Coming off...Protection below the waist?

[cr0ft]

Please note how quickly these guys get dragged and how far they get dragged and their reaction to it. The japanese and their insane game shows and whatnot, but consider this contrasted with sliding along the same surface at 60 mph...

Kevlar is great, as is the stuff in all the new CE level 2 rated lined jeans, UHMWPE or Dyneema brand stuff. That stuff will be right up there with thick cowhide for protection.

Combine with some Forcefield Limb Tubes around the knees and some of the Forcefield shorts with armor on the hips and you should do pretty well if you come off the bike. As long as the pants stay on (wear strong suspenders and a belt to make sure they don't slide down and expose your ass... ideally they should attach to the bottom of the jacket with a zipper or something to avoid that.)

 

[Ishrub]

Please note how quickly these guys get dragged and how far they get dragged and their reaction to it. The japanese and their insane game shows and whatnot, but consider this contrasted with sliding along the same surface at 60 mph...

Kevlar is great, as is the stuff in all the new CE level 2 rated lined jeans, UHMWPE or Dyneema brand stuff. That stuff will be right up there with thick cowhide for protection.

Combine with some Forcefield Limb Tubes around the knees and some of the Forcefield shorts with armor on the hips and you should do pretty well if you come off the bike. As long as the pants stay on (wear strong suspenders and a belt to make sure they don't slide down and expose your ass... ideally they should attach to the bottom of the jacket with a zipper or something to avoid that.)

An Australian hour long weekly science show 'Catalyst' on our ABC (the national public broadcaster like BBC)Tuesday 29 March 2016 spent most of the show on Motorcycle clothing and safety testing of it and effects. They do have an free online version for a few weeks after each free to air version.
Catalyst: Motorcycle Clothing - ABC TV Science
They also have video on demand Catalyst: Video Downloads - ABC TV Science

The most telling thing of laboratory testing using calibrated sanding belts with weighted objects covered in various fabric concluded that unless very heavy thick cowhide or similar, kevlar reinforced fabrics were by far the safest for abrasion by a HUGE margin and that many so called motorcycle specific synthetic cordura textile type fabrics were pretty crap. Many mesh items were also rated badly and armour was only good if properly located and stayed in place while most still left large parts of the body exposed. The mesh could easily rip and mean the protection could move and expose flesh. Even good quality ventilated gear was questionable as the ventilation panels themselves could easily rip and expose the flesh despite the surrounding material being of good quality. Some lighter leather items were also not much better than straight denim which was virtually useless. To be really effective the kevlar had to be rated at 600grams per metre squared if I recall correctly and with good thigh, knee buttock coverage.

That stuff is hot even when worn in an office at 23* Celsius during the day, I do wear it all the time if riding but do use lighter weight kevlar in summer which I may have to reconsider.

A large part of the show focused on the heat and stress on riders wearing largely un-ventilated fabric gear in summer where after an hour of laboratory simulated city/urban riding effort the person had lost over 1.5 litres of sweat and their mental acuity and reaction times tested every 10 mins equated to somebody well and truly over the legal blood alcohol level and heart rate over 150. They told him after the test finished that they were very close to stopping earlier due to serious risk to his health and heat stroke etc. They simulated traffic conditions and work effort by having the rider fully suited with helmet boots and gloves with heart rate and skin and core temperature monitors riding a fixed bicycle at a slow pedaling speed equated to body effort when riding a m/cycle. they had controlled temperature, humidity. ray heaters and high speed fans to simulate a typical summer day in Australia.
It also showed the classic gravel rash of unprotected skin when people ride in T-shirt and shorts etc.

Reminds me of when I used to do rider training instructing in tropical Darwin's 35*+ Celsius (95*F) and 90-100% humidity in the early 1980's before modern ventilated gear. I used to wear denim jeans and leather jacket, boots, full-face and gloves etc and well remember pulling up at every set of lights and the sweat literally pouring out my sleeves.

 

[cr0ft]

Yeah, I actually committed some uh copyright fracturing and downloaded that episode from a uh site and watched it just because of the motorcycle clothing segment, it was interesting. Nothing I really didn't know except just how horrible ballistic nylon / Cordura actually is, it's completely useless when it comes to abrasion resistance.

Great link though, definitely well worth viewing for those who haven't!

Australia makes some of the nicest lined jeans out there, Draggin Jeans Australia has some of the relatively few CE level 2 rated pants for abrasion, not just (as they note in the TV ep) for the armor pieces. Holeshot being one. But they also have kevlar underpants and undershirts that should be almost as good combined with decent outerwear and strapped-on armor.

That's why I suggested limb tubes or something similar that straps around the knees under the loose pants, and shorts for the same reason - so it stays in place and covers what it's supposed to. Armor in the actual clothing means the clothes have to be absolutely form-fitting for the armor to work.

 

[El Bruto]

Newsflash..
I just bought some jeans made by a company called Resurgence Motorcycle Jeans | Biker Jeans | Aramid Jeans Alternative
They have a material called Pekev under the rip proof denim, and then a mesh liner inside that.. along with hip and knee protection.
The Pekev material is a new blend with Kevlar in in it,, is extremely hard to rip, and the mesh makes them thermally stable... in other words, they are as warm as leathers in the cold when I'm riding up in the mountains, yet down low on hot days they remain cool... only paid 140 euros for them.. money well spent.

 

[cr0ft]

Yep, I'm not sure but I suspect Pekev has the same stuff in it as what is branded Dyneema - ultra-high molecular weight Polyethylene. Any pants that want the CE level 2 abrasion resistance rating need that, kevlar alone won't be enough. But just plain kevlar is pretty solid already compared to plain jeans, and pretty comfy as well.

 

[1olbull]

Newsflash..
I just bought some jeans made by a company called Resurgence Motorcycle Jeans | Biker Jeans | Aramid Jeans Alternative
They have a material called Pekev under the rip proof denim, and then a mesh liner inside that.. along with hip and knee protection.
The Pekev material is a new blend with Kevlar in in it,, is extremely hard to rip, and the mesh makes them thermally stable... in other words, they are as warm as leathers in the cold when I'm riding up in the mountains, yet down low on hot days they remain cool... only paid 140 euros for them.. money well spent.

You have NOT posted where you are from, Amigo, So as far as I can find, these are not sold in the US.

 

[El Bruto]

Well.. The 140 EURO should give it away... I'm in EUROPE

 

[scot in exile]

Well.. The 140 EURO should give it away... I'm in EUROPE

Me thinks El Bruto is from El Liechtenstein.

 

[Ishrub]

Me thinks El Bruto is from El Liechtenstein.

Espana actually, unless he is in exile like you

Want to Buy - Power commander V wanted

 

[1olbull]

From the Spanish translator:
El Bruto
El = the
Bruto = stupid, beast