Some electric scooters nowadays can go just as fast as cars, matching the road’s speed limits. However, you won’t have the advantage of airbags on a scooter and will therefore need proper protection should you get in an accident at those speeds. Whether riding an electric scooter, skateboard, or bike, here’s the best protective gear to wear on your EV.
Table of Contents
Should you wear protective gear on a scooter?
If your electric scooter only reaches a top speed of 20—30 mph, you should wear a helmet. If your scooter goes any faster than 30 mph, you should wear a full-face helmet and some additional protective gear, such as knee pads, elbow pads, and gloves.
Read more: Scooter helmets: Everything you need to know
It should also go without saying never to wear open-toes shoes at high speeds; a proper pair of sneakers or boots are recommended.
The most common area of injury on scooters is the head, but riders also tend to scrape their hands and hinge joints. This is because people often try to brace their fall with an extended open palm or by covering up into a ball with their knees and elbows pointing out.
Impacts on dirt or pavement can be painful, so it’s good insurance to protect your skin and bones should you fall. In terms of material, D3O is the worldwide leader in impact-reducing protection. Here’s the best protective gear you can get for every part of your body.
The Best Gloves
Palm protection is essential should you need to brace yourself from impact against a surface. But you also want gloves that won’t compromise finger mobility to control your EV at the expense of padding. Here are our top picks for the best gloves to wear.
Flatland3D Fingerless Pro Protective E-Skate Gloves
The Fingerless Pro E-Skate Glove features Knox’s Scaphoid Protection System (SPS), which protects your palm and wrist with two sliders to the palm of the glove. This helps protect the hand from compression fractures, and hyper-extension caused when a typical glove grips the road surface and forward momentum carries the rider’s body over the hand.
While these gloves are designed specifically for electric skateboarding, the intended comfort of freely using your e-skate remote allows for twisting your throttle, changing gears, or pulling hard on the handbrakes quickly.
Buy the Flatland3D Fingerless Pro gloves
TSG Wrist Guards
Wrist guards are another option for your hand besides gloves. These feature an ergonomically designed splint with full wrap straps that provides palm protection and wrist support without compromising the wrist’s normal range of motion. The hardshell construction is good insurance against losing skin from friction on rocks, concrete, rough terrain, or wooden ramps.
The Best Kneepads
Besides protecting your joints from falls, a good pair of kneepads can offer suspension support for your knees should you roll over any big bumps or road cracks. Here are our top picks.
Fox Racing Launch Pro D3O Knee Guards
Designed with input from Fox’s elite-level race team, these knee guards are D3O-certified, allowing the pads to stay flexible for ease of movement, but upon impact, they instantly harden to dissipate the force of the crash. The Launch Pro D3O knee Guards also have a breathable, moisture-wicking construction to reduce sweat and stay comfy on any micro-mobile machine.
Buy the Fox Racing Launch Pro D3O Knee Guards
TSG All Terrain Kneepads
The TSG All Terrain is a hardshell pad designed with hardshell protection to slide upon impact to reduce knee stress. These pads combine durable high-grade fabrics, EVA shock-absorbing cup foam, and high-density full-coverage PE caps. Complete protection in a sleek and subtle design.
Buy the TSG All Terrain Kneepads
The Best Elbow Pads
Elbows are one of the most common areas to get scrapped up in a fall or against a wall when turning a narrow corner. Save your skin with these top protective picks.
Fox Racing Launch Pro D30 Elbow Guards
As with the matching knee pads, these Fox Racing elbow pads are D3O-certified, allowing the pads to stay flexible while riding and instantly harden upon impact to dissipate the force of a fall. The same moisture-wicking back fabric keeps you cool and dry, so you are both comfortable and protected.
Buy the Fox Racing Launch Pro Elbow Guards
TSG All Terrain Elbow Pads
As with the matching knee pads, the All Terrain combines durable high-grade fabrics, EVA cup foams, and high-density full-coverage PE caps for great all-around elbow protection.
Buy the TSG All Terrain Elbow Pads
The Best Armored Jackets
Instead fo elbow pads, some riders prefer wearing an armored jacket or hoodie since it offers the same elbow protection and guards for the shoulders and back. This added protection is especially good insurance for reaching high speeds and adds warmth for colder weather.
Lazyrollign Armored Reflective Jacket
The Lazyrolling Armored Reflective Performance Hoodie gives you a stylish and clean look while keeping you safe. With its slim design, this hoodie won’t look bulky and overstuffed like other armored gear and is made to wear over a basic t-shirt.
The reflective material will glow in traffic when light is shone on you, perfect for night riding. It also has a high neck and airflow zippers under the arms, increasing breathability and preventing excessive heat build-up. As for protection, the inner lining is 100% DuPont Kevlar. There are internal pouches at the elbows, shoulders, and back to insert CE-certified pads and back protection, along with RECCO rescue technology.
Buy the Lazyrolling Armored Reflective Hoodie
You can choose between level 1 or level 2 protection pads (level 2 is motorcycle certified). Lazyrolling offers a simple Black-on-Black version if you don’t need the reflective material or has hoodies with equal protection if you don’t need the weather resistance of a jacket.
That’s all the best protective gear you need to stay safe while riding. Getting geared up will provide the peace of mind to push the limits on all your EV adventures.