What makes leather better than textile in jackets?

[Paul in NZ]

I have a cheap and only slightly nasty 1 piece suit for the occasional 'performance' ride.

A nice leather jacket that almost fits plus draggin jeans for pootling about on classic bikes

A once top of the line textile jacket and trou for touring ....

Each is good - each has its issues.

[Maha]

Clearly its not. All of a sudden makes leather look pointless.

Why have a jacket you need another jacket for?

For road use I mean.

A Leather jacket on its own is cold and takes a shit to dry if it gets wet.
A Textile jacket on the other hand is not cold and takes less time to dry if it gets wet.

Some textile gear is basically for summer only, thats a given.
Leather, you can wear all year round.

You need extra layers underneath leather during the winter months to say warm and dont be fooled, if the rain is heavy enough, it will find its way through.
But for an arse cold day without heavy rain, its fine if you have thermals etc.

I have just replaced my leather as you have seen with those earlier links.
The jacket is worth the money, has removable thermal and water proof liners.
Armour in the elbow/forearm and shoulder.
Becomes a summer jacket in 2 minutes.
Pants are the same..removable liner and armour in the hip/knee area.

I also own an oversuit (aka a root) which I will continue to use if needs must....its brilliant and cheap, get one.
And I have an oilskin wool lined full torso vest, also brilliant...I got that because my old leather jacket was cold.

[DrunkenMistake]

Tear and Abrasion Strength by the numbers
Pounds of force until fabric tears Abrasion cycles on pavement until fabric fails
CottonJeans 4.5 pounds to tear 50 cycles to failure
70 Denier Standard Nylon 4.5 pounds to tear 165 cycles to failure
500 Denier Polyester 8 pounds to tear 180 cycles to failure
200 Denier Standard Nylon 7.5 pounds to tear 275 cycles to failure
500 Denier Cordura 22 pounds to tear 710 cycles to failure
620 Denier Cordura 35 pounds to tear 1200 cycles to failure
NEW Competition Grade Leather 80-110 pounds to tear 1200-1700 cycles to failure
1000 Denier Cordura 110 pounds to tear 1780 cycles to failure
Air Mesh Kevlar 1260 pounds to tear 970 cycles to failure Stretch Kevlar Blend 420lbs pounds to tear 1800 cycles to failure

This is how quickly some materials take to hole:
Material Seconds
Denim 0.2 to 0.5
Some race gloves 0.6
Most leather gloves 1.0 to 1.8
Keprotec stretch material 0.9
Poor Kevlar 1.0
Two layers of waxed cotton 1.3
1.3mm thick cow hide 3.8
Two layers of 1.3mm thick cowhide 18
Three layers of 1.3mm thick cowhide 55
Two layers of Kevlar plain weave 5.6
Suede 18
Boot leather (generally 2.2mm thick) 20
Leather stretch panels 20.4


There is also this test from a while back:

Drag Test

"For the Drag Test, samples were stitched to a bag that held a 75-pound
sandbag inside a milk crate, then dragged behind a pickup truck..."

New, 100% Cotton Denim Jeans ----------------------- 3' 10"
Senior Balistic Nylon ----------------------------------- 3' 10"
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz/sq. ft. --- 4' 3"
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz/sq ft. ------------- 4' 4"
Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans ------------ 4' 5"
Cordura Nylon Type 440 ----------------------------- 18' 3"
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 ------------------ 22' 1"
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz/sq. ft. -------- 86' 0"


Taber Test

"For the Taber Test, the specimen was mounted on a rotating platform and
scuffed by two rubber-emery grinding wheels." The numbers represent the
number of revolutions until the fabric totally fails. A vacuum clears
debris.

Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 168
New 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 225
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 506
Cordura Nylon, Type 440 559
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz./sq. ft. 564
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz./sq. ft. 750
Senior Ballistic Nylon 817
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz./sq. ft. 2600

More to consider...

"Finally, protection from road abrasion cannot be guaranteed by a
materials abrasion resistance alone. A jacket may have panels of
highly abrasion-resistant materials, yet if low-quality stitching joins
those panels and the seams come apart upon impact or during a slide, then
the abrasion resistance of the panels could count for nothing.
Furthermore, an ill-fitting garment may ride up in a slide, contorting
the body and exposing the skin. And the best jacket in the world, left
unzipped and/or unsnapped, won't give riders the protection they pay
for. When it comes to safety, the issues are more complex than just the
abrasion resistance of materials."

