The G-Form company makes protection gear for consumer electronics and extreme athletic endeavors, that makes use of PORON XRD, which is a density changing and impact rate-dependent material. The basis of their product is RPT, which is Reactive Protection Technology, and is a combination of the PORON XRD material and their proprietary G-Form technology. What the product does is stiffens instantly on an impact, and it absorbs over 90% of the energy, providing excellent protection in a lightweight and flexible format. They had a small demonstration at Interbike this year, in which they dropped a bowling ball on some M&Ms that were in cased inside the product, and they survived with very little damage, showing how much energy was dissipated, and protection was provided. The change in durometer of the material during impact is easy to test, and if you slowly poke the material it’s soft, squishy and pliable and leaves an obvious dent, while if you slam it fast and hard, it stiffens up substantially with less penetration.

The G-Form exoskeleton armor comes in three different versions currently, the Knee Pad, the Shin Pad and the Elbow Pad, with each retailing for $49.95. They should hopefully be releasing a compressive shirt and crash shorts; shown above; some time this year?  The slip-on armor utilizes an elastic fabric tube, made from a nylon and spandex blend, in which the molded RPT padding is flat stitched onto the material. The top cuff of the tube has a silicone gripper band, which offers adhesion, to prevent the armor from creeping and moving downwards during use. The design mimics a set of arm or knee warmers, and the fabric fits snugly to assist in keeping things in place, and also provides compressive qualities. They come in eight sizes, 2XS, XS, S, M, L, XL, 2XL and 3 XL, so they’ll cover the gamut of body shapes and girths. Their website has detailed sizing charts for each of the versions to make sure you get the appropriate fitting set of armor.

They all share the same sort of segmented pattern for the pads, in the shape of a cross or diamond, with a circular section in the middle, which then radiates outwards with smaller sections and segments, with cutouts and depressions to facilitate flexing, movement and articulation. The knee pad covers a larger surface area, and has a protuberance that extends around the edge of the knee to protect the joint, while the shin and elbow share the exact same shape and size. The knee padding is slightly thicker than the shin and elbow versions, approximately 8mm vs 6mm, respectively. The fabric tube is black, while the padding comes in either basic black or a bright neon yellow color.

Measured Specs:

	Size	Pad Size	Pad Thickness	Weight
Shin Pad	11" x 5"	8.5" x 6.5"	6mm	99 grams
Elbow Pad	13" x 5"	8.5" x 6.5"	6mm	103 grams
Knee Pad	12" x 5.5"	9" x 8.5"	8mm	141 grams

Impressions
The ridges, shape and hinges of the gear, which look very skeletal, help the padding flex and bend when in use, to prevent any binding and to aid in better conformability, for comfort and proper impact absorption. The entire scheme of things takes on a Spiderman or Super Hero look, albeit in a geeky manner, but I happened to like the way they looked, although it might not be everyone’s cup of tea?  Plus, you can try out for a part on the new Tron sequel if the armor doesn’t pan out?

The product is lightweight, very flexible, breathes well, isn’t bulky and can be tossed into the washer when needed. The way the pad is shaped and molded, and that it’s attached to a compressive and stretchy fabric, helps keep the padding close to the body, in a very form fitting matter, so that it won’t move out of place during usage, enhancing its functionality and protection properties. The design does mean you have to take your shoes off to put on the knee and shin guard, but that can be a common issue with many armor systems.

What really sets the armor apart from the rest of the crowd is its incredible comfort. You can put any of the versions on, and ride around for 4-6 hours, and hardly notice you are wearing anything, and it almost feels like your just wearing a set of Lycra warm ups. The elbow and shin guards were especially invisible, while the knee was pretty close, but it would be occasional binding on the back of the knee during long spin sessions, due to the bunching of the material. With all the hinges and cut out design, the pads were highly flexible and offered little resistance, offering a great amount of freedom of movement, so spinning, body contortions and technical maneuvers were never constraining. The slim fit, and lack of bulk meant that they can be worn under clothing, without any bind issues. In warm weather, the armor got slightly warm, but it was never obtrusively hot, and the material wicked and breathed well, keeping the moisture level to a minimum.

