Alpinestars Tech-Air 3 vs Tech-Air 5

The question that decides it

Are you buying a jacket at the same time?

If no — you have jackets you like and you want to add an airbag to them — the Tech-Air 3 is the answer, and the reasoning is simple. An under-jacket airbag needs the jacket to have room for it, both when packed and when inflated. Most jackets bought without an airbag in mind do not. You would be buying a Tech-Air 5 and then discovering you also need a new jacket, or wearing it over the top of a shell it was never styled to sit on.

If yes — or if you already ride in a jacket cut generously enough — then the Tech-Air 5 gives you more torso coverage and disappears under the shell, which is both cooler in a well-vented jacket and tidier off the bike.

Coverage: what “full torso” buys

The Tech-Air 3 protects chest and back at Level 2. The Tech-Air 5 extends the inflated envelope further around the torso, which is the headline reason it exists. Whether that matters depends on the kind of crash you are equipping for. Chest and back cover the impacts that come from going over the bars or landing on your back; the wider envelope adds more of the flanks and shoulders, which is where a high-side or a tumble at speed loads you.

Both certify to Airbag Level 2 impact performance under the EN 1621-4 test method — that number describes how well the inflated bag attenuates an impact where it covers, not how much of you it covers. Coverage area and impact level are two separate specifications, and reading them as one is the most common mistake in this category.

Living with each of them

Tech-Air 3, day to day

• Works with anything. Leather jacket, mesh jacket, textile touring shell. Also works over a jacket you already own, which is the whole point.
• Visible. The canvas outer is designed to be seen. Some riders like that; some do not.
• Adds a layer. Worn over a mesh jacket in summer, it blocks airflow across the torso — which is exactly where a mesh jacket does its work. That is a real trade in hot weather.

Tech-Air 5, day to day

• Invisible under the shell. Off the bike you are wearing a jacket.
• Jacket sizing becomes a constraint. You need room in the chest and shoulders, and you are effectively committing your jacket wardrobe to it.
• Displaces your back protector. Worn under a jacket, it occupies the space where a CE back protector would sit. That is fine — the airbag covers the back — but do not try to wear both.

What neither of them changes

An electronic airbag is a supplement to your existing armor, not a substitute for it. Both vests are designed to be worn alongside the CE shoulder and elbow armor in your jacket, and neither does anything for your head, hands or legs. If your kit has a genuine gap — no certified back protector, unarmored trousers, no knee guards, or a helmet you should have replaced — that gap is a better use of the money than an airbag. This is the same order-of-priorities argument in our beginner gear guide, and it does not change just because the product is impressive.

The verdict

Tech-Air 3 for the large majority of street riders. It is the airbag you can actually add to the gear you own, and an airbag you wear is worth more than one that needs a wardrobe change first. It is our top pick on the airbag vest roundup for that reason.

Tech-Air 5 if you are buying into the system properly — new jacket included — or if you already ride in a generously cut shell and want the widest coverage Alpinestars offers. On track, where you are buying maximum protection rather than maximum compatibility, it is the right one.