The textiles vs leathers debate is all about tradeoffs. Choosing which material to use to cover your hide with and spend your pennies on depends on how much you value individual tradeoffs and ultimately, your intended use and riding conditions. Sounds easy enough, but deciding between textiles vs leathers has had great rider minds in a muddle and increasingly so over the last couple of years as the quality and versatility of both materials has improved so much! Just type in “textiles vs leathers ” into google and you will find that 90% of the results are from forums with the answer ultimately resulting in the fact that it depends on your personal preferences. The problem is that this does not help those new to the biking world who have not had the time or experience to develop their own, well-guided preferences… and so the argument goes on.
But, it’s really quite simple if you use the BMI (Best Motorcycle Information) textiles vs leathers test. This test takes the four most differentiating attributes of the two materials into consideration – price, maintenance, comfort and protection. Each attribute is also assigned to either leathers or textiles, depending on which material has the greater advantage in terms of the attribute. After reading the brief summary on each, assign a score out of a hundred to each attribute, giving those attributes that are most important to you higher scores, so that in the end the total score of your four attributes adds to 100. Then add up the score that you gave to the leather attributes and textile attributes, and the material with the highest score is your answer – and best of all it will be unique to your personal preferences.
Price - Textiles
Motorcycle textiles are cheaper to buy than leathers. It is also much harder to judge the quality of leathers and so you take the risk of paying a lot of money for a suit that does not have quality stitching and construction. (Just beware however that it is widely accepted that your textile suit will probably only survive one crash before you have to fork out for a new pair.)
Maintenance - Textiles
This one is simple – motorcycle textiles can be thrown in a commercial washer, while leathers will need to be sent to the cleaners.
Comfort - Textiles
Motorcycle textiles have an all weather capability: vents for when it is warm, liners for when it is cold and water resistance for rain. It breathes more easily than leather, and water slides off it like a ducks back.
Leather is also much heavier than textile.
Protection - Leather
Tests are conducted all the time to compare the abrasion resistance of motorcycle riding gear materials and leather always comes out on top as the most durable material. Furthermore, leather does not melt from friction, it will cushion your fall more than motorcycle textiles would and it offers the best protection against a road rash. The fact that leather also lasts through multiple crashes whilst textiles will probably only last through one, says a lot about the difference in protection and impact between the two materials.
The textiles vs leathers debate basically comes down to protection vs everything else.

Found the information part off an american site, and couldnt be bothered converting the values.

[DrunkenMistake]

I had a Rev'it textile Jacket, I ride daily, Rain hail and now snow, I found it was cold, and let alot of wind in, fit well, and the water did run off it, but only for a few moments then it got wet as shit and then my tshirt underneath got wet,

I now have a Leather jacket thanks to QMoto, and I would never go back to textile, well let me rephrase, as the current moment I wouldn't go back to textile, I find the leather jacket to be warm no matter the condition, if I get drenched in a pour down, the jacket is bone dry within moments of been indoors, I do miss the neck part of my textile jacket though as I could tighten it to my throat so the air didnt go down the front of my jacket on my neck and chest.

As for other gear, I had textile pants from 1tonne, wore them twice, havnt worn them since, I found they didnt let my legs breath and I sweated like a cunt on heat, I also found they were super thick and highly uncomfy to ride with,
Iv been meaning to get some dragin jeans but at the moment I have been wearing my Kmart jeans, not that im an idiot, I do know what will happen if I come off, and I have, on a round about, tore my jeans and bruised my thigh, luckily I ride with full boots and where the jeans tore was where the boots sat.

My minimum for riding is, Helemt, Jacket, Gloves, and boots.

[98tls]

Textile jacket, leather pants here,years of wet leather jackets put me off them,$10 pair of Warehouse pullover waterproof trou have seen me ride dry and comfortable for years.