I found the knee pads stuck like glue on my legs, and didn’t creep on me, and I greatly appreciated rarely having to yank them back into place. The elbow pads unfortunately liked to creep down, and would require some periodic rearrangement, which was a pain if you were wearing them under a long-sleeved shirt. Getting a smaller size helped somewhat, but it was still a problem. As far as sizing goes, I found that it was best to go up one size on the knees, else they were too constrictive, and stay with their recommended size for the shin and elbows that are listed on their website.

Surprisingly, the armor has been incredibly durable, and no stitching has pulled, and none of the armor plates have been degraded nor abraded, and the only thing that shows wear, was their small decals are peeling off. I am not a nice person to gear, and my substantial abuse, including multiple crashing, trail maintenance work, along with hard usage and multiple washings have done nothing to them, and they have proven to be undeniably rugged. The yellow colored pads showed a few dirt spots, but it was very minimal, and I liked the yellow contrast against the black fabric, and thought it looked cooler than the black padding.

I took some decent crashes in rock gardens, rolls and sliders in the dirt, and impalement into bushes and trees, and the armor did a great job in absorbing the impact and protecting my body, and the only thing I came up with was an underlying scratch or two. Even with some prodigious encounters with terra firma, I was well protected and the armor did not abrade nor did the fabric get torn, again emphasizing the durability of the product. I used the armor in some pretty ferocious All Mountain terrain, and I felt more than comfortable and safe using the product, and consider it well suited to anything outside of full blown downhill adventures. One odd thing, is that in really cold weather, the padding gets stiffer, so it has a bit less flexibility, albeit the impact properties remain the same, offering the normal crash and safety protection. The product isn’t going to offer the prodigious amount of protection that a heavy duty set of armor can provide, but it is obviously not where this set of gear is meant to compete. It offers pretty great protection in the conditions and terrain that most of us will ride in, and I can vouch for the safety and protection it provided me in some fairly heinous that I ventured into, and it adds the benefit of being extremely comfortable and flexible.

I do wish the knee had some additional padding on the sides of the knees, and that the shin had something that wrapped around the ankle, both of which would offer some protection to vulnerable areas.

I am also testing one of their computer G-Form Extreme Sleeve units, but I doubt I will try to purposely drop my laptop to see if it survives? They have a wicked video on their website in which they drop an iPad in one of their sleeves from 60 feet in the air, to show the amount of protections the product provides. I will try and obtain a case to test out my new iPad that I received for the holidays.

Bottom Line
The G-Form body armor, which includes the Knee, Elbow and Shin guards are supremely comfortable, lightweight and very flexible. The Reactive Protection Technology (RPT), which is a composite blends of the PORON XRD material and their proprietary G-Form technology, offers a slim form fitting set of armor, and the synchronicity of the exoskeletal pads with all its segmentation, and the elastic and compressive fabric provides an ideal combination of safety, comfort and protection. This armor can withstand multiple crashes and significant abuse and hasn’t shown any signs of wear and tear, outside of the decals peeling off. It is pretty impressive how durable the armor has been, while still offering great protection and excellent freedom of movement.

I only had a few minor nitpicks with the armor: The back of the knee can bind sometimes on long rides, and I wish it had additional protection on the sides, and the elbow creeps downwards, and the shin can be tough to pull on.

This product suite is the most comfortable set of body armor I’ve ever worn, and the knee pads are the highlight. They are comfy, stick like glue while wearing, and offer great safety and protection in moderately heinous terrain at respectable speeds.

