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Dainese Smart Jacket LS Sport with built-in airbag: Setup and review

2nd July 2024, 16:02 by Brij Gawde

The Jacket comes with it's own charging cable which is a USB C to USB type C cable.

BHPian AtheK recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It has been some time that I have been thinking of getting the Dainese D-Air Jacket. It caught my eye when they had launched the vest a few years back, I came very close to buying it but then backed out as I was not very interested in carrying one more jacket along with the entire set of riding gear we already had.

I waited for them to come up with a full jacket version, and then they launched the first road Jacket - A smart jacket LS with level 2 protectors on the shoulder and elbow. This was really good and I made up my mind to get it, in one of my trips abroad I visited the Dainese showroom to pick it up, but they did not have my size. I was also a bit double-minded as the jacket though had complete protection but was a bit too bland and looked like a normal Jacket. I decided I would pick it up on one of my next trips and also decided to wait for them to launch another version.

Then finally Dainese launched the Smart Jacket LS Sport and this was a true Dainese jacket for me. It had a prominent Demon Logo and was also much more visible both from front and back. This also had Level 2 protectors all around along with the airbag, and this time while I was in Singapore I finally bit the bullet and picked it up. The jacket looked way better in person than in photos.This is their gen 3 jacket and is updated with all that they have learned from the previous 2 gens.

This jacket uses the same technology as they use in MotoGP and is programmed for road use. They have jackets for track use also, which are mainly their leather jackets or suits. The latest 2024 models can now also be switched to road or track use.

From Dainese site

Now I haven't tested the above (and I hope I never have to), I will believe in them as we have seen this technology in action. We need to give ourselves the best chance to protect ourselves wherever possible.

For the uninitiated how does the jacket protect, please see the video below, it is very informative.

Video

About the Jacket.

The Jacket is very well built and airy, I expected the Jacket to be a bit lighter than it is, but it almost weighs similar to a standard jacket with back protectors. The big advantage though is that it does not have the hard shell of a back protector and that makes movement much easier and makes it much more comfortable to wear for longer rides. The jacket has an air bag that covers your back and chest and also your collar bone, for the shoulder and elbow it has a level 2 soft protector installed.

This is a standalone jacket and has a chip running inside it that monitors your current state and deploys the jacket in case of a fall. Below is from the Dainese site.

The jacket needs to be registered first on the Dainese website before you can start using it, once registered it needs to be charged to 100% and you are ready to go. Dainese has an app that you need to connect to to do the activation and also check the charge level. The Jacket comes with its own charging cable which is a USB C to USB type C cable. Below are a couple of screenshots of the App.

You can use the app to update the jacket with any new updates, mainly better algorithms that Dainese might release in near future. This is in V3, before this you had to take the jacket to the Dainese showroom for updates, this definitely makes life easier. You can also put the jacket in shipping mode from the app while travelling so that it does not open up accidentally. The jacket has a nice waist strap inside so as to provide multiple levels of adjustment.

Once you have registered and charged the Jacket, the LED light on the jacket turns green indicating Jacket is fully charged and ready to be worn. Once you wear the jacket it has two clip-on buttons above the zipper, you need to clip them on to activate the jacket. Once done light will turn from Red to Blue with vibration indicating that the jacket is now armed. If you have not put both the clips it will vibrate and turn to red and keep on vibrating after a few seconds to indicate that the jacket is not armed, this will also turn the light back to red.

Once the blue light is on, the jacket is now ready to be activated, and it will get activated in the below conditions.

The engine is turned on, so it will pick up the Vibrations and activate the jacket.
The bike is moving and is above 5 Kmph, it will figure this out by GPS and activate the jacket.

Once activated the green light turns on and gives a vibration to the rider indicating that the bike now is armed and activated. You can then get onto riding without worrying about anything else and concentrate on the road. One charge lasts up to 26 hours. Once you are done riding you can just turn off the engine and this will put the jacket back in armed state and the LED will turn from green to blue. Removing the clip-on buttons will deactivate the jacket completely indicated once by vibration and red LED.

I have now used the Jacket for close to 500 Kms and am very happy with the comfort of the Jacket. This is an expensive jacket and costs around 1000$ with taxes but then it is a price I was ready to pay to feel a bit more protected compared to the normal jackets. While nothing is 100% safe this does give you a chance of better survival. I wish there were similar riding pants also, the ones available in the market today are all tethered types and need to be connected to the bike.

The Jacket though has a flaw which is that you can not wash it or wear it in the rain. You need to have a rain cover for you to be riding in rain, which surprisingly was not included by Dainese. They should have definitely included this for the price they are charging. Price and the above point are the only two cons I can see for the jacket for now, and I wish the price comes down soon and this jacket becomes much more mainstream.

If you can afford one, I would wholeheartedly recommend you to get one, while there are many things that are out of our control while riding, let's try to control what we can to keep ourselves safe as much as possible. Signing off with a photo of me wearing the jacket.

I already have matching shoes and gloves and to compliment the Jacket I got the leather pants also to feel a bit more safe compared to the riding jeans. This should complete the red and black look.