I now have the Icon TiMax 2 Mesh Jacket and Icon TiMax TRX Long Gloves and really feel protected in them.
I laid my bike down back on September when a car changed lanes inches in front of me and then traffic stopped right then. So I grabbed the brakes and turned and the bike slammed down on the right side and spun around and slid.
My Icon gloves with the Ti pieces took all the punishment instead of my hands and I was so impressed with it that I wanted to go with the Ti jacket as well. My Joe Rocket Reactor Perforated leather and mesh jacket took the punishment that would have been road rash, but not the impact and I broke my right shoulder. My Sidi boots also protected my feet and ankles and no injury there either. The X-Eleven also saved my noggin, it took a good bit of road rash as well, Oh well new helmet time, wahoo. Now my dress pants didn't really protect my legs very well though and my knees took a bit of wear and tear (funny my billford took the wear and tear my rearend should have, yes leather did it's job).
So I checked out the Ti Max jackets. I looked at all three and decided on the mesh because of the Orlando heat. The leather doesn't have a enough vents nor did the Textile. I felt the mesh has lots of air movement and lots of protection. The Ti panels are on hard overlapping panels that protect the shoulders (no other armor in the shoulders which is one down side) as well a Ti Panel on the overlapping semi hard back protector panels that air flows through really well instead of the large one piece back protector that most jackets have that holds the heat in that area. And the elbows are very armored. The jacket has really thick solid panels where you're likely to have contact the with the road or whatever.
I had a Honda Joe Rocket Mesh jacket that I went down in about 4 years ago and it was not a lot of protection. The jacket fit well, but during the crash and sliding it shifted all over the place, so the main impact parts moved and I ended up with road rash in the oddest areas. It did not fair very well either.
The TiMax jacket is different and fits tight and doesn't move. It has larger Textile impact areas with tons more protection. I hope don't need it but feel confident in the amount of protection it offers, (no hand warmer pockets though, only 2 inside pockets - not bad just different).
I know it's not as strong as my leather gear that I wear on group rides or when I'm on the interstate or really pushing the limits. But to and from work. I wear the TiMax mesh jacket and Joe Rocket mesh overpants along with the Sidi boots, TiMax gloves and Shoei X-Eleven helmet.
I shake my head every time I see someone riding in shorts, flip-flops and a T-Shirt and usually no helmet and think of how they'll fare when the unexpected happens, but hey that's just me. To each his own.
