• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Aerostich Darien pad exchange

Texpaul

Lost again
If anyone here has done the TF5 pads, or aftermarket pad, exchange on the Aerostich Darien jacket and/or pants I would like to hear your feedback. Both the good and bad. Thanks in advance
 
Since no one replied to my question I went ahead and ordered the TF5 elbow/knee pads (#1104) and the Transit pad adapter pockets (#1107) to try the conversion out. Here's what I found out.

The velcro on the pockets did not align correctly with the velcro in the pants. This made correct placement of the pockets almost impossible. In addition the packets were larger than the TF5 pads allowing the pad to move around considerably within the pocket. This meant that even if you could get the pocket in the correct location the movement of the pad within the pocket defeated your placement efforts.

In conclusion I would have to recommend that you do not waste your time and money on these Aerostich products as they do not function as advertised. After using Aerostich products for over 20 years I have to say that the company is not what it used to be and this will be the last Aerostich suit that I will own.
 
Have you tried bitching to Aerostich instead of here? If so what was their reply?

I have the transit hip pads in my AD1 pants. Much better than the older/larger pads with respect to comfort. The velcro is not an issue as the smaller hip pads mount using the waist velcro only.

I have the transit back-pad sleeve for my Darien jacket. Fit is perfect. However, instead of purchasing the (expensive) pad from Aerostich I purchased a SAS-Tec backpad (same thing) from a third party for about 1/2 the cost. FYI: the SAS-TEC size SC-1/12 is the perfect fit for the Aerostich Medium sleeve that fit my size 40 Darien jacket.
 
Last edited:
Darien jacket pads

I purchased the TF5 elbow pads and sleeves for my Darien jacket and am very pleased. The TF5 pads are much less bulky, therefore more comfortable. Haven't tried the shoulder pads yet.
 
I've done quite a few pad upgrades to older gear of various brands.
The usual issue is getting a good fit and that's most easily handled if the pad material you select is trimmable- at least that allows accurate downsizing.

My general brand preference in pads these days is D3. Trimmable, vented, softer, flexible so preferred by me to SAStec which are hard, non-vented, not very flexible, etc. SAStec and D3 are both meet current certification levels but the SAStec are cheaper which is no doubt the reason OEMs use them sometimes.

Maybe some day we'll see standardized pad sizes and nomenclature or at least interchangeability tables - there are a few of those available now.
 
Back
Top