Gear - Leather vs. Other

[bear]

Wondering if anybody has had off's wearing non-leather gear. Updated my riding gear lately and went for some canvas type jacket and pants with armour inserts. Heaps warmer and waterproof/windproof. Brand is RJays (Aussie).

What are your thoughts, and has anyone had an off wearing this gear (how did it perform)?

[Paul in NZ]

If I was going to slide a long way down a race track I'd take leather

If I was going to get run over by a car I'll take all the CE approved armour I can fit

If I'm going to ride a long way, I'll take warm and dry thanks...

Paul N

[Motu]

I've had this desicion too - for the riding I do I went textile...as Paul said,warm and dry goes a long way when you're going a long way.I'm after impact protection more than abrasion protection,so textile and hard armour is the way to go.

[Quasievil]

I am lucky enough to have both, I wear leather on day rides, if wet with a over rain suit. If Im touring for a distance and its cold ie winter I wear my technic.

Leather is better for comfort if not cold. Tecknic better when cold,but tight around the legs on a sports bike.

in a crash I would think they are much the same?? dont want to find out but I feel just as safe in both sets of gear

[Sniper]

If I was going to slide a long way down a race track I'd take leather

If I was going to get run over by a car I'll take all the CE approved armour I can fit

If I'm going to ride a long way, I'll take warm and dry thanks...

Paul N

Paul has spoke the words of wisdom. Warm and dry is the way to go if you are into long rides.

But personally, riding hard and sometimes fast, I tend to go towards the leathers more.

But thats only my opinion

[Blakamin]

I've got the RJays Voyager gear... nice and warm and waterproof!

[vifferman]

We've had this thread a time or two.

I used to wear only leather, but it wasn't waterproof, it was too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and didn't have proper armour.
Once I saw a textile jacket with armour in it, I decided to give it a try, and wore my leather jacket only once after that.

First time I binned wearing my Teknic cordura jacket (low-speed lowside on asphalt), I wore a hole about the size of a 20c nearly right throught the cordura (500 denier weight, I think.) The kevlar patches on the elbows were scuffed but OK. Subsequent similar incidents repeated the damage, as textiles (even kevlar) don't have the abrasion resistance of leather. The man-made fabrics tend to melt or jsut abrade through. So I had the shoulders and lower sleeves overlaid with leather, and crash tested that. Brilliant, if a bit warmer (leather over 2 layers of breathable fabric doesn't breathe). See my profile picture for an idea of how it looks.

The advantage of textiles is they're "all year round" and "all weather" fabrics. Ultimate protection can only be afforded by tight-fitting (tailored) leather gear, with CE-approved armour underneath, double layers of leather in critical slide-prone areas (seat, elbows, knees, etc), and double-stitched seams with kevlar thread.

FWIW, I now wear a Teknic Hurricane jacket, which has 'soft' external armour covered by kevlar, leather here and there, hard CE armour in elbows/forearms, shoulders, and built-in back protector. There's also provision (a pocket) for a proper articulated back protector. The jacket is zipped to leather pants with Knox armour in the knees, and slip-in thick neoprene in the hips.

Wearing leather only or textile only is a compromise between crash protection and weather protection. I can wear the same thing all year round, by removing/adding liners, opening/closing vent zips, etc. I wear waterproof nylon pants over the leather ones if it's wet, and wear water-resistant boots all the time, and waterproof gloves if I have to.

Hope this helps.

[Pwalo]

We've had this thread a time or two.

I used to wear only leather, but it wasn't waterproof, it was too hot in summer, too cold in winter, and didn't have proper armour.
Once I saw a textile jacket with armour in it, I decided to give it a try, and wore my leather jacket only once after that.

First time I binned wearing my Teknic cordura jacket (low-speed lowside on asphalt), I wore a hole about the size of a 20c nearly right throught the cordura (500 denier weight, I think.) The kevlar patches on the elbows were scuffed but OK. Subsequent similar incidents repeated the damage, as textiles (even kevlar) don't have the abrasion resistance of leather. The man-made fabrics tend to melt or jsut abrade through. So I had the shoulders and lower sleeves overlaid with leather, and crash tested that. Brilliant, if a bit warmer (leather over 2 layers of breathable fabric doesn't breathe). See my profile picture for an idea of how it looks.

The advantage of textiles is they're "all year round" and "all weather" fabrics. Ultimate protection can only be afforded by tight-fitting (tailored) leather gear, with CE-approved armour underneath, double layers of leather in critical slide-prone areas (seat, elbows, knees, etc), and double-stitched seams with kevlar thread.

