Airbags

Dainese Smart Jacket

Tested by: Mikko Nieminen I £569.95 I www.dainese.com

The Smart Jacket from Dainese is a big step forward in motorcycle airbag technology. It has no physical protectors. It can be worn with any motorcycle jacket. And it provides better protection in the chest and back than traditional armour.

Although Dainese has airbag products for road and track that fit in specific jackets, the Smart Jacket (which is really a vest despite the name) has been specifically designed to be worn on roads rather than track, under or over any motorcycle jacket (and you don't need a bigger size jacket if you wear the vest underneath). There are no connections to other garments as it holds all the technology within. All you need to do is put the vest on, zip it up and close the magnetic button in the collar. The light on the chest flashes, you feel a sensory buzz from the system, and when the light is a steady blue, the vest is on, although not yet armed. To be armed, the Smart Jacket needs to feel the vibrations of your motorcycle or detect a speed of 6mph (lOkm/h) or more - at that point there is another sensory buzz, the light on the chest goes green, and the system is ready for action.

With all of these airbag jackets, you will need to keep them charged for the system to work, and with this one not having any physical armour, it is even more important to do so. The battery will take four hours to charge from flat to full, and that will give you a claimed 26 hours of riding. I wanted to make sure I was definitely well within that timeframe so I charged the vest every other day just in case. To charge the jacket you just connect the provided USB cable to the back of the vest and leave it -