For example, a USB stick may not be of any use if the first responder doesn’t have a computer while your phone may have a security PIN lock.
Probably the easiest solution is to keep a card in your wallet as that is where first responders check first.
They are also trained to check keys, phones and any labels on your helmet, clothing and bike.
First responder checks for medical info
The idea of making this information available is that first responders will know how to correctly treat you.
It may mean the difference between life and death!
Smart glove
QR code
Now French glove company Racer has developed a smart glove that includes that info for emergency services.
The Racer ID1 gloves feature a special Quick Response (QR) code on the inside of the glove’s cuff.
QR codes have been around since 1994 and are mainly used in advertising.
However, ambulance officers can also scan them with their phone to quickly reveal the relevant info. That’s great if the first responder has such an application on their phone.
Our other concern is that the QR code is fairly small and could easily be missed, plus gloves can come off in a slide down the road.
Racer mainly make ski gloves, but also have a wide range of casual-style motorcycle gloves for summer and heated gloves for winter.
Command and Tourer gloves
The ID1 gloves are not yet on the market, but they seem to have raised the funds to produce the gloves.
It appears they will be available in summer, winter and touring models.
GloveTacts have improved their touchscreen-sensitive stick-on pads so they are now the most effective way to use touchscreens (smartphones, GPS units, smart watches, instruments and MP3 players) without removing your gloves.
Many motorcycle gloves now come with touchscreen-sensitive fingertips, but we have come across few that actually work very well.
GloveTacts are thin black stickers that stick to your glove’s index finger or thumb since many people use their thumbs for texting.
Obviously we don’t condone texting while riding, but these touchscreen pads are great for using your phone when stopped without having to take off your gloves.
Handy if you just want to quickly stop and take a photo of the view or reply to an urgent work text: “2 sic 2 come 2 work“.
You could also use them on the run for various simple tasks, but we don’t recommend it.
They were claimed to stick to “almost any glove”, old or new, so long as they are cleaned first.
However, I found they pulled off my index finger with clutch use, so I switched to the thumb.
Then, after just a few short uses, they simply stopped working.
I contacted the company for comment and they didn’t reply until late last year telling me they had upgraded them.
A couple of weeks ago a couple of new sets of GloveTacts arrived in the post.
Each includes two short stickers for summer gloves and two long ones for thick winter gloves or if the short ones don’t work.
We didn’t have any problems with any of the short ones on several pairs of gloves.
So we simply split the long ones in the middle where the cut marks are.
Unlike the supplied photo at the top of this page, we positioned them over the end of the fingertip as below which works better, especially for more precise duties such as typing a text.
A pack of two GloveTacts used to cost $US10 (about $A14.50) plus postage; now you get four for the same price. Or six short ones! You can order them online here.
They work very effectively in either wet or dry conditions and have not failed us yet.
How the work
They used to be made of AX Suede Connect, but now they don’t specify. They just say they use a material that mimics how the skin interacts with touchscreen electronics.
Touchscreen sensors detect a tiny electrical charge transferred to the finger which completes a circuit and drops the voltage at that point on the screen, activating the button’s function.
While your finger will conduct electricity, most glove materials won’t.
We also tried Farkle Fingers which are like little glove puppets that annoyingly got caught up in the glove Velcro fasteners and would come off.
A pack of four costs $US20 and you can swap them from your winter to summer gloves with the change of seasons.
However, they were not as sensitive as the GloveTacts which never failed.
DIY
If you want to do it yourself, you could buy some conductive thread and sew a few stitches on to the finger tips, but it is not always very effective or accurate.
You could also try Any Glove or Nanotips which are a black liquid that you paint on to the fingertips.
It takes a long time to dry, but once it’s on, it is claimed to be waterproof and will not wash off.
Even the USArmy uses Any Glove on their combat gloves, so it must be tough.
However, it will wear off in a few weeks and need reapplying.
A bottle of AnyGlove costs $US20 and $15 for Nantips which is contains enough for about 30 applications.
The accuracy of any of these products will never be as good as your finger because a glove is fatter than your fingertip and the touchscreen may get confused about what button you are touching.
While some touchscreen functions can be quickly and safely performed while riding, we advise that anything complex such as texting be done when you stop. At least now, you won’t have to remove your gloves first which is great for convenience and in cold weather!
In the opposite corner, racing and long gauntlet gloves are way too big to fit under most cuffs.
