Each year, we can’t wait for the Demon shipment to arrive. Each year, we buy nearly twice as much as the previous year. Each year, we sell out of the popular items by early January….. With all that having been said, we’re happy to announce that the new 2010 Demon International protective gear is here!

Our Favorite (and our Customers’ Favorite) Demon Items Are…

Here are our most popular Demon Snow protective gear:

• The Demon Flex Force Pro High Men’s Upper Body Armor. Demon International’s more protective piece of ski and snowboard upper body armor, the 2010 Demon Snow Flex Force Pro is all new for 2010.
• The Demon Flex Force Pro High Women’s Upper Body Armor. Demon International’s more protective piece of ski and snowboard upper body armor, the 2010 Demon Snow Flex Force Pro is all new for 2010.  This women’s version of the Flex Force has nice graphics and is popular with the ladies on the mountain.
• The Demon Flex Force Pro Men’s Padded Shorts. Demon Snow’s Flex Force Pro ski and snowboard padded shorts are always a customer favorite.
• The Demon Flex Force Pro Women’s Padded Shorts.  With this women’s version of the Demon Snow’s Flex Force Pro ski and snowboard padded shorts, you can outfit yourself with padded shorts that are cut and styled for women.
• For those on an even tighter budget, the standard version Demon Flex Force High upper body armor offers basic impact protection and can be matched with the Demon Flex Force Low Padded Shorts to make a value-priced ski and snowboard protective gear package.
• The always popular 2010 Demon Shield Protective Vest. This items sells out - completely out - every year. The Demon Shield Vest gives you spine protection and chest/rib protection, without any bulk in the sleeves. The Demon Shield Vest is a really popular choice for skiiers, snowboarders, and snowmobilers looking for torso protection on their spine and front side.

Order your new 2010 Demon International snowboard and ski protective gear from XSportsProtective

We are one of the largest retailers of Demon Snow protection, so we’ll have what you want in stock and ready to ship. Order Demon protective gear from the specialists today!

Check it out:

Lizard Skins has been making bike pads and components for over 15 years. We really like the Lizard Skins Softcell mountain bike elbow pads, Lizard Skins mountain bike knee pads, and the Lizard Skins BMX padsets. You can also find the Lizard Skins chainstay protectors.

Lizard Skins Softcell Knee Pads - a customer favorite

The Lizard Skins Softcell Knee Pads are very popular with our customers. The Softcell knees come with an open back design that allows you to put them on and take them off without removing your shoes. The Lizard Skin softcell knee pads also have excellent venting, which allows all that hot air and sweat to escape.

Order your new Lizard Skins today at XSportsProtective!

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o

Jim

I ran into my friend Vince the other day and I couldn’t believe the story he told me. Vince is a bicyclist, a road biker, and rides really fast on his fixed gear. But he doesn’t wear a helmet.

For those who aren’t sure what a fixed gear is, think about how a tricycle works; if the wheels are turning, your pedals are turning. In other words the cog on the rear wheel is “fixed” to the hub, it will not spin independently from the wheel.

Vince is a good kid, but he didn’t look before he leapt, so to speak. He was riding his fixie on Riverside Drive in a suburb of Cleveland. Riverside is a road that runs along the top of the steep incline of one of our local rivers. Looking over the edge can be dizzying. It’s approximately a 200 foot slide, at 75 degrees or more in places, down to the river. He was with a friend that was riding a mountain bike. Vince’s friend (who wears a mountain bike helmet) decided to venture down one of the single track trails that enters the valley at a less cliff-like place.

Vince decided to follow. (That’s right, drop your face into your hands and shake in disapproval.)

You Can Guess What’s Coming….The Inevitable Crash

I’m not sure how far down the slope Vince got, but his descent ended when his front wheel stopped and he kept going. For starters, his fall was broken by the bridge of his nose. Good start, right? So that impact knocked him out. From the eye-witness accounts of his friend, the next impact was his knee into a massive tree root. A long slide down the hill entailed, scraping knees and elbows and ripping his lower lip away from his gums. Vince said the doctor was able to slip his finger in his mouth and touch the underside of his chin. 15 stiches. Did I mention that Vince was stil connected to the bike? Oh yeah, toe clips work even when you don’t want them to!

So I didn’t get the details of how Vince was pulled out of the woods, but I do know that there was lots of blood, there was the cutting off of clothes, disorientation, not waking up until the ride in the ambulance, etc.

The Aftermath…

I talked to another friend, Mike, that visited Vince in the hospital only a few hours after the incident. He said the hospital bed was a mass of scraped flesh, blood, twigs, dirt, and sticks. Vince was still so disoriented that when he saw Mike, he said, “Hey Mike! Do you want to go for a bike ride?” Then he tried to get out of bed. Needless to say, Vince and Mike did not go on a bike ride. Vince was in the hospital for two days.When I ran into Vince about a week later, the blackened bruising was barely visible under his eyes. He showed me his knees, both of with were scabbed two inches above and below his kneecap. He was limping because his left knee was swollen to almost twice the size. His doctor told him to wear an immoblizer, but he didn’t.

Here is the moral of the story: wear a helmet.

