Halvarssons Safety Jacket - First Impressions (long, lots and lots of pics)

[ikonoklass]

Originally Posted by cat

It would be the same as anything else - send it to them and they fix it, or replace it. Which is not so good for us that aren't in Europe. I don't know if they say anything about it on the website, but the impression I have is that they'd sort it out - it's their "high-end" top of the range gear, it's not mass-produced.

I suspect you're right. This is a big question mark on this product.

[cat]

22% ! That much! Considering how paraffin smells. I've wondered if it could leak, but then it seems to be any tiny capsules. What if you come off and it makes you slide more?

I'd guess that Schoeller copied the idea from Outlast. Schoeller are the big corporate and Outlast obviously a small hi-tech company in Boulder.

It's interesting that the European manufacturers (as opposed to the "feature-laden" made-to-a-price /South Asian ones) have this concept of "passive safety". (Although it doesn't extend - much - to hi-vis stuff.) I don't know about hot, but I know that being cold and wet seriously affects my focus.

Our focus is generally on abrasion resistance, and venting and what to do when it's hot, and then the thing about waterproof liners vs shells. I think the Halvarssons Safey gear has it all in one - mesh for the heat, outer gore-tex stuff (instead of the wet jacket, dry inside liner thing which I hate), and abrasion resistance - that meets the highest standards.
...Now if I could just get the sizing sorted out.

[DriveShaft]

Originally Posted by cat

22% ! That much! Considering how paraffin smells. I've wondered if it could leak, but then it seems to be any tiny capsules. What if you come off and it makes you slide more?

I'd guess that Schoeller copied the idea from Outlast. Schoeller are the big corporate and Outlast obviously a small hi-tech company in Boulder.

I was surprised by 22% too! Sliding more...isn't a bad thing... Much better than stopping suddenly. But will the wax catch on fire?!? :)

The paraffin isn't external in any way. That was what I was curious about too, which is originally why I got the jacket--out of sheer curiosity. They encapsulate the paraffin *during* the fiber extrusion process. You can wash it, and wax isn't going to go everywhere.

Google is my friend. Apparently, Outlast spun off of an effort by "Triangle Research and Development Corporation," which worked with NASA. Neat. http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/spinoff1997/ch6.html. I believe it would been a licensing agreement between Outlast and Schoeller. Or Schoeller could have parallel developed their own technology. But I doubt it.

[MudSling]

Originally Posted by makinwaves

Yep, I didn't ask for it but they offered the pants as well for 350 euros ($460 US).

Shipping for the jacket only was 50 euros ($65 US) to western Canada.

Let me know if you want contact info. They speak pretty good english so you don't need to know german...all correspondence was via email.

Can I take you up on that offer for contact info? I *just* bought a new Dainese jacket, but this looks like it might be my next one... or might just replace the new one.

Great review!

[cat]

Halvarssons Clothing Sizing
http://www.kitinfo.co.uk/kitwarehous....php?pageid=15

[cat]

The Halvarssons Police Full Mesh Jacket is a supple high visibility outer jacket perfect for those hot days.

The Halvarssons Police Coated Jacket is a high visibility wind and waterproof outer jacket that is worn over the Safety Jacket.

The Halvarssons Police Vented Jacket is a high visibility outer jacket that has ventilation mesh in sleeves and sides.

This place has some really cool stuff - including ...

Blunt Trauma Dog Armour and Carrier

Code: 316B

The Carrier is lightweight and offers protection to the dogs vital organs and spine against missiles thrown during public disorder (if used with armour).

[levain]

Makinwaves, I'm curious if you've considered trading up from your motoport pants to the Halvarssons? I have the same pants, and, for the most part, am very happy with them, but, have considered going with something else. Mostly, I miss being waterproof always and the motoport pant liner is a joke.

[makinwaves]

CGDrake - Thanks, PM sent with contact info.

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

Makinwaves, I'm curious if you've considered trading up from your motoport pants to the Halvarssons? I have the same pants, and, for the most part, am very happy with them, but, have considered going with something else. Mostly, I miss being waterproof always and the motoport pant liner is a joke.