Strengths

• Incredible comfort
• Exceptional durability
• Good price point
• Lightweight, breathable and flexible

Weaknesses

• Knee Pad – material can bind on the back of the knee on long rides
• Knee Pad – needs additional padding along the sides
• Elbow Pad – they can creep downwards
• Shin Pad – they’re hard to pull on

MSRP: $49.95

Knee Guard – Overall Rating: 5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers
Elbow and Shin Guard – Overall Rating: 4.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

G-Form Armor Specs:

• Visit the G-Form website, Knee, Elbow and Shin
• MSRP – $49.95
• Flexible • Lightweight • Breathable • Wicking fabric
• Utilizing RPT – Reactive Protection Technology
• Composite blend of PORON XRD material and proprietary G-Form materials and technology
• Stretchy and compressive fabric – nylon and spandex blend
• Sizes – 2XS to 3XL
• Colors – Black and Yellow
• Lifetime warranty

Their knee and knee/shin armor are comfortable, light, easy to wear, and provides excellent protection. They have made a design that utilizes a great combination of soft and hard materials, and uses innovative features, such as side protection, and an extremely durable front covering. In Sanskrit, Aazis means “blessing”, which certainly defines their focus. Their armor is used by multiple extreme sports and their practitioners, such as mountain bike, skateboard, BMX, snowboard and motocross.

Kali AAZIS
The AAZIS armor comes in three different versions, the AAZIS Knee Guard, the AAZIS Plus 180 Knee/Shin Guard and AAZIS Plus 130 Knee/Shin Guard. The numeric numbering for the knee/shin guard refers to the additional coverage below the normal knee guard, 180mm and 130mm respectively (7 and 5 inches). The knee is protected by a flexible ABS shell, while the shin uses a flexible ABS plate, and they are both padded internally with a Nitrex foam lining, and covered with a Kevlar-weaved synthetic for durability and abrasion resistance.  The knee guard has six dense foam pads or buttons located along the sides for ligament protection, while the shin has four additional pads, and both have Nitrex foam pads above and below the knee shell. The slip-on armor uses a perforated neoprene material, that is washable, breathable and anti-microbial, and uses two large Velcro straps to keep everything in place, plus the shin model uses a third anklet connector. They are available in Green and Gray, and come in the size’s Small, Medium, Large and X-Large.

Measured Weight:

• Knee – 462 grams (Medium)
• Knee/Shin – 642 grams (180 Medium)

Impressions
When I am riding anything technical or demanding, I wear armor, since it always seems that you’ll crash if you’re not wearing it? Plus, my 5o year-old body needs some additional padding and protection, not only for safety, but for the longevity of my riding career, and in addition even a moderate injury can keep you off the bike for a long period of time. The knee pads are a no-brainer to wear, as they are comfortable, unobtrusive, and light. I like the full wrap around protection, and the small six side foam buttons are noteworthy, offering an additional layer of safety for those crashing side rollers and slides, and general banging and bashing into trees while riding in heinous terrain. The side sections give one a firm gripping surface when holding the bike frame or saddle with your knees, and provide some padding and cushioning when the bike gets slammed and bumps into you. I like that they use a combination of a hard plastic and soft material, and it makes a great compromise between the two designs. Both the knee and knee/shin are slip-on, with the shin requiring a reattachment of the lower strap at the ankle. Once I got the Velcro straps set properly, and allowed a slight break-in period, I never made another alteration to the attachment system, and everything stayed snug without any binding or pressure spots. Like any set of armor, they can droop after some long spins or climbs, but they at least still stay up high enough for critical protection. Compared to most of the competition, the “droop factor” was negligible. All the models are slim fitting, so I could wear them under rain pants without any issues, and they were stretchy enough to be used over tights.

Over time, the perforation holes on top of the knee where it stretches repeatedly, have started to elongate and get thread bare, although amazingly, they haven’t frayed or fallen apart (as yet) in my nine months of abusive and regular usage? I might suggest a heavier layering of material in this section? The plastic knee cap uses a Kevlar material for protection, and so it has been very extremely durable, and will certainly outlast the stretchy wrap around perforated material.

