It’s like Alpinestars engineers sat down with a list of objections to wearing airbags and eliminated or minimized every one of them with the new Tech-Air 5 Plasma inflatable protection vest.
No more changing body armor based on the type of ride. The new system, which protects the back, chest and collarbones, features three different ride modes. Alpinestars incorporated triggering algorithms from its enduro-capable system into the Plasma, making the system capable of handling adventure riding. This is added to the street and track modes available on the earlier Tech-Air 5 system.
No more downloading an app onto your smartphone to change riding modes. Track, street or off-road modes are selected with a push of a button on a small panel on the lower right side of the vest. Hold the button down and toggle through the riding modes. The display panel also indicates battery charge level and system status and provides an easily accessible Type C USB charging port.
No more struggling to get a racing suit on over the vest. The computer, gyroscope, accelerometer and single gas canister now sit in a slimmer compartment, which is barely thicker than a quality passive back protector. The single-canister configuration helps reduce the weight by 25%, to 3.373 pounds. And a zip-up fabric cover makes it even easier to slip into and out of leathers or jackets while wearing the vest.
No more sending the vest back for constant repacking. The Tech-Air 5 is fully serviceable by the user, and it takes about 30 seconds to replace a depleted canister. Replacement canisters cost $119.95, and the bladder system is good for six deployments before it has to go back to a service center. If the rider is unsure if the bladder has been compromised, a test valve allows the owner to inflate the bladder and check for leaks.
No more worrying about battery life. Out of the box, the system gets charged overnight. After that, four hours of charging provides 30 hours of riding functionality. And even if the system completely fails, the Plasma back protector incorporated into the unit meets CE Level One impact absorption standards.
And … more breathability. The system has been designed with a chest/shoulder protector that looks like an “H,” covering the ribs but allowing air to flow over most of the chest and abdomen. More high-airflow panels are incorporated into the arms, the abdomen, the neck and the back.
The level of impact attenuation remains the same as before – in simple terms, the deployed airbag absorbs the same amount of force as nine stacked-up Level Two back protectors or 18 stacked-up Level One protectors. And all of this for the same price, $789.95, as the prior model.
Riding With The Tech-Air 5
Alpinestars brought journalists out to the Antelope Valley in Southern California to sample the new system. We did a brief off-road ride, approximately 100 miles on the street and an afternoon on the Streets of Willow course at Willow Springs International Raceway.
Put it on like any other vest, zip it shut, hit the button to turn it on. Check to see that it’s got charge and that it’s in the right ride mode. Zip up your jacket. That’s it. Couldn’t be more simple. It is just a little thicker than the passive chest/back protector I normally wear under racing leathers, and I’m still breaking in my newest suit, so it rode up a bit when I pulled the leathers on. But I reached around behind my neck, pushed it back down, zipped up my leathers and that was the last time I thought about the vest.
Track riding on any sunny day in the high deserts of SoCal gets hot, and the increased ventilation definitely paid off. The Tech-Air 10 full race unit has an FIM-mandated single bladder across the entire chest, and I definitely felt it blocking the air flow. The Tech-Air 5 feels lighter, cooler, and I didn’t find it restrictive in any way.
The technology of airbag systems continues to mature, and the Tech-Air 5 incorporates the advances in the art of inflatable armor. It addresses many of the concerns that have prevented or discouraged riders from using airbags. It is hard to beat the protection offered by an inflatable system, and Alpinestars has just lowered the barriers for using one.
