I'll start the replies.
I've been wearing a Hit-Air MLV-P for probably 6-7 years. I first considered it when I read of a member of the NT-Owners group who went off the road. He was a very experienced rider and leading a small group on a ride. The road turned...and he didn't. He doesn't remember what happened and it wasn't a TIA. His riding gear protected him from any scrapes and cuts. But he almost died. He had 17 broken bones in his chest, a ruptured disk and a fractured disk in his back. For months it was touch and go.
I'm cheap. We didn't have much extra money for non-essentials. But my wife had no second thoughts of me spending over $500 on this airbag vest. The logical part of me also said that one trip to the Emergency Room would pay for the vest. If the vest dies, I'll buy another. No question about it.
The first time it deployed, was when I was going to the prison. It was rush hour. I came to a busy intersection and wanted to turn right. As I stopped, I realized the light had just changed. The cars to my left had a large intersection to cross and there was time to make the turn and get ahead of them...if I went now. I was looking left, and as I let out the clutch I looked ahead...and saw a teenager with a skate board on the crosswalk right in front of me. There was no choice, I had to hit the only brake I had...the front. One second I was upright and looking at the kid. The next, I was on the ground, laying up against the curb.
As I laid there, I realized my chest and ribs were against the hard edge of the curb. Yet I felt no pain. Then it dawned on me. The airbag vest had deployed.
Besides my obvious embarrassment and the knowledge that my vest had deployed...I'd gotten my new shiny clean vest dirty in the mud. It'd never look pristine again. Sigh...
I don't notice the airbag vest on. The additional weight disappears as it gets spread across your body. In the cold, I suppose it helps. Believe it or not, it also helps in hot weather.
When the temps get up to 93F and above, you want to start limiting the airflow to your body. The thyroid can't keep up with the heat. Sweat dries on the skin before you can get any cooling effect. The airbag vest actually slows down the amount of air enough to keep the sweat on your body and give you some cooling. I was going through Wyoming a few years ago and stopped at a rest stop. It was over 105F outside. A couple on a Goldwing and a Victory Vision told me their cooling vests had dried in 30 minutes. Mine lasted for hours.
I've ridden in temps up to 116F with the airbag vest on. It wasn't an issue.
There's a lot of discussion regarding using the old Stone Age tethered airbag vests, or the new Modern and with-it electronically activated vests. You can read the pros and cons of both. I'll stick with the tried and true tethered vests. I know it works. BTW, you won't walk away from the bike and and deploy the vest. About the only way that will happen is if you're so drunk you have no idea what you're doing. It takes more force to deploy the airbag vest than you'll cause by simply walking away.
The last thought I can think of is whether to get a vest or a jacket. A vest will go with whatever jacket you're wearing. If you chose the jacket...that's it. You'd better have a summer jacket and a winter jacket. And it better be the best designed jacket ever, or you'll leave it behind and wear something that you like better...that doesn't have an airbag.
Chris