However, there are many gloves with a moderate sized wrist section that will fit either over or under a cuff, giving you the option depending on comfort and safety.
Comfort
Comfort is very important for riders as an uncomfortable glove can not only be annoying, but also a dangerous distraction.
So it may be up to the individual and the type of glove or jacket sleeve whether over or under makes you feel more comfortable.
We suggest not trying to squeeze too much gauntlet under your sleeve as this can reduce the movement in your wrist.
The other comfort issue is temperature.
Merlin Maple summer gloves
Under the cuff will allow air to ventilate up your arms on a hot day.
However, you don’t want a loose sleeve as this can dangerously ride up your arms in a slide down the road.
If you like wearing your gloves under your sleeves in winter, you’d better make it a tight fit.
We haven’t come across a gauntlet glove that allows enough ventilation when worn over the cuff in hot weather.
Rain
The other comfort issue is riding in the rain.
You may think a gauntlet on a waterproof glove is going to offer more protection from the rain.
However, water can still find its way around the end of the gauntlet and back down into your sleeve.
To prevent this, some waterproof gloves have a cord to pull the gauntlet tight at the end. Most are available on overgloves which are meant to be worn with other gloves underneath.
Touratech waterproof Overgloves
In some cases, a shorter glove that fits under a tight sleeve will provide better rain protection.
Some gloves, have the best of both worlds with two gauntlets; one that goes under and one that goes over.
There is also the clever Siima Sibirsky which have a zip-off gauntlet and a shorter gauntlet underneath for the best of both worlds.
Siima Sibirsky
Safety
The more protection you have the better, which means race gloves with big gauntlets that have extra padding and protection.
These are bulky and can only go over the top of the cuff.
Short gloves are never going to offer decent protection.
However, a mid-length glove that goes under the cuff gets the extra protection of the sleeves.
Another aspect of safety I hadn’t thought about until I got stung was insects.
If you have a gaping hole between your glove and your sleeve, you could get a wasp or bee up your arm like I did last year.
It was painful and caused me to suddenly jerk the bars.
Since then I always make sure the gloves are over the top or tucked in tight!
Do you wear gloves over or under your cuff? Leave your comments below.
Motorcycle gloves and jeans have once again scored a big fail in the independent Australian MotoCAP safety ratings while the jeans scored well for thermal comfort.
The latest round of testing includes five pair of jeans and four gloves.
Only one set of gloves scored two safety stars, while the rest scored just one.
It follows August results for seven pairs of leather and textile motorcycles gloves which also recorded a fail in the MotoCAP safety ratings.
The MotoCAP website now lists 47 pairs of gloves in its list of 144 products tested and rated.
So far, not one pair of gloves has rated a full five stars.
All five pairs of jeans tested have scored either three or four stars out of five for thermal comfort, which is an improvement in this category compared with previous releases.
The highest overall performing pair of jeans is the Draggin Jeans Twista jeans, which scored four out five stars for thermal comfort.
Draggin Twista jeans
While thermal comfort was good, safety was another fail.
Twista scored two out of five stars for protection, while of the other jeans tested, three scored one star for safety and one scored only half a star.
The world’s first safety and comfort ratings system for motorcycle clothing provides comfort ratings for thermal comfort and waterproofing on jackets and pants, but not gloves.
That is despite some of the gloves tested having perforations for airflow.
(CE certification article contributed by Pando Moto)
Motorcycle protective rider gear has become a lot safer over the years since Europe introduced a CE legal standard for motorcycle clothing, known as EN13595, in 1994.
It was originally designed as a standard for professional racers, but now any motorcycle clothing that does not meet the standard cannot be sold as ‘protective’ wear in Europe.
This CE standard (Conformité Européene or European Conformity) is now used throughout most of the world.
If you are confused with the various labels, CE markings, standards and information about impact protection, double-stitched seams, and abrasion testing, read on.
CE markings and regulations
When buying protective motorcycle clothing, it is important to know whether the garments you are considering are produced to at least a minimum CE standard.
A label should have a CE marking permanently attached to the garment.
Any CE-approved product must come with a certificate of conformity.
What do CE standards mean?
If a product bears any type of CE marking, this means its manufacturer has constructed this garment to an applicable standard of safety and protection legislation.
This means the product is made to at leasta particular level of quality for the consumer’s reassurance.
In 1995, Cambridge University played a big part in the development of CE marking, which aided an increase of knowledge for anticipated CE personal protective clothing regulations.
