apparel item). We think there are lots of folks out there with older-style armor that would want a good replacement/upgrade. This armor is thinner and softer than most and would enhance the enjoyment of wearing your favorite gear. We’ve taken a couple pictures with a yard stick so you can see where we took our measurements; you’ll also see what the other side of the back pad looks like. These happen to be pics of the women’s size, but you’ll get the idea. Sorry about the color of the images, we couldn’t get our lighting quite right. The back pad looks more like the first image, which is from the manufacturer.
Here is the manufacturer’s technical description: An advanced, patented polymer, CE-rated D3O® impact protectors are the latest advancement in protective armor. D3O® impact protectors utilize intelligent molecules that lock together on impact. Because of this, the impact protector can be made thinner and lighter, making a jacket or pants more comfortable and easier to wear. However, this decreased size does not come at the expense of impact protection. D3O material has very low compression set properties allowing the material to return to its original form after repeated loading or compression. D3O can also recover from multiple impacts. However in the cases of extreme forces the ability to recover fully may be compromised.