FWIW, I now wear a Teknic Hurricane jacket, which has 'soft' external armour covered by kevlar, leather here and there, hard CE armour in elbows/forearms, shoulders, and built-in back protector. There's also provision (a pocket) for a proper articulated back protector. The jacket is zipped to leather pants with Knox armour in the knees, and slip-in thick neoprene in the hips.

Wearing leather only or textile only is a compromise between crash protection and weather protection. I can wear the same thing all year round, by removing/adding liners, opening/closing vent zips, etc. I wear waterproof nylon pants over the leather ones if it's wet, and wear water-resistant boots all the time, and waterproof gloves if I have to.

Hope this helps.

That man's right. Started with leather, but yu can't compete with the versatility of modern textile gear (on the road at least).

[dhunt]

One of my mates says that the teknic stuff is ok for one crash after that it needs some work, Leathers on the other hand handle multiple crashes. When I binned it early this year in leathers I was quite pleased with the results and would highly recommend leathers. Being a bit cold I can get over with, being a bit wet I can get over with, but being a bit broken is a bit harder to get over with and if the leathers are better at that part I'll stick with them.

[MOTOXXX]

talk to sparky bills, hes crashed in both i thnk.

ive never crashed in the cordura stuff but after that 4wd pulled out on me with my leathers on.

ill take leather and a rain suit any day of the week.
i didnt have one scratch on me and even tho i seperated my shoulder when i hit the power poll, the titanium and shoulder pad took most of the impact , also the knee slider and knee pad on the right side where the initial impact was saved me shattering my knee and ive only hurt the ligament.

was off work for 3 weeks instead of maybe 3 months.
Good gear is the best investment you can make for sure.

But it sure is nice to be warm and dry in the cordura stuff if you can keep the armour snug against your body.

[Blakamin]

ill take leather and a rain suit any day of the week.
i didnt have one scratch on me and even tho i seperated my shoulder when i hit the power poll, the titanium and shoulder pad took most of the impact , also the knee slider and knee pad on the right side where the initial impact was saved me shattering my knee and ive only hurt the ligament.

Are your leathers farqed, or did they come thru ok?
ps...will edit that vid tonite

[vifferman]

One of my mates says that the teknic stuff is ok for one crash after that it needs some work, Leathers on the other hand handle multiple crashes.

I'm not your mate (?), but I said that too.
All my gear's been crashed in multiple times: the Teknic jacket (pre-leatherising) didn't handle abrasion well, but after the leather bits went on, was only scuffed.

Pants have once required a seam restitched where it abraded through, but otherwise just a bit of shoe polish where the surface was scuffed (as did the leather on my jacket last time).
Oh - and I was very glad I put decent kneepads in my trousers before I wrote my VFR off. My left knee-leg (or is that leg-knee?) got crushed between the bike and the side of the car that U-turned into me, and yes - it was sore, swollen and had some nerve damage for a while, but nothing more, and it's fine now. The boots also helped heaps - they have ankle cups both sides (some don't) and a stiffish heel, and although my heel was pretty damned sore, and still hurts sometimes, I was able to walk on it the same day without passing out or falling over. Just. (Mind you, when Mrs FS arrived home from overseas, there was trouble... )

Gloves? Amazingly, I've only ever once touched the road with them, and at the time I was wearing my Orina waterproofs, which ended up with a small hole through the suede pad on the butt of my palm, and into whatever was underneath. Hurt for an hour or two.
The one time I've whacked my head was the same incident; if you're going to do that, try not to hit the road with the temple area - there's less padding there (especially on flip-fronts), and your skull is thinnest there. I had very mild concussion for a few days.

[vifferman]

But it sure is nice to be warm and dry in the cordura stuff if you can keep the armour snug against your body.

Very important point!
If any gear doesn't fit so it doesn't ride up, rotate, etc. in a crash, then it makes it a bit useless, even if it does have armour. Also loose gear can bundle up, grip the road, and instead of sliding you end up 'rag dolling', risking more injury.
When I bought my jacket, I thought the straps, flaps and domes were to cinch it in to stop it flapping in the wind, but it doesn't flap anyway. They're there to make sure the armour stays located over the areas it's supposed to protect.

[MOTOXXX]

Are your leathers farqed, or did they come thru ok?
ps...will edit that vid tonite

yes. the pants are fine and only have a few little scuffs but because its a part zip together one, its probly gona be all written off. they had to cut me out of the jacket. ill post up some pics at lunch time

[Blakamin]

yes. the pants are fine and only have a few little scuffs but because its a part zip together one, its probly gona be all written off. they had to cut me out of the jacket. ill post up some pics at lunch time

so when do you get them and your bike back?