If I could afford it I would! And if I could buy it without suffering the wrath from my wife...well, that's another story... I kinda sorta bought the jacket without kinda sorta telling her until it arrived...

The only problem I find with the Motoport pant liner is that I tend to overheat in it once it's zipped in (especially once off the bike and grabbing a coffee before heading on to work). Because of this I tend to use the pants without the liner and have been caught a few times in the rain which sucks! Without the motoport liner zipped in the pants can get a bit cold on days below 45 whereas I find the Halvarssons jacket pretty good down to 30. I even sold my heated vest as I no longer need it!!

I'd also like to upgrade the armour in the pants to CE, but unlikely to happen based on the stitching and current armour pockets / sizing. Other than those two issues though I do like the motoport pants and am looking forward to warmer drier weather so that the liner can be ditched until next fall.

[FlowBee]

Originally Posted by makinwaves

CGDrake - Thanks, PM sent with contact info.
If I could afford it I would! And if I could buy it without suffering the wrath from my wife...well, that's another story... I kinda sorta bought the jacket without kinda sorta telling her until it arrived...

The only problem I find with the Motoport pant liner is that I tend to overheat in it once it's zipped in (especially once off the bike and grabbing a coffee before heading on to work). Because of this I tend to use the pants without the liner and have been caught a few times in the rain which sucks! Without the motoport liner zipped in the pants can get a bit cold on days below 45 whereas I find the Halvarssons jacket pretty good down to 30. I even sold my heated vest as I no longer need it!!

I'd also like to upgrade the armour in the pants to CE, but unlikely to happen based on the stitching and current armour pockets / sizing. Other than those two issues though I do like the motoport pants and am looking forward to warmer drier weather so that the liner can be ditched until next fall.

My turn. I owe it to makin' and the rest of you riders....

OK, now for an update.... *BE WARNED -- LOTS OF PICS!! *I've knocked them down to 640x480, so here we go...

On 24 March 2007 I followed makinwaves lead and ordered a bunch of Halvarssons's gear from Biker-Land.de via their website. *I had several previous email exchanges with their customer service, and was never more than half a day from a reply regarding sizing / cost / shipment. *Within 12 hours of placing the order, I received an email confirming the order and the need for a PayPal payment to their bank account before processing. I took care of it immediately, and within an hour received a confirmation of payment and promise of shipment ASAP. This was on a saturday PM.

The following Thursday I received an email notifying me that the item had indeed shipped. *I checked my online account and verified that the status had changed to "shipped". OK, so tick-tock, and ... *a few days later I saw the shipment was marked "delivered". * HUH??? *WTF??!?! * An email inquiry about this was replied to within hours, notifying me that it was an issue in translation, and that "delivered" meant out of the hands of Deutsche Post and that their system considers it despatched. *OK, so Deutsche Post (DP) means German snail mail, right? *Well, not necessarily... *It turns out that the item is intended for international delivery, so it automatically becomes airmail and that DP uses DHL for their international shipments. *So when I received the "delivered" notice, it meant the item was out of the hands of DHL and now in the hands of US snail mail. *That was 30 March 2007.

Time passes...

After 12 days I sent an email to Biker-Land.de asking about "where is my stuff??". *They quickly replied that the item was in the hands of US snail mail or US customs and there was nothing to do but wait. *OK... *So another week passes and nothing... Another inquiry and they offered a DHL tracking number, but reassured me that the items were in transit and there was nothing to worry about. I checked the DHL tracking, and indeed the item was turned over to USPS on the 30th of March. *Grrr...! *Tick tock... *Meanwhile I drive myself nuts reading all the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of US Customs, trying to figure out how much they're going to ream me on duty for importing textiles... *I finally figure it will be 7% on most of the shipment and resign myself having another big bill before I get my stuff.

....

