www.helite.com  www.airvest.co.uk

RRP £695.00 – £725.00

 

 

For the last eight years or so, I have worn protective airvests whenever I ride. The motorbike airvest is designed to inflate instantaneously in the event of an accident, protecting your vital organs and spine. The air bag system within the vest is also designed to provide support to your head and neck. 

An airvest is a huge part of my riding attire: in fact, I simply wouldn’t ride without one, and anybody who doesn’t wear an airvest or believe in their benefits should click on the link below.  The Yorkshire police released this video about an airvest which saved this rider’s life. It is shocking to watch, but incredible that the guy lived:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIWTEiE6AEY

Helite are one of the market leaders in airvest technology, and as testament to their quality, they currently supply 16 UK police forces and the London Ambulance Motorcycle Paramedics with customised Helite Turtle Airvests and Touring Air Jackets.

Originally, airvests were designed to be worn over your bike clothing, but as Helite continues to more forward with its designs, it has now started to produce jackets with the airbag system integrated within them. I had the privilege of testing one of these: the Helite Touring 2.0 Textile.

The Helite Touring 2.0 Textile is a unisex, longer-length adventure jacket, and to the untrained eye, you would never know that it was an airvest jacket at all. The give-away telltales are the Helite logo and the lanyard cord at the front, and even this can be tucked away. As soon as you put this jacket on, you can feel that it is a quality garment. The jacket is made from the highly resistant and durable Cordura, which is waterproof, windproof and breathable. The jacket also features heavier material on the wear areas of the shoulder and elbows to further increase its durability.

This jacket is what my old dad would say is ‘belt and braces’: not only has it got a quality zip front, it also has poppers running up to the chin to keep the nasty weather out, and has a natty the top popper on a slider so you can get a good seal to keep the air out. The front pockets are not just protected by a poppered-down flap, but a water-resistant zip too. All of the zips, reflectors and poppers are top notch, too.

However, this jacket is made to withstand more than the weather: it has been designed to keep you safe no matter what. The jacket comes with armour in the shoulder, elbows and a CE Level 2 back protector placed on the outside of the air bag. The airbag is CE certified and will fully inflate in less than 0.094 seconds. What I really like about the Helite system is that all of its jackets are mechanically activated by a lanyard that you connect to your bike. With a good hard yank, the airvest will inflate, meaning it will be triggered if you ever take a fall. I much prefer this to the alternative Bluetooth system, which require batteries and risks having dropped signal at the crucial moment.

The jacket has a removeable, fully sleeved thermal liner which doesn’t bulk the coat out much, but even so, it is very warm. I love the fact the liner has buttons in the arms to stop it riding up and down when you put it on. These fixing buttons are colour coded with the elastic loops so the lining can only go in one way. The fact that this lining is removable, coupled with huge ventilation inlet zips at the front and exhaust zips at the back, means I am hoping that I can also use this product as a summer jacket.

This review was timely for us, as our publishers are currently promoting Simon Stephen, who is riding over 5,000 miles through Europe to raise awareness for Simon Stephen’s charity ride for ‘Grassroots’. I am going to ride out to Normandy in June to meet up with him and see how he is getting on, and I will be using this Helite jacket, so I will be keen to see how warm it will be in the summer.

So far, on rides, this jacket has been nothing but superb. It is incredibly comfortable, with no riding up or rubbing, and it looks great. The Touring 2.0 Airbag Textile Jacket isn’t Helite’s only jacket with an integrated airvest, either. For those who like textile, leather, adventure or sporting styled jackets, it has an option for everyone, and of course, it continues to make airvests for cycling, horse riding and the elderly, too. So, be sure to check out the full range: these products are versatile, excellent quality, and could save your life.

 

Pros

Looks good
Unisex
Mechanised trigger
Very protective
Loads of pockets
Good waterproofing
Quality product

Cons
Only available in two colours
May be a hot summer jacket - I will report back.

5 out of 5