CE tested, certified or approved?
There is a huge difference between the terms “CE Tested”, “CE Certified”, and “CE Approved”:
CE Tested:
The term normally implies that the manufacturer tested the whole or just a piece of a garment within their own facility that might meet certain standards. However, the garment is not necessarily tested in a certified testing facility to meet officially accredited standards.
CE Certified:
This term is more secure, as it states that the garment samples were tested in certified testing facilities. In this case, you need to find out which part of a garment was tested.
CE Approved:
This term means several parts of a garment were tested in certified facilities and are accredited to meet or surpass the required standards in all zones.
Garment testing zones
The certification test EN13595 uses two test levels, with the body divided into four zones (see illustration with zones below):
Zone 1:
must-have impact protectors and needs to last 4 seconds on the Cambridge Abrasion Machine to meet Level 1 protection, and 7 seconds to meet Level 2.
Zone 2:
must-have impact protectors and needs to last 4 seconds on the Cambridge Abrasion Machine to meet Level 1 protection, and 7 seconds to meet Level 2.
Zone 3:
requires 1.8seconds for Level 1 and 2.5 for level 2.
Zone 4:
can be used for ventilation and stretch panels, but must still last 1 second on the abrasion rig for Level 1, and 1.5 seconds for Level 2.
Cambridge abrasion machine
EN17092 has five test levels, covering three key zones of the garment – Zone 1, Zone 2 and Zone 3, with samples tested on a Darmstadt machine that spins them at a set speed until they’re dropped on to a slab of control concrete where they slow to a stop.
Darmstadt machine
Usually, you will see A, B or C letters on a label that indicates garments classification.
Classification AAA:
The highest level, demanding four seconds of abrasion resistance with the machine spinning at 707.4rpm (the equivalent of 120km/h) in Zone 1, two seconds at 442.1rpm (about 75km/h) in Zone 2 and one second at 265rpm (around 45km/h) in Zone 3.
Classification AA:
More suited to touring gear, this specifies two seconds in Zone 1 at 412.6rpm (about 70km/h), one second at 265.3rpm in Zone 2 and 0.5 seconds at 147.4rpm (the equivalent of around 25kmh) in Zone 3.
Classification A:
Deemed suitable for urban riding, with Zone 1 requiring one second of abrasion resistance at 265.3rpm and half a second at 147.4rpm in Zone 2.
Classification B:
same as A, but impact protectors are not required.
Classification C:
covers garments such as the mesh under-suits that have impact protection for off-road riding.
Samples are taken from each zone to be tested for seam strength and abrasion resistance.
A company using the same materials and construction methods in two or more jackets, for example, could meet approval with one test, so long as the tested parts are put together in a tested way within the tested zones, and subsequent garments are added to the certificate.
Once these materials and construction methods are approved, they cannot be changed, and that includes the specific supplier of the material.
Seven pairs of leather and textile motorcycles gloves are the latest to fail the MotoCAP safety ratings.
Only two scored two stars and four one star.
The Neo Freerider leather gloves (pictured above) rated just half a star because of the minimal abrasion protection, impact resistance and seam strength.
The MotoCAP website now lists 43 pairs of gloves in its list of 135 products tested and rated.
So far, not one pair of gloves has rated a full five stars.
The world’s first safety and comfort ratings system for motorcycle clothing provides comfort ratings for thermal comfort and waterproofing on jackets and pants, but not gloves.
That is despite some of the gloves tested having perforations for airflow.
Aldi claims this year’s annual motorcycle gear sale will feature their safest gear yet with their $189 leather jacket being the most popular buy.
The sale is usually held in the first couple of Saturdays of August, but has been delayed this year until 31 August 2019, starting at 8.30am.
“Every year we work to improve the range to make it even better than the last,” an Aldi spokesperson says.
“This year is no exception, with considerable time devoted to product development, sourcing and testing to ensure our products are of the highest quality and exceptionally priced.”
In past year, sale items have been selected with the help of Neuroscience Research Australia’s Dr Liz de Rome.
Liz, a rider since 1969, also helped develop MotoCAP, motorcycle clothing ratings system. So far, MotoCAP has not tested any Aldi products.
Safety claims
However, Aldi claims they have been “testing relevant motorcycle clothing products to European Standards for several years in order to obtain independent certification”.
“This year, we have worked closely with our supply partners to create products that are both safe and stylish – all without compromising on quality,” their spokesperson says.