Knee Guard
The knee guards have been one of my favorite sets of armor to wear, as they are comfortable, easy to take on and off, small enough to be packable, not too hot, offer great protection, and are tolerable while spinning. Let’s be honest, any leg armor, whether soft or hard has some sort of compromise when it comes to spinning, especially when doing long climbs and cranking out some distances. I have crashed repeatedly in them, and suffered no injuries, outside of an occasional scarped shin. I am always returning to this knee guard as my “go-to” set of leg protection, especially when I was doing more mileages and mellower All Mountain terrain, which isn’t to say I don’t use them on some pretty sick gonzo abusive environments!

Knee/Shin Guard
I live in a place that has a lot of Scrub Oak, and without shin protection you can get pretty chewed up. I had used the AAZIS Knee Guards, and really liked them, but I had to keep wearing leg warmers to keep my shins from getting eaten alive when I was riding in that environment. In addition, the shin pads were nice when you get clobbered by pedals, hit by low slung branches or have sticks tossed at you, or crash into sharp rocks. I grabbed the full set of knee/shin armor when I knew I was going to be riding gnarly and steep ledgy terrain, heavy-duty rock gardens, and anything remotely sick, since I prefer to be better safe than sorry. When I was riding with the knee/shin set, I felt like I had fuller knee and lower limb protection, and still retained a decent amount of comfort.

After long spinning sessions, grinding up hills or along flats, they would ever so slightly creep down, but it was very subtle, and a quick yank on them returned them to the higher position. Even after completing longer rides, they were quite comfy, though they did feel just a tad warm, but with the most full-coverage leg armor, that’s to be expected. On endurance rides, they chafed the side of my knee, which was due to the slightly higher middle Velcro strap, which caused the side knee material to bunch up, and would cause a mild amount of irritation. I do wish they had some material covering the back portion just above the ankle, since I get scratched up by rocks, bushes and trees.

Bottom Line
The Kali Protection AAZIS leg armors are well made, comfortable, easy to wear, and provide excellent protection. Their combination of soft and hard materials is a great idea, and it increases the comfort level without the burden of overheating. The unique side padding buttons are an excellent idea, and it’s a useful and functional feature that adds greatly to grip the bike, and protection and cushioning. The extra layer of padding under the ABS shell can be felt during pedaling and during crashes, and was greatly appreciated. I really liked the knee guard, as they were simple, unobtrusive, easy slip-on, while still offering good safety.

After nine months of heavy use, the perforated material was getting thread bare above the knee (and no where else), although it was still functioning just fine. I had a few minor nitpicks with the knee/shin guards, as they can get warm (like any full-length leg armor), and need some additional protection on back by the ankle, and can cause some rare irritation at the knee joint due to material bunching.

The Kali AAZIS is a fine set of leg armor, and the knee guards were definitely the highlight of my testing.

Strengths

• Comfortable
• Great combination of hard and soft padding/protection
• Side soft padding
• Kevlar covering is extremely durable
• Easy to put on (especially the Knee Guard)

Weaknesses

• Perforated hole over knees stretch and fray with time
• Shin Guard – can get a tad warm
• Shin Guard – needs protection/material on back by ankle
• Shin Guard – can cause irritation at knee joint due to material bunching

MSRP: Knee $65,  Knee/Shin $90

Knee Guard – Overall Rating: 4.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

180 Knee/Shin Guard – Overall Rating: 3.5 Flamin’ Chili Peppers

Kali AAZIS Specs:

• Visit the Kali Website at: AAZIS Soft Knee Guard or AAZIS Plus Soft Knee/Shin Guard 180 or AAZIS Plus Soft Knee/Shin Guard 130
• ARAMID weave for expanded protection and durability
• Anti “pull down” design, keeping your protection in place
• Washable, adjustable, anti-microbial materials
• Quick adjustment with the precise fit strapping system
• Internal elbow cup for protection from sharp impacts
• Colors – Gray and green
• Sizes – small, med, large and x-large
• Models – AAZIS Soft Knee Guard,  AAZIS Plus 180 Soft Knee-Shin Guard, AAZIS Plus 130 Soft Knee-Shin Guard