As I sit here with my foot wrapped in an ace bandage, I'm thinking someone ought to invent a new skid plate with some sort of guard that sticks out the sides just enough to deflect away from stumps and other things that smash your foot against the foot peg. Maybe it would be more clutter than it's worth. It would have to have enough room to allow use of the levers. Maybe it would be just one more thing to pin you to a tree or rock. Any ideas?

 

 

As WOK's pic shows, most boots already have a toe guard, but I'm thinking you may talking about something bigger or more radical. If you are, I think you may have answered your own question with the issue that such a guard might be more a hazhard than a help in most off road situations. It's a fine line between something that can protect and something that can in itself contribute to potential injury...especially around the feet/ankle area. Look at off road boots themselves as a whole. The weight alone is often a contributor to knee injuries because of the momentum from a hard hit that causes the boot to yank on the knee or twist it...but there's enough of an offset from impact protection and crushing injuries to justify wearing them. Compromise.

 

Those are great looking boots. I'm heading to Oregon next weekend for the second annual two Cousins Epic Ride, and I'm still debating if I want to wear my boots. I'll take them just in case. These are the ones I got. And yes they look almost that good after 4 years...

 

What do you wear if you're not wearing your mx boots?
Wear your boots, you'll get used to them.
Dan

 

mx boots wont save you from everything, trust me. look out for rocks too, they can cost you a few weeks of the bike.

 

The funny thing was, on Wednesday right before I caught my left foot on a stump and got an "owee", I was thinking about how I really ought to invest in some safety gear like boots and knee pads. I was thinking maybe that night I'd go online and order a set of nice boots. Then I came around the corner, hugging the inside of the tril just a bit too much, and started down the hill when I caught that locust stump hiding in the nettles. I was wearing my safety toe work boots.

Then when i got home I got out the plastic and ordered a set of Alpinestar Tech 8s. I went a little overboard, but that's 2 ankle/foot injuries in recent history. UPS just dropped them off an hour or so ago. Nice boots. Took me a while to figure out the little bootie inside. I can get the right one on no problem but I'm supposed to keep my other foot in the brace for another week. The doc says I can walk on it though as long as I wear the brace. I also ordered an armored jersey and knee pads. I'm never getting back on the green bike again without the safety gear. This is getting too damn expensive and pain sucks.

 

Good call.....Gear Cheap....Hospital EXPENSIVE

No such thing as going overboard......when I gear up for a serious ride....I got so much armor on...I look like I'm ready for a cage fight in a Mad Max movie.

 

I told my friend tonight over the phone that the next time he sees me I'm going to look like Robocop.

 

Better to look like Robocop than a drooling, nursing home refugee.

As punken suggested, armor may not stop all injuries, but in '08 this pic of my leg with a quality boot being worn at the time is probably a minor representative of what would have happened without a boot. My KLR650 fell over on me while I was dismounting on off camber ground on a trail in Colorado. The handlebar nailed my ankle like a sledge hammer into the ground. A bare ankle could have easily resulted in a broken bone.