I'm with Linda!  Last year I was cantering down a trail, looked up and saw a one-inch diameter, spike-like branch headed right for me.  I tried to duck but it struck me in the upper chest nearly throwing me out of the saddle.  I felt the impact and heard a LOUD snap and immediately thought I'd broken my collarbone or even punctured a lung.  When I looked down the tip of the branch was firmly lodged in the foam in my vest, the snap was the branch breaking off.  VERY lucky.
I purchased the vest at a second hand tack sale because I'd read reports that the sides of some trails are being cleared with bush hogs that cut sapplings off at 4-5 inches from the ground.  This method leaves a spike that would easily impale a fallen rider.  I had also heard that a rider (somehwere) had been killed the previous year in this manner.
The vest was money well spent as far as I'm concerned!
Wendy

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