I thought about protection over the winter, and decided I was riding on borrowed time. I figure if I tangle with another vehicle, I'm probably toast. However, the odds of going down on a bad turn or slipping out on something seem higher. Columbia jackets may be warm, but offer nothing in the way of protection, so I grabbed a couple of used jackets for cheap (~$20 each).
One is a Nexgen mesh with built-in armor and leather skid panels and insulated liner. Hasen't been warm enough to use this one yet. The other is a Firstgear textile with built-in armor and leather skid panels, but no liner (I just use the Nexgen one). Both jackets' armor include long back plates. I also picked up some armored gloves (with a spiffy, but conservative Honda logo on 'em!). The gloves were new, and the jackets must not have been worn more than a couple of times.
I hadn't really thought about a separate back protector. Of course, with my wife nursing a broken vertabrae from a car wreck, my thought are drifting this way pretty quickly. How much protection and/or support do they offer? Comfy or a necessary evil? What to look for or avoid?