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Ribs and Vests


srintx

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Last weekend we went out for a early morning ride. The water was perfect just an all around great time. I took a crash on a simply wake to wake jump that resulted in two fully broke ribs. At 36 years old this is my first broken bone, and man it's painful.

That brings me to my question, what vest do you use that gives you good protection in the rib cage as well as not being bulky?

Thanks for the input!

Shawn

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Last weekend we went out for a early morning ride. The water was perfect just an all around great time. I took a crash on a simply wake to wake jump that resulted in two fully broke ribs. At 36 years old this is my first broken bone, and man it's painful.

That brings me to my question, what vest do you use that gives you good protection in the rib cage as well as not being bulky?

Thanks for the input!

Shawn

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shawn, sorry to hear about the ribs. I broke one a couple of seasons back. Couldn't lay on my side for six weeks,

and getting into and out of bed was about the worst part.

Fortunately for me, it happened towards the end of the season. I was wearing an O'rageous neoprene vest. Pretty

thick and, at the time, snug fitting. Didn't help.

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Keep the same vest and switch to surfing :) . Kidding, I had a costochondral separation a couple years ago. No vest would have saved me as i landed the trick. The impact of landing dislodged my rib from the cartilage. Personally I like to reduce my surface area hitting the water as much as possible. Get a vest thats thin and had a decent amount of impact zones. The more segments the vest has the more ability it has to break up the water tension. Life has been a lot less painful since i put the USCG approved vest away.

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Yeah, you will be out for a fair amount of time with broken ribs. I've broken multiple ribs on a few occasions, the most recent this past winter in a snowmobile crash, and they are still tender if I push on them. Try not to sneeze, laugh or cough while healing!

I use a Helium SWAT vest, seems to have decent padding, and not too bulky

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Keep the same vest and switch to surfing :) . Kidding, I had a costochondral separation a couple years ago. No vest would have saved me as i landed the trick. The impact of landing dislodged my rib from the cartilage. Personally I like to reduce my surface area hitting the water as much as possible. Get a vest thats thin and had a decent amount of impact zones. The more segments the vest has the more ability it has to break up the water tension. Life has been a lot less painful since i put the USCG approved vest away.

Interesting, maybe my thinking was wrong I always thought the USCG approved vest provided more protection?

I'm wearing the

Can you explain that more...

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Yeah, you will be out for a fair amount of time with broken ribs. I've broken multiple ribs on a few occasions, the most recent this past winter in a snowmobile crash, and they are still tender if I push on them. Try not to sneeze, laugh or cough while healing!

I use a Helium SWAT vest, seems to have decent padding, and not too bulky

:plus1: on the swat vest.
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Interesting, maybe my thinking was wrong I always thought the USCG approved vest provided more protection?

I'm wearing the

Can you explain that more...

The USCG vests are bulkier and more buoyant compared to the comp vests. So you have more surface area and harder to push underwater on a fall. Think about throwing something directly at the water. A basketball will have much more of an impact than a baseball. Same goes to if you slap the water with an open hand vs punch it with a closed fist.

The amount of force or impact you feel on a fall is a result of how fast you decelerate when you hit the water. So in theory with a comp vest you hit the water and punch into it. With a USCG vest you have more surface area and more float, so you hit the water and don't go in as far. This means you decelerate faster with the USCG vest so the impact is greater.

I'm not here to argue the point of USCG vs comp. There have been countless hours on that hot topic. I will say I have to agree that the falls feel softer with comp vests. Yes they have less padding but the impacts seem softer.

Another tip would be to break up the surface of the water or try to control what angle you hit the water. I know this will not be possible on every fall but it does a lot to help soften the blow. We're not hitting concrete and risking broken wrists and arms every wall so just getting an arm between the water and you does a lot to soften a fall. Not pitching the handle at the first sign of trouble helps as well. You can use that handle to change your position before you hit the water. It has worked for me on almost every trip out.

But as always stuff happens and you will get hurt. No real way around it other than stay on the couch. Learning how to fall is my suggestion for any towed watersport. Way better than the couch.

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That's no fun, sorry to hear. I use a comp vest too, much better than a USCG vest. I think it's a Jet Pilot, but I might be wrong.

I hate to say it, but I think you are done for a month.

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Sorry to hear about the ribs. I broke 5 and punctured a lung 9 years ago and understand your pain.

:cheers: Here's to a speedy recovery.

Dude, you gotta share that story.

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I hear the tighter the better also the buckels need good padding between you and them. I use the LF Watson zipps and buckels on the side it is so tight I have to get out of it in the water but I still like the fit when ridding. Great padding too. Two years ago I was using very cheap jackets and learned the hard way so I understand the no sleep. Sorry hope you get better soon.

http://www.boardstop.com/product_info.php?cPath=57_82&products_id=1988

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The USCG vests are bulkier and more buoyant compared to the comp vests. So you have more surface area and harder to push underwater on a fall. Think about throwing something directly at the water. A basketball will have much more of an impact than a baseball. Same goes to if you slap the water with an open hand vs punch it with a closed fist.

The amount of force or impact you feel on a fall is a result of how fast you decelerate when you hit the water. So in theory with a comp vest you hit the water and punch into it. With a USCG vest you have more surface area and more float, so you hit the water and don't go in as far. This means you decelerate faster with the USCG vest so the impact is greater.

