Who wants road rash? Not me! I don’t feel particularly safe riding my motorcycle wearing normal jeans. Even if you wear leather chaps over your pants, they don’t cover your butt! Jeans reinforced with Kevlar® fabric panels sound like a winner to me. You can purchase jeans that have Kevlar® fabric panels sewn into the areas that are most likely to hit the pavement. This means: They cover your ass!
Kevlar® fabric was invented by DuPontTM scientist Stephanie Kwolek in 1965. The fabric is lightweight and has an extremely high tensile strength. Pound for pound Kevlar® is five times stronger than steel. It was the first material identified for use in concealable body armor. Police officers throughout the world owe their lives to bullet proof vests made of Kevlar®. My first introduction to Kevlar® was during a carving class. I was instructed to buy a wood carvers glove made of Kevlar®. The glove protects my left hand from getting cut while I hold a piece of wood when I’m carving. It is amazing how this lightweight knit glove can’t be cut!
There are a several brands of Kevlar® riding pants to choose from such as as Draggin’ Jeans. Several brands are available from companies outside the United States like Brosh in Isreal. I purchased a pair of Sliders® Kevlar® reinforced cargo pants that are available exclusively from http://www.competitionaccessories.com/. I have been wearing them on almost every ride since I got them seven months ago. Yes, I do try to wash them between rides as often as possible and no I don’t smell like dirty socks… at least I don’t think so.
They feel exactly like you would expect a pair of cargo pants to feel if they had an extra layer of thick felt like material sewn in. They are perfect for riding in the spring and fall, but my only concern was if they would be too warm to wear in the summer. I wore them all summer but the temps didn’t get much higher than 90 degrees during my test rides. Although they were on the warm side, there wasn’t a ride that I went on that was unbearable… but there were quite a few days that I wished for some vents that I could open up. They do get a little bulky if you wear chaps over them, but again nothing to complain about.
My wife, Diana, ordered a pair of women’s cargo pants from Brosh of Isreal. The Brosh pants feature removeable Kevlar panels and optional body armor to protect your knees. Now she can ride her motorcycle to work and not have to bring a change of clothes (jeans are not allowed at her place of employment).
Neither one of us has gone down, so we can’t attest to the protective qualities of these pants. You can however go to You Tube and find video clips from Draggin’ Jeans and other manufactures that show product testing that is quite interesting.
If you like your skin and don’t like the feeling of third degree burns then you should look into buying a pair of protective riding pants like Sliders® or Draggin’ Jeans. They don’t cost an arm and a leg and they might save your ass!
Tags: Product Reviews by Jay Green
3 Comments »
