We have be extolling the virtues of airbag-equipped motorcycle jackets and suits for quite some time now, and to repeat a favorite line of mine, your standard leather motorcycle jacket is now obsolete, if it doesn’t have an airbag in it.
That statement still holds true, but Dainese just gave your old jacket a new life, as the Italian brand just debuted its “Dainese Smart Jacket” system.
Don’t let the name fool you though, this isn’t a new jacket from Dainese, it’s a vest – an airbag vest, to be precise. What makes the Dainese Smart Jacket so…smart…is that the airbag vest can be worn under or over your typical motorcycle jacket.
This means that not only can you have one airbag for all your riding needs, but it also means that you can continue using the motorcycle jacket you already know and love, but with the added protection of Dainese’s airbag technology.
The vest is available in six sizes and for both male and female riders, and it is a standalone unit (no tethers required) that uses Dainese’s track-tested D-Air technology and algorithm, which includes seven independent sensors.
Dainese says that the battery life on the Smart Jacket is good for 26 hours of use, and the jacket features a unique ventilation system (I promise, it’s not perforated), which is a pretty big deal too.
This is because one of the drawbacks to current airbag-equipped garments is the lack of airflow that is able to get to the rider, since the airbag acts as a wind barrier when it’s not inflated.
To get around this though, Dainese has used an external fabric that is ventilated, and then designed the airbag to be folded over on itself.
This allows air to pass through to the rider, while still allowing the airbag to expand and protect the entirety of the vest’s surface if it is deployed.
If you choose to go the other way with things, don’t worry, the Dainese Smart Jacket system is waterproof, and won’t short-circuit in the rain.
Available from motorcycle gear retailers starting in July, pricing for the Dainese Smart Jacket is set at $699 for the USA €599 in Europe.
Source: Dainese
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