Hip Protector Comparison Studies

As part of their stringent engineering and development program, Fall-Safe Hip Protectors have been subjected to a variety of comparative impact protection efficacy tests using carefully calibrated protocols and equipment, both in-house at D3O Labs and in independent academic test centers. 

While several distributors of hip protection pads have made a variety of claims of superior efficacy over the years, data supporting such claims have been remarkably limited. More recently, sophisticated, hip-specific impact measuring equipment and stricter testing protocols have emerged, thereby facilitating objective direct comparisons to be made under controlled conditions.

Method: Robinovitch SN, Evans SL, Minns J, et al. Osteoporos Int. 2009 Dec;20(12):1977-1988

These “head-to-head” comparisons have confirmed not only the wide range of impact protection efficacy among most of the currently available hip protectors, but also the significant degree to which the Fall-Safe Hip Protector outperformed the competition.

In these independent tests*, Fall-Safe Hip Protectors:

• Were significantly superior to all other pad materials – soft, hard and hybrid – in reducing the impact force transmitted
  • by 30–57% in the UK study (7 products compared)
  • by 23-61% in the Netherlands study (7 products compared)
• Did not suffer a notable decline in impact-absorbing performance following repeated impact—in contrast to most other products tested

*Data in preparation for publication