So I take a half day today to enjoy a warm, sunny Friday and run a few errands. *After dropping by the local excellent KTM/Triumph/MV/Ducati/etc dealer for some warranty stuff, I cruise home to find the mailman pulling a big box out of his pickup. *Could it finally be?? *OH HAPPY DAY!!! *YEE HA!! *

Me: "So how much is due?" *
PM: "What?"
Me: "What's the duty?"
PM: "Nothing here."
Me: "This is a big expensive box of stuff from Germany. *It's been rotting in US Customs for several weeks. There has to be a duty due. * Look for a pink sticker on the box."
PM: "Nothing here. *Just sign for it and its yours."
Me: " YEEE HAA!!! *NO DUTY!!! *HAVE A GREAT FRIDAY, MR POSTMAN!!!"

In fact, the package appears to have never been opened. *It seems US Customs just passed it through.

So here we go...

The box



The box, opened.


The jackets.


The pants.


The Dry-Level gloves.


The "back convertor" back protector insert.


More later....

[Giraffe1100]

MakinWaves, It's all your fault Took a ride yesterday that 'happened' to pass my nearest Halvarssons (emphasis on the 'r' apparently) retailer, GLF, to try on the safety suit. Price GBP£900 PLUS GBP£30 for the back protector

It's clearly a quality piece of kit but I want to know how you have found the cuffs? My summer gloves have a mid-sized gauntlet and getting the cuffs set was a fiddle because of the bulk of material and the way the outer fastened. I didn't have my winter gloves with me, too warm.

Also, getting the trouser over my Daytona boots wasn't a problem but as I was getting warm in the shop I didn't have the an outer on. So can't say definitively, but expect the trouser cuffs to be the same. It didn't help that he didn't have my size in.

Other comments/ thoughts. It's heavy, not leather heavy, but not so bad once it's on and comfortable too. The outlast feels slightly strange/ waxy almost. I wonder if they will do a range of liners included heated? If I wore vented leathers I'd still have to put on a waterproof outer layer. It's amazing that this soft 'terry towelling' material offers such protection compared other textile suits. It's ain't cheap. Still in the running are: another 'stich, possibly the Darien or Hein Gericke Cruise GTX.


BTW Paul Varrensay (spelling?) demo'd the suit at GLF in Flitwick, Bedfordshire.

[FlowBee]

So, as makinwaves posted, the system involves two distinct layers. The inner Hi-Art safety layer and the outer weather-proofing layer. Anybody familiar with current off-road safety gear will be quite familiar with the approach. The inner layer is basically a thick, armored pressure suit, and the outer layer is basically a rain/abrasion shell. Think football gear.

The safety layer is a thick, heavy terrycloth knit with built in pockets for armor (CE armor included) and a perforated taffeta lining. Inside this taffeta lining is a thin zip-in lining of the Outlast thermal inertia material. The Outlast layer is slick (like taffeta) against your body, but has a stretchy rubbery feel on the side facing the outer garments. It is NOT water or windproof, and does indeed breathe quite effectively.

Here are some more pics...

The waterproof jacket shell:


The safety layer pants:


The safety layer jacket:


How the safety jacket "crotch straps" are removable if you zip the jacket to the pants:


Pant shell details from the waterproof panel pants:


Lower pant details from the safety layer pants: (I find this mildly annoying)


The safety layer pants zipped into the mesh panel shell:


Details of how the safety layer zips into the shell, and the shell attaches to the bib/suspenders adaptor. This adaptor is unnecessary when the pants are zipped to the safety jacket top. The safety jacket top zips into the top shell. So... lower safety pants attach to the lower shell. Lower shell zips to the upper safety jacket. Upper safety jacket zips into the upper shell. In effect, a 1-piece suit when all zipped together.



And here are the final two glamour shots, with Oxtar Infinity boots, Halvarssons Safety Jacket and Pants, Halvarsson's Dry Level Gloves, and Shoei X-11 helmet. These are the mesh/vented shells.





Today I've played with all the layers and have had several opportunities to break a sweat figuring it all out. Since it was 70F tonight, I decided to set it up with the mesh-paneled shells and go for a ride in the twilight this PM. The mesh shells breathe very well, as does the safety layer. It would have been too much this AM at 36F on the ST1100. The KTM would have been WAY too cold with the mesh shells.


More later...

[makinwaves]

Originally Posted by FlowBee

My turn. I owe it to makin' and the rest of you riders....

Congrats!! Hope you love the gear as much as I do! And damn it, seeing the pants makes me wish I had bought them as well!