Wear a Helmet

If Vince had been wearing a bike helmet, I don’t think he would have blacked out. Even if he was wearing a standard Bell Bike Helmet or Giro Bike Helmet, the head impact would not have been as severe. Now, if Vince had been wearing a full face mountain bike helmet, like the Giro Remedy or the Bell Bellistic, he would have avoided the head impact and the broken nose and the torn lower lip!One simple piece of safety equipment - a mountain bike helmet - could have saved Vince a bunch of money in medical bills and two days in the hospital. He may have suffered the scraped and bruised knees and elbows but he’d still be riding his bike now.

What About Vince’s Knees and Elbows?

But wait! There’s more! There is also excellent equipment to prevent injuries to your knees and elbows. For example, SixSixOne makes the awesome EVO mountain bike knee pads and elbow pads. Using the d3o technology, these pads are lightweight and soft, but when subject to impact, the d3o material stiffens to a very hard substance.

I Gave Vince a Present

I bought Vince a mountain bike helmet. I told him that I was going to blog about his story as payment. He lowered his head in appreciation. If your riding a bike - road or mountain or fixie - please wear a mountain bike helmet or full face mountain bike helmet. It will save your face some day.

Ryan K
XSportsProtective
Warehouse Guy

Last month, we served our 30,000th customer. XSportsProtective now has a team of people, including Susan in Customer Service, Lori in Web Administration, Ryan in the Warehouse, Kelly in Accounting, and Carol in Email Marketing. It’s a great group of people and I’m proud of how well we serve our customers.

As everyone knows, this is a tough time for retailing. Despite falling sales and companies going out of business all around us, we’re growing nearly 30% in 2009. Why? Because we have products customers want, in stock in our own warehouse, ready to ship. Got a question? Call Susan and she’ll go pull the item of the shelve and describe it/measure it for you. Ryan scans every item with a bar code scanner, so we make sure what you get is exactly what you ordered.

We are growing because we take care of our customers. It’s really that simple.

And that’s why I love what we’re building and I love my company. We are serving customers the way we like to be served, and our customers like that. That’s something I really proud of.

Jim

Today’s Snowboard Helmets - light weight and fashionable

What type of mountain biking do you do?

How aggressively you mountain bike determines the amount of protection you need from your mountain bike helmet. The risk of mountain biking injuries is higher with downhill, dirt jumping, or other high speed riding. For higher risk mountain biking, consider the additional protection of a full face mountain bike helmet.

For cross country, single track, and recreational mountain biking, a “regular” mountain bike helmet offers excellent lightweight and well ventilated protection.

Mountain Bike Helmets Certification

All helmets sold as “bike helmets,” including mountain biking helmets, must meet the requirements of the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) bicycle helmet certification standard. Look for the CPSC certification sticker on the inside of the helmet, and do not buy a mountain bike helmet that does not carry at least the CPSC certification.

A full face mountain bike helmet will sometimes meet additional safety standards, including the ASTM F 1952 Downhill Mountain Bike Helmet Standard, the ASTM F 2032 BMX Helmet Standard, or the even tougher DOT or Snell helmet standards.

Mountain Bike Helmet Fit and Shape

For mtb helmets to protect you from a serious head injury, the helmet has to fit properly and remain in place during a crash. These features help ensure a proper fit of this vital piece of mountain bike protective gear:

• MTB Helmet Shell Size. Measure the size of your head using our helmet sizing guide and select a mountain bike helmet that fits this size. Be careful not to assume sizing; age, height, and weight have little to do with how big your head is. Measure, measure, measure, and then pick the right size for you.
• Adjustable Fit System. Many mountain bike helmets have adjustable fit systems built into the helmet that allow you to rotate a dial and adjust the fit to your head. This is a great feature. We all have different sized and shaped heads, and the fit system allows you to tailor the fit of your mtb helmet to your own head.
• Helmet Straps and Buckles. Don’t overlook the importance of the straps and buckle to the fit and security of your mountain biking helmets. Look for a helmet that offers adjustable straps, and a secure buckle design that won’t break loose during a fall.
• Extra Large Heads. If you have a large head, and need XXL or XXXL mountain bike helmets, don’t worry. The Bell Triton (formerly known as the Kinghead) and Giro Atlas are both excellent extra large mountain bike helmets that include current features and styling.
  

  Start Shopping Now forMountain Bike Helmets

• 187 Pro Knee Pads
• 187 Elbow Pads

Buy your new 187 Killer Pads from XSportsProtective, the leader in protective gear for action sports.

The most important pieces of skateboard safety gear that you need are:

• A Skateboard Helmet. First priority has to go to your head. Unfortunately, we hear about tragic skateboard safety accidents quite often. Head injuries may not be frequent, but when they happen they are often catastrophic. Wear a helmet, period.
• Skateboard pads, including skate knee pads and skate elbow pads. No, you won’t die from a banged up knee, but an injury to your knee or elbow can sideline you from skateboarding for days, weeks, or even months. They’re pretty inexpensive, and skate knee pads and skate elbow pads do their jobs well.
• Skateboard Padded Shorts. Stealthy, but awesome protection, skateboard padded shorts allow you to try new tricks and heights knowing that your hips and tailbone areas have a layer of protection. Skate padded shorts are a great additional to your skateboard safety gear bag.

Skateboard protective gear, including skateboard helmets, offer good protection at a reasonable cost, so order your new skateboard protective gear today from XSportsProtective - the leader in action sports protective gear