At least the full body armour will give you a bit of security and probably a tad more confidence. I wouldn't know though, never worn it.

I've pretty much decided to stick with what I've got and just work on my confidince / skills.

I can see the mallets would be useful - people have said that larger platforms get caught on rocks more etc.

But yes if you're used to the candy's probably be a bad idea to look at say shimano alternatives just for the holiday, can't imagine it would be too great getting used to a different type of clip in mechanism at the same time as doing the "tricky" riding

So anyone Candy's vs Mallets?

If you post on the mtbr forum you should get your question answered pretty quick there. (www.mtbr.com)