The Manis back protector from Dainese
Dainese invented the first back protector in 1981, since then huge progress has been made in improving both active and passive safety. Dainese’s latest back protector, the Manis, is the most evolved form of back protection and has revolutionised the concept of freedom of movement.
The Manis not only provides great freedom of movement, it also moulds to the back by elongating, contracting and flexing to adapt to the position of the body whilst providing superb protection. The name was inspired by the Pangolin (Manis is its scientific name), a mammal that lives in South-East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, whose body is covered by overlapping plate-like scales to form a flexible but highly protective shell.
When in motion, the area where the scales overlap acts as a bridge and thus increases the dissipation of energy while decreasing pressure on the body. In order to guarantee appropriate protection for the spine, D-TEC® engineers developed a revolutionary solution that fastens the protective components of the back protector so that they were not static but were free to move.
The protector can elongate and flex laterally to protect along its full length and can twist to perfectly follow all chest movements, whilst still performing its main role as a back protector. The scales are fastened to a separate layer of padding and are joined to each other by a central "pivot" that lets them slide as and when needed.
Lateral flexible silicone joints provide control and stability of movement as well as flexibility and resistance under all types of conditions. With its overlapping scales and flexible joints, the Manis boasts four-degrees of freedom, can extend in length by 8%, can bend laterally by approximately 25° and can bend forwards.
The padding consists of a sandwich made of three different materials as well as a Crash Absorb material joined to a comfort layer made of expanded polyethylene. The Manis has numerous perforations to allow the dissipation of body heat and, compared with previous back protectors, sets new ergonomic standards with its protective surface able to adapt to the different positions the spine adopts.
The Manis is available in UK dealers with an RRP starting from £59.99.
For more information or to find your local dealer visit dainese.com.
