A, AA, AAA: Are You Being Sold the Wrong Kind of Safety?
Everyone's chasing the triple-A label. We think most riders are protecting themselves against the wrong thing.
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Walk into any gear conversation in motorcycle stores right now and you'll hear the same shorthand: AAA good, AA okay, A cheap. It has become the whole language riders use to talk about safety. Spend more, get more A's, ride safer. Simple.
It's also mostly wrong. Not because the rating is fake, but because it measures one narrow thing and the industry has quietly let riders believe it measures everything. We sell plenty of AAA gear and we'll happily sell you more. But we'd rather you understand what you're actually buying, because the label on the swing tag is answering a question most road riders aren't really asking.
What the A, AA, AAA rating actually measures
The ratings come from a European standard called EN17092. In plain terms, it grades a garment on how well its outer shell survives being dragged across a surface: abrasion resistance, tear strength, and how well the seams hold. That's the core of it. A jacket earns AAA by resisting a longer, harder slide than an AA one.
Here's the part nobody puts on the marketing: the standard says very little about armour. It doesn't make a jacket carry a back protector. It doesn't force the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 impact protection. A garment can wear a top-tier abrasion rating and still ship with thin, minimal pads that barely cover the joint.
And there's a detail that should change how you shop: the abrasion score is about fabric, not fanciness. A thick, plain cotton can pass the tests if it's dense enough. That's exactly why the triple-A badge became the calling card of budget gear. It's the cheapest, easiest number to chase, so entry-level brands chase it hard and put it front and centre.
The slide myth, and what actually injures riders
Picture how you imagine a crash. Most riders picture a long, cinematic slide down clean tarmac. It's a comforting image, because sliding feels survivable. The problem is that it's not how most real road crashes go.
It's not the sliding that hurts you. It's the stopping.
A racetrack is a wide, smooth run-off designed for sliding. A road is not. On the road you don't glide to a graceful halt, you tumble, and your slide gets cut short by a kerb, a car door, a guardrail, or the vehicle that pulled out on you. Alpinestars' own crash research puts the average motorcycle accident at around two seconds. Two seconds is not a long slide. It's an impact.
The collision statistics back this up. The majority of serious and fatal motorcycle injuries come from hitting something, most often another vehicle, and a large share happen at junctions. In that split second, the abrasion rating of your jacket does nothing for you. What's between your shoulder, elbow, spine and that hard object is the only thing working: your armour.
Why armour is the story the label skips
Armour has one job: absorb the energy of an impact before it reaches you. It's rated separately from the garment, under its own standards, and the gap between the levels is real.
Level 1 passes a lower force through in testing. Level 2 passes roughly half. When you actually collide with something, that difference is the difference between a bruise and a break. Yet an abrasion rating never guarantees you Level 2 armour, and it never guarantees the armour actually covers the parts of you that hit the ground.
So the smarter checklist isn't "how many A's." It's three questions:
- What level is the armour? Look for CE Level 2 at the shoulders, elbows and back.
- Where is it, and does a piece cover the whole joint? A small pad that shifts off the point of your elbow is protecting the air next to your arm.
- Is a back protector actually included, or just a pocket for one you'll never buy?
Full-limb armour vs the bare minimum
This is where good gear and cheap gear quietly separate, long after the abrasion label stopped being useful.
A lot of jackets, including plenty wearing a strong abrasion rating, are built to a price. That shows up as slim, minimal pads sized to pass a certification rather than to protect a moving human, and it shows up as an "armour-ready" back pocket sitting empty in the box. It ticks the certification. It does not cover you.
The brands we choose to stock go the other way. Knox and REV'IT build around the armour first: larger-format Level 2 protectors shaped to stay put and cover the entire joint, full-length back protectors fitted as standard, and thoughtful touches like chest-protector compatibility so you can push coverage further. That's a deliberate design philosophy, and it's the one we back.
Full-coverage armour
- Level 2 protectors at all major joints
- Sized to cover the whole joint, not just the centre
- Back protector included as standard
- Often chest-protector ready
The minimal-armour trap
- Small pads that pass CE but shift on impact
- Level 1 where Level 2 should be
- Empty "back protector ready" pocket
- All the marketing spent on the abrasion badge
Three pieces we stand behind
These aren't the flashiest-rated garments on paper. They're the ones built the way we think protection should be built: armour first, coverage everywhere, no empty pockets.
Knox Urbane Pro Move Armoured Shirt
$569.99 CAD
The clearest example of armour-first thinking. It's CE AA rated on the shell, but the real story is what's inside: Knox MICRO-LOCK Level 2 armour at shoulders, elbows and a full-length back protector fitted as standard, with the front re-engineered to take an optional chest protector. Breathable In-Motion Mesh means you'll actually wear the protection instead of leaving it at home on hot days.
- Level 2 shoulders, elbows, full-length back protector included
- Chest-protector ready
- Built to layer with the Knox Seasonless system
Knox TOR DUO Armoured Shirt & Waterproof Shell
$679.99 CAD
Same armour-first backbone, built for riders who chase changing weather and terrain. Class AA shell with Knox MICRO-LOCK Compact Level 2 armour at elbows, shoulders and a full-size back protector, plus Velcro chest-protector attachment. The bundled 10K waterproof Tor Shell packs away into its own pocket, so full-coverage protection and weatherproofing travel together.
- Level 2 elbows, shoulders, full-size back protector
- Includes pack-away 10K waterproof shell
- Chest-protector compatible
REV'IT! Nucleus Protector Jacket
$399.99 CAD
Proof that impact protection doesn't need a headline abrasion number to matter. The Nucleus is a protector-first layer you wear standalone or under any jacket, loaded with Level 2 SEEFLEX at shoulders and elbows, a Level 2 SEESOFT AIR back protector, and even divided chest protectors. Slim 3D air mesh keeps it wearable. When the discussion is impact energy, this punches far above its price.
- Level 2 shoulders, elbows and back protector
- Includes divided chest protectors
- Ventilated 3D air mesh, wear over or under
The MotoHut verdict
The abrasion rating isn't a scam. It's just a small piece of the picture that got promoted to the whole thing, because it's the easiest number to print and the cheapest to chase. For the vast majority of Canadian road riding, an AA-rated shell is already plenty of slide protection. Where gear genuinely separates is the armour: its level, and whether it actually covers you.
So next time you're comparing two jackets, look past the A's. Ask what level the armour is, whether it covers the whole joint, and whether the back protector is in the box or just implied. Get that right and the letters on the tag stop mattering nearly as much.
That's the standard we buy to, and it's why the gear on our racks looks the way it does. Come try it on at the Vancouver store, or reach us at hello@motohut.ca. We'll talk you through it honestly.
