i think the point of my rambling post is there already are more protective items not labelled as a bike/snow, but people already are choose not to use them. How come nobody uses full face helmets? How come road bikers are wearing basically skin depth spandex and not full body armor if its just about protection. So people are already not choosing absolute safety first.
I resemble that remark. And I'll laugh at myself here:
My backyard mtb trails also include an extensive, shared moto trail network. I love these rough trails, on both my long travel Trek Slash mtb AND my KTM 250 moto.
On my Slash, I'm wearing a good coverage helmet, lycra short-sleeved shirt, and lycra shorts. Sometimes baggy shorts over those. Ankle-high race shoes.
On my moto, I'm wearing a full-face helmet, a zip-on full upper body armor unit including chest pad, elbow pads, shoulder pads, back pad and kidney belt, shorts padded in several areas, full "leathers" pants, knee/shin pads, and burly boots.
So.......on ANY downhill segment, I'm faster on my Slash than my moto.
I'm not sure what that says about my sanity, when it comes to choosing relative levels of protective equipment.