“All Torque motorcycle clothing has been certified to the European Personal Protective Equipment Regulation (2016/425).
“We anticipate the leather jacket will be popular among customers as it is exceptional value for money.”
Aldi says the Torque leather jacket features APT-TECH protection technology at the elbows and shoulders, is compliant to Level 2 European Standard EN 13595 and has impact protectors in the back, shoulder and elbow that are compliant to EN 1621.
Leather Jacket – $189
Their Torque motorcycle boots ($99.99) have strengthened heels, hi-vis reflective ankle strips and meet requirements of the Personal Protective Equipment standard EN 13634.
Boots – $99.99
The Torque motorcycle denim jeans ($79.99) have reinforcement lining made of “high-tenacity aramid fibre at critical areas of seat, hips & knees”. They are compliant to EN 17092-4:2019 for “A” classification garments and feature EN 1621 knee protectors.
Denim Jeans – $79.99
They have a choice of two Torque gloves, both costing $34.99.
Their goat leather pair have carbon fibre protectors for the knuckles and fingers, rubber padding in “critical areas” and are EN 13594 level 1 compliant.
Carbon Knuckle Leather Gloves – $34.99 (2)
However, their padded gloves do not have an EN certification. Instead, they have 3D foam rubber protection at the knuckles, fingers and thumbs with 3M Thinsulate padding
Padded Leather Gloves – $34.99
As usual, there is also a range of other motorcycle goods for sale including balaclavas, thermals, bike covers and helmets.
Plus, there’s our perennial favourite – $9.99 Aldi motorcycle socks!
New this year are three types of $19.99 locks and chains to secure your bike and/or luggage.
Locks – $19.99
There is also a range of $39.99 tail and tank bags.
Riders in the current cold snap should check out these American Gerbing Gyde S7 Gloves which are heated via two lithium-ion batteries.
These comfortable gauntlet gloves are not cheap at $US249.99 (about $A370) plus postage, but they should keep your hands toasty and dry in the most extreme conditions.
They come with a dual mains charger to charge both batteries at the same time, but it’s an American parallel two-plug connection.
You can twist them to Aussie mains 45-degree angles with pliers or use a convertor. It takes about three hours to charge them to 100%.
The Gerbing Gyde 7v lithium-ion batteries slip into zippered pouches on the back of the gauntlet section.
With the batteries tucked away discretely, each glove weighs about 250g. That might seem heavy, but once they are on, you don’t notice the weight.
Unlike some other heated gloves, there is no need to plug them into an external power source so there are no messy wires.
And because they are electronically heated, they don’t beed to be as thick and cumbersome as a lot of non-heated winter gloves.
Even so, they have Primaloft insulation that is thinner on the palms allowing plenty of feel on the throttle and levers.
Heated elements
To operate, plug in the batteries, turn them on, slip them inside the pouch and zip them up.
They are now in standby mode which will last all day long.
You can easily turn the heat on when needed via the big silicone button on the back of the gauntlet.
Press again to turn the heat up and down in three stages represented clearly by green, yellow and red lights.
The hottest (red) setting is 57C (135F) and almost unbearable.
However, it would be most welcome if you happen to be crazy enough to ride in a blizzard.
In the hottest setting, battery time is only two hours, but who rides more than two hours in such conditions?
They will last six hours in the lowest heat setting (green) which is 25% heat and plenty warm enough right down to 5C. Medium setting (yellow) lasts about four hours.
If your hands get too hot, turn them off and the insulation traps and holds the heat for ages, depending on the ambient temperature and your speed which determines the wind-chill factor.
The heating elements are right throughout the gloves, which means on the backs of your hands, the palms and right down to the fingertips.
If you have hand grip warmers on your bike, you simply won’t need to turn them on.
Composition
The gloves feel extremely comfortable with a soft, felt liner.
There are two fastening systems at the wrist and end of the gauntlet to make them secure and keep out the cold wind.
They come with handy touch-sensitive pads on the first fingertips of both gloves to use on your GPS or smartphone screens.
The second fingertips and the palms have a grip pad so your hands don’t slip on the bars.
There is also a convenient chamois on the back of the thumbs to wipe your visor.
However, there seems to be no impact nor abrasion protection.
But if you want to stay warm and dry on your ride, they are perfect.
I held the gloves under a tap for several minutes and got no water penetration.
Water just beads off the AQUATEX breathable water-resistant membrane.
The unisex gloves come in black only in sizes small to XXL with a sizing chart available.