I'm not here to argue the point of USCG vs comp. There have been countless hours on that hot topic. I will say I have to agree that the falls feel softer with comp vests. Yes they have less padding but the impacts seem softer.

Another tip would be to break up the surface of the water or try to control what angle you hit the water. I know this will not be possible on every fall but it does a lot to help soften the blow. We're not hitting concrete and risking broken wrists and arms every wall so just getting an arm between the water and you does a lot to soften a fall. Not pitching the handle at the first sign of trouble helps as well. You can use that handle to change your position before you hit the water. It has worked for me on almost every trip out.

But as always stuff happens and you will get hurt. No real way around it other than stay on the couch. Learning how to fall is my suggestion for any towed watersport. Way better than the couch.

Great points, thanks for sharing...I like your thoughts on "learning how to fall"

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Ouch! I also know what you are and will go through. One good thing for ribs is a good quality BQ sauce. sorry. As Red Rum said

sneeze, laugh or cough no hands above the shoulders. Good luck.

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Dude, you gotta share that story.

Well.....it had nothing to do with boating.

I was riding my dirt bike in an area in northern MI where I should not have been riding on unmarked trails. It was early October and the area in which I was riding is simply awesome. We were running a section of trail with large hills, one after the other. You know, the type where you can sail over each one in 5th gear wide open and get huge air.....simply awesome. Except, when I hit the last one there was a dude in an F250, scouting for deer I believe, on the opposite side of the hill. I came over the top wide open and saw him below me. I landed, promptly hit the truck and was thrown through the woods at about 45 mph. I also separated my shoulder in this event......NOT fun. A couple of plates and screws and I'm good to go.

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Great points, thanks for sharing...I like your thoughts on "learning how to fall"

Yeah this guy hit it right on the head. Also to note a lot of USCG vests do not have much padding on the back of them because they are meant to float you face up. My vest has equal padding all around.

I dont know if I have learned to fall or have just gotten used to it but even the really bad edge catching falls dont seem to hurt as much anymore.

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Yeah this guy hit it right on the head. Also to note a lot of USCG vests do not have much padding on the back of them because they are meant to float you face up. My vest has equal padding all around.

I dont know if I have learned to fall or have just gotten used to it but even the really bad edge catching falls dont seem to hurt as much anymore.

What vest are you wearing?

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Well.....it had nothing to do with boating.

I was riding my dirt bike in an area in northern MI where I should not have been riding on unmarked trails. It was early October and the area in which I was riding is simply awesome. We were running a section of trail with large hills, one after the other. You know, the type where you can sail over each one in 5th gear wide open and get huge air.....simply awesome. Except, when I hit the last one there was a dude in an F250, scouting for deer I believe, on the opposite side of the hill. I came over the top wide open and saw him below me. I landed, promptly hit the truck and was thrown through the woods at about 45 mph. I also separated my shoulder in this event......NOT fun. A couple of plates and screws and I'm good to go.

Wow! I'd say you got lucky. I did a similar thing on a snowmobile. I actually blacked out, and don't remember hitting the car. But my buddy behind me said I bailed at the last second, went over the hood of the car and my feet caught the fender putting me into an multiple end-over-end flip. Landed like 20 yards away on my head/back, skidding down the road at about the same speed as you. Put my hands out to stabilize and wore right thru the palms. Good times, good times....

Edit: thru the palms of my gloves!

Edited by Michigan boarder
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Wow! I'd say you got lucky. I did a similar thing on a snowmobile. I actually blacked out, and don't remember hitting the car. But my buddy behind me said I bailed at the last second, went over the hood of the car and my feet caught the fender putting me into an multiple end-over-end flip. Landed like 20 yards away on my head/back, skidding down the road at about the same speed as you. Put my hands out to stabilize and wore right thru the palms. Good times, good times....

Edit: thru the palms of my gloves!

Dang! After hearing all of this I think my ribs are feeling better ;)

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I know exactly how you feel. In fact I'm going through it right now. Hard Raley crash back in the end of May. Fractured scapula, several broken ribs and a collapsed lung. It's been the worst trying to recover. Lung and scapula feel fine, but the ribs still hurt. Sleeping is a pain! I've been out riding several times since then, but I can't really hit it hard yet. It's driving me crazy! I'm 36 too and maybe age has something to do with it. Here's to a speedy recovery so you can get back to enjoying it!

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What vest are you wearing?

Cosa Nostra Impact Jacket by Ronix. I really liked the fit in the store but to be honest its a terrible vest. I alway rocked oneill but since they pushed their price point to $180 i said LATER to them. The vest is constantly flipping up over my head and the stitching started coming out 2 weeks after i bought it. I put my board shorts through the draw string loop and in one use nearly ripped it out. Going with billabong on my next vest for sure.

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Cosa Nostra Impact Jacket by Ronix. I really liked the fit in the store but to be honest its a terrible vest. I alway rocked oneill but since they pushed their price point to $180 i said LATER to them. The vest is constantly flipping up over my head and the stitching started coming out 2 weeks after i bought it. I put my board shorts through the draw string loop and in one use nearly ripped it out. Going with billabong on my next vest for sure.

Got the Oneil Checkmate and really like it.
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