[rapid van cleef]

i started off with a matching rst textile set but changed to quality leather within a few months simply becuase the zips continued to break open on the rst trousers where they go over the boots.

i wear several layers of thermals and an edz undersuit during cold rides and i bought a fluro type road workers/builders bomber jacket in a mega big size from a trade suppliers(12 quid 8 years ago ). totally waterproof and warm and wear it over my leather jacket. i wore this over my leathers on a tour of scotland. with my thermal layers underneath, i was very comfy and warm even through rain, fog and the nippy air of the isle of skye! (what an amazing place that is to ride)

i did buy a 2 piece rain suit like the stuff you can get in the wharehouse and ive only wore the jacket once. dam uncomfortable, flapping around etc. but it kept me dry.

ive considered buying a textile jacket and almost hit the buy now button until i put my leather jacket on and the bomber jacket over the top cos i couldnt remember how it felt. easy on and off. so im going to save me cash.

i did just buy some hot grips though as my hands have been freezing on a couple of very early morning rides here in nz.

on the textile note, im not sure how many people slide for many seconds in a road crash. there seems to be plenty of things to run into ?

i had a mate that had an off in textiles( fieldsheer) he came off( too hot in a corner and low sided) hit the kerb and was lucky enough to slide on grass for around 20 metres until he hit a stone bus stop. the only bloody thing by the road for miles around. his gear was fine but his bike was fucked and he a was a little sore.......however, he did manage to ride home for the next 100 k at 30 kph.


oh and by the way, its amazing how much you can type whilst taking a shit!

[DrunkenMistake]

im not sure how many people slide for many seconds in a road crash. there seems to be plenty of things to run into ?

Be honest with yourself, If your gonna have a serious crash no gear is going to protect you from it, BUT it will keep your joints in their sockets and your limbs attached to your body.

If your on say the motorway and your a speed junky, straight road, you over take a car, you hit a small bump, instant tank slapper, you lose it, come off and hit the deck, 140km + .. you want to slide, you dont want anything to grab if you dont slide and something grabs your gonna roll, if you roll then you start breaking shit, 22 feet compared to 86 feet is a HUGE difference,
but if your doing a daily 50km/h commute then textile will see you right.

[Quasievil]

oh and by the way, its amazing how much you can type whilst taking a shit!

[98tls]

Quasi stop posting funny shite and give me an oldish fart the goods on leather jackets v Textile,read my post a couple back and share your opinion eh,interested.

[Quasievil]

Quasi stop posting funny shite and give me an oldish fart the goods on leather jackets v Textile,read my post a couple back and share your opinion eh,interested.

Oh sorry, yes wettness is a bad thing try some water proofing or even a over suit dude.

in saying that something like this thats wet can be a good thing

[98tls]

Oh sorry, yes wettness is a bad thing try some water proofing or even a over suit dude.

in saying that something like this thats wet can be a good thing

Indeed.Getting dizzy but happy.

[baptist]

I know leather is supposed to be the best but wonder why? Im going to be on the lookout for a new jacket soon but want to make the right choice. I saw some Dianese ones at Motomail. But cant justify the cost.

Are they just better in a crash? Ive got a hand me down textile on from a mate that is a bit hot. Even with the liner out. Do leather ones breath better?

Leather is certainly much better... I mean can you imagine the Honda riding dude in Village People prancing around in Courdura?

Of course, my leather trousers don't and my gore-tex boots fill up like gumboots, letting no water out.

the answer is cheap boots... lets the water back out

[p.dath]

I've also heard arguments saying things like leather gear is tighter and so holds the armour in place better, absorbs impact itself better (I think it tends to be thicker?) and as mentioned, has superiour abrasion performance.

Another argument I have seen is to do with roll resistance. Loose fitting garments are more likely to start your rolling and tumbling down tar seal (they bunch up and grab the surface). Tight fitting garments are more likely to let you slide.

Leather garments tend to be tighter fitting than textiles (not a rule, just an observation).

Avoiding the loss of your hide is good. Avoiding having your arms and legs flicked all over the place and snapped is also good.

[Dodgyiti]

I have not seen any textile gear that holds the armour in place like a fitted leather suit. There is not point having CE protection in the knees of your pants if they can move from side to side, they need to be locked in place to do any good in a crash otherwise they will slide to the side and provide little or no protection.
I believe any purchase of gear should include taking it to a person like Kerry at MSW and get it adjusted to fit correctly- unless there is some weird off the rack stuff that fits perfectly- stranger things have happened..

Some of my leather riding gear is from the 1980's- I did upgrade the pants a few years ago, they will last and last if you care for them and the only thing I buy from time to time is a new rainsuit- currently I have a one piece Revit that was about $100 and has kept me dry in cyclone conditions, with the proper fitting leather gear under that I am safe and dry.

[Quasievil]

I believe any purchase of gear should include taking it to a person like Kerry at MSW and get it adjusted to fit correctly- unless there is some weird off the rack stuff that fits perfectly- stranger things have happened

Really, thats remarkable
if youre a standard ish size its easy to fit correctly in a off the rack, its not a space suit