The Euro-approved goat skin gloves are designed in Cyprus, made in Indonesia and come in sizes large to 3XL. More sizes may become available if these are successful.
They are not cheap at €179.99 (about $A294) but the idea is you only need the one set of gloves for all seasons.
Even though I usually take XL, Giorgos says the sizing is a bit small so he sent me a pair of 2XL to test. XL would have been fine as the 2XL was a little big.
While there are no hard knuckle protectors, they feel like a high-quality glove with thick rubber on the backs of the hands and quality leather and stitching.
The Sibirsky gloves also feel very comfortable with a soft felt-like Thermolite inner shell.
Despite the perforations between the fingers for cooling air, they felt quite warm down to 10C.
However, once into single-digit temperatures my pinkies got quite cold.
I pulled the overgloves on and that added a little more warmth as it cut down wind penetration.
Unlike other overgloves, these are designed to fit over these specific gloves, so they do not make them overly bulky.
I found I could still bend my hands easily and feel the controls with a special grip patch on the palm so your hand doesn’t slip on the throttle.
There is also a wiper blade on the left index finger and a pull string to seal against the wind and rain.
While I didn’t get the chance to ride in rain with them, I filled the gloves with water and waited several hours to see if they leaked. They didn’t, so they should be fine for riding in the wet.
Summer test
When packing for my recent trip to the USA to test the Harley-Davidson electric LiveWire in Portland, Oregon, I decided it would be a good opportunity to test out the hot weather capabilities of the Sibirsky gloves.
It takes a couple of seconds to unzip the gauntlets. It takes a little while longer to put them back on, but it’s not that difficult as the zip is thick and robust.
So I just packed the shorty version.
Unfortunately, the temperature only topped 30C, so it wasn’t a super-hot day to test the gloves.
However, I could tell that they were well ventilated and coped quite well on the open road.
When I got back into Portland’s slow downtown traffic, they started getting quite warm.
So, they are more of a most-weather glove, than an all-weather glove.
You may still need your super-warm winter gloves and super-ventilated summer gloves for extremes.
Otherwise, these are a good all-purpose glove.
Sibirsky Adventure Glove tech specs
TPR flexible ventilated knuckle protector,
TPR finger knuckles,
Superfabric palm slider,
Carbon PU upper wrist protector,
Superfabric back thumb reinforcement,
Drum-dyed goatskin (outer shell),
Thermolite insulation for all-season temperature regulation (inner shell),
180gr bemberg +5mm sponge (inner shell),
Reflective stripes for night visibility (gloves & rain overgloves),
The RST Ventilator textile jacket is the first jacket to receive a full 10-star rating for thermal comfort in the MotoCAP ratings system since it began a year ago.
It is one of six jackets and nine pair of gloves to be added to the list of 110 motorcycle protective clothing items.
MotoCAP has now tested 49 textile and leather jackets, 18 pairs of jeans and leggings, seven pair of leather pants, one pair of textile pants and 35 pairs of gloves.
The $350 RST Ventilator jacket scored a full 10-star rating for thermal comfort, thanks to mesh panels in the arms, chest and sides.
However, it only scored two out of five stars for safety despite elbow and shoulder impact protectors and pockets at the back for aftermarket impact protectors.
Dainese fighter jacket
In the latest round of testing, the highest protection rating went to the $800 Dainese Fighter leather jacket.
It scored a three-star rating even though it has the same impact protectors as the RST.
Glove ratings
For gloves, two products scored equal high protection ratings of three stars.
These were the Five Gloves X-Rider Water Proof and the Ducati Performance C2 leather gloves.
Five X-Rider
Ducati Performance C
Gloves are not tested for comfort under the MotoCAP rating protocols.
Transport for NSW says that to measure for comfort a large square of fabric must be obtained.
“There is not enough material in a glove to obtain a sample for the thermal comfort measure,” they say.
The new ratings can be viewed on the MotoCAP home page by scrolling down to “Latest Rated Products”.
MotoCAP is a partnership between Transport for NSW, State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA), VicRoads, Transport Accident Commission (TAC), Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV), Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC), Lifetime Support Authority (LSA), Western Australian Police: Road Safety Commission, Department of State Growth, Insurance Australia Group (IAG), Australian Motorcycle Council and Accident Compensation Corporation in New Zealand.
I.C.E.mergency USB stores medical information.
First responder checks for medical info
QR code
Command and Tourer gloves
