Protective gear for the body and methods of making the same

1. An item of protective gear for a body, comprising:

a section of shell material for attenuation of impact forces and a section of a relatively softer, molded thermoplastic flexural material joined in a unitary structure with the shell material, wherein the molded thermoplastic flexural material is a joint compliantly allowing the shell material to conform to the body of a wearer; and

the item is configured to cover and help protect a specific area of the wearer's body;

wherein the item comprises a roost deflector having sections of the shell and the molded thermoplastic flexural materials.

2. An item of protective gear for a body, comprising:

a plurality of sections of a shell material for attenuation of forces and a relatively softer, molded thermoplastic flexural material disposed between the sections and joined in a unitary structure with the shell material, wherein in each section the molded thermoplastic flexural material is a joint allowing for sections of the shell material to compliantly conform to the body of a wearer, or is an edge extension on the shell material for cushioning or comfort;

the item is configured to cover and help protect a specific area of the wearer's body; and

wherein the item comprises a roost deflector comprising a front portion for covering a portion of a wearer's chest and a back portion for covering a portion of a wearer's back, and each of the portions is segmented by one or more of the joints.

3. The item of claim 2 wherein the back portion includes a horizontal joint that is interposed between upper and lower sections of shell material, compliantly allowing the shell material to conform to a wearer's back during bending.

4. The item of claim 3 wherein the back portion includes a pair of oppositely spaced joints interposed between segmented sections of shell material, each joint with at least a vertical component disposed at about the sides of a wearer's back, compliantly allowing the shell sections to compliantly conform around the sides of a wearer's body.

5. The item of claim 2 wherein the front portion includes a horizontal joint that is interposed between upper and lower sections of shell material, compliantly allowing the shell material to conform to a wearer's front side during bending.

6. The item of claim 5 wherein the front portion includes a pair of opposite spaced joints each with at least a vertical component interposed between sections of shell material at about the sides of the wearer's body, compliantly allowing the shell material to conform around the sides of a wearer's body.

7. The item of claim 2 further comprising shoulder portions, for covering a wearer's shoulders, comprising a shell material interconnected to a front or back portion.

8. The item of claim 7 wherein the shoulder portions are interconnected to the front or back portions as unitary structures.

9. The item of claim 8 wherein the shoulder portions are interconnected via connectors that are unitary with the shoulder sections and/or the front and/or back portions.

10. A method of making an item of protective gear, comprising:

providing a material for at least one section of a shell for attenuation of impact forces and a material for at least one joint of a relatively softer, molded thermoplastic flexural material;

forming the shell material and the molded thermoplastic flexural material into a unitary structure wherein the molded thermoplastic flexural material is a joint compliantly allowing the shell material to conform to the body of a wearer, or is an edge extension on the shell material for cushioning or comfort;

configuring the item so that it can cover and help protect a specific area of the wearer's body;

wherein a molded thermoplastic material is provided for a plurality of sections of the shell and a plurality of sections of the joints all in a unitary structure; and

wherein the item comprises a roost deflector comprising a front portion for covering a portion of a wearer's chest and a back portion for covering a portion of a wearer's back, and each of the portions is segmented by the one or more of the joints.