You should find the gear "breaks-in" after a while and won't feel as bulky. I also find the jacket easier / faster to put on by just wearing a t-shirt underneath.

I gave up trying to wear my gloves under the sleeves... it's a lot easier to wear the glove gauntlet over top instead.

Looking forward to your pros and cons once you've had a chance to try it out further. For riding temperatures up here (still 30's, 40's and 50's most of the time), I still can't believe just how incredible the winter outer layer works. Extremely warm, super windproof and so far, 100% waterproof!!

Happy riding!

[makinwaves]

Originally Posted by Giraffe1100

MakinWaves, It's all your fault Took a ride yesterday that 'happened' to pass my nearest Halvarssons (emphasis on the 'r' apparently) retailer, GLF, to try on the safety suit. Price GBP£900 PLUS GBP£30 for the back protector

It's clearly a quality piece of kit but I want to know how you have found the cuffs? My summer gloves have a mid-sized gauntlet and getting the cuffs set was a fiddle because of the bulk of material and the way the outer fastened. I didn't have my winter gloves with me, too warm.

Also, getting the trouser over my Daytona boots wasn't a problem but as I was getting warm in the shop I didn't have the an outer on. So can't say definitively, but expect the trouser cuffs to be the same. It didn't help that he didn't have my size in.

Other comments/ thoughts. It's heavy, not leather heavy, but not so bad once it's on and comfortable too. The outlast feels slightly strange/ waxy almost. I wonder if they will do a range of liners included heated? If I wore vented leathers I'd still have to put on a waterproof outer layer. It's amazing that this soft 'terry towelling' material offers such protection compared other textile suits. It's ain't cheap. Still in the running are: another 'stich, possibly the Darien or Hein Gericke Cruise GTX.


BTW Paul Varrensay (spelling?) demo'd the suit at GLF in Flitwick, Bedfordshire.

Sorry about that! Although I'm not that sorry...sure wish I had the luxury to run down to the local shop and browse through Halvarssons gear!!

If I were you and wanted to buy the Halvarssons stuff, I'd get it from outside of the UK....the prices are just crazy where you are! Biker-land.de seems to have the best prices that I could find!

I have a couple friends who own the Aerostich one-piece gear. IMO, the Halvarssons is much better!

See my post above regarding the cuffs. I gave up trying to put the glove gauntlet underneath and now wear it overtop. Much easier and more comfortable!

[KeepItSafe]

Damn it! I thought I was set on Motoport, but now I'm not sure which is the better one.

Halvarrsons definitely wins in looks, but not conspicuity.

[cat]

Originally Posted by Giraffe1100

It's heavy, not leather heavy, but not so bad once it's on and comfortable too.

The RiDE Magazine test of all-weather suits mentioned the bulkiness ... and the protection and the warmth.

Originally Posted by Giraffe1100

I wonder if they will do a range of liners included heated?

I think their philosophy is firmly based on Dryway+ membranes or liners, and Outlast, and polyester or wool underlayers.

Originally Posted by Giraffe1100

It's amazing that this soft 'terry towelling' material offers such protection compared other textile suits.

It's not only the HI ART abrasion resistance. It's also the triple stitching; the optimum number of stitches per cm and the seams the right distance apart.

Abrasion resistance isn't much use if the seams come apart.
Checking the RiDE Magazine test, the burst test... Halvarssons Safety 10/10, Hein Gericke Cruise 8/10, Rev/IT Cayenne 6/10, ...some 5/10, some 3/10, many 0/10.

Originally Posted by Giraffe1100

It's ain't cheap. Still in the running are: another 'stich, possibly the Darien or Hein Gericke Cruise GTX.

It's not cheap, but it's not expensive compared to Rukka or motoport. (Given biker-land.de prices.) You're getting CE 13595 certified, you're getting a mesh panel jacket and pants and a cold/waterproof jacket and pants, with the best armour. Try that with Rukka or motoport, and see what it comes to.

Originally Posted by Giraffe1100

BTW Paul Varrensay (spelling?) demo'd the suit at GLF in Flitwick, Bedfordshire.

:-) Varnsverry.