Anyone crash tested textile gear?

Greenman14

Greenman14

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I had a little "off" this week and wrecked my jacket, trousers and gloves. The experience makes me value good gear. This is what happened when I lost the front at about 50mph, not hitting anything. Only my left side hit the road.

My Held Outlast glove was torn apart, it has no hard armour, broken bone in my hand and very bruised knuckles; my HG jacket (don't know the name, cheapest Goretex one they do, and several years old) wore through at the forearm part of the sleeve leaving me with minor grazing; my Wolf textile/leather trousers saved my leg almost completely, the leather on the seat and hip was slightly scuffed and the textile was badly scuffed where it fitted over my boot; my TCX Sport Tour boot was unmarked. Luckily my head didn't hit the ground hard and my Schuberth S1 was only lightly scuffed on the shell and visor.

Most of the reviews concentrate on warmth and waterproofing, which would have been my priorities until Wednesday afternoon. I have different priorities now and was really impressed with the performance of the leather/textile Wolf gear.

Any other experiences?

BTW the bike damage looks superficial, so probs ony 3k to fix! The left side Vario pannier saved the bike, and I reckon the case is ok, only the lid is damaged.
 
According to the bumf that came with my Aerostich Roadcrafter it was claimed to have been crash tested
 
Crashed a couple months back at around 30/40 on ice...

Aerostich trousers held up... But you could see the zip was pretty close to coming apart, which would've interesting! BMW gloves - abrasion through one layer of material but not even close to getting through. Street guard 3 jacket - looks like nothing ever happened, despite sliding on my elbow and back.

Not all textile gear is made equal :thumb
 
About 9 years ago i had an accident ,hit a car then slid up the road for approx 20ft, I was wearing a buffalo textile jacket which had worn through the cordura outer and almost the shoulder and back protector,they were 'soft' armour. The trousers were richa leather,a bit scuffed but still wearable today.Leather gloves were wolf ,which were badly damaged butdid their job .boots i can't remember the make ,were damaged ,clips etc ,but not worn through.
If i was to come off again i know i would much rather be in leathers.
I still have a halvarson textile jacket but now will wear leathers most of the time.
 
I would agree, however, even the top end gear is a lot cheaper than a jacket with half the protection, and it could make sense for those warmer days.

Fester
 
I has an off in 2009. Was wearing a Dainese textile jacket and leather jeans from the same manufacturer. Admittedly the jacket was one of their lighter weight ones but had the std Dainese armour plus one if their slip in back protectors. The jacket was pretty shredded but the amour did it's job, especially at the shoulder where it was all that prevented me getting ground away. The jeans shrugged of the spill and despite scaring were completely intact. Boots and gloves equally so.

Now I almost invariably wear leathers with a Forcefield harness underneath. If it's chucking it down a Dainese Goretex jacket but with a thicker outer shell. FF harness still underneath obviously.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
 
I'm thinking leather is a good option. I have leather trousers but with my big calf muscles (fat, if you like) tucking them into boots is usually uncomfortable as all the boots I have tried or owned are too tight on my calves.

A warm leather jacket is? Figment of my imagination, or does such a thing exist?
 
If you want warm leather jacket, some of the Weise Hydra jackets come with separate and fully removable thermal and waterproof liners, my Furygan Houston Amo 2 leather jacket also has a removable thermal liner and is good through the winter with thermal layers underneath, I also carry a pull on cag for wet days. The Furygan also comes with D30 armour in the arms, shoulders and back, the back pocket also takes the much larger D30 insert.
 
Greenman14 said:
I have leather trousers but with my big calf muscles (fat, if you like) tucking them into boots is usually uncomfortable as all the boots I have tried or owned are too tight on my calves.
Click to expand...

Why on earth would you want to tuck them into your boots?

You're not a MotoGP racer are you?

Wear the leather trews, over the boots and also no water goes into your boots
 
The secret is layering. Through the advantage of work have access to all types of kit, but most guys I know out of choice will now go with a similar list to.

A decent wicking or even compression light top, some type of mid layer micro fleece top, leather jacket, then a rain jacket over that splitting between semi or completely lined on temp. When really cold and going to be out all day a fleece between the leather and rain layer. A great bit of kit are the EDZ tops that scrunch up about the size of a tennis ball always have a couple in the bag.

The other thing about leather when it's all gone wrong, you can get it repaired fairly cheaply. The real down side tends to be the lack of pockets for small stuff so a small 1ltr type grab bag gets the general vote. Doesn't have to be kreiga but looks gucci, me I just use an old bumbag.
 
Greenman14 said:
I had a little "off" this week and wrecked my jacket, trousers and gloves. The experience makes me value good gear. This is what happened when I lost the front at about 50mph, not hitting anything. Only my left side hit the road.

My Held Outlast glove was torn apart, it has no hard armour, broken bone in my hand and very bruised knuckles; my HG jacket (don't know the name, cheapest Goretex one they do, and several years old) wore through at the forearm part of the sleeve leaving me with minor grazing; my Wolf textile/leather trousers saved my leg almost completely, the leather on the seat and hip was slightly scuffed and the textile was badly scuffed where it fitted over my boot; my TCX Sport Tour boot was unmarked. Luckily my head didn't hit the ground hard and my Schuberth S1 was only lightly scuffed on the shell and visor.

Most of the reviews concentrate on warmth and waterproofing, which would have been my priorities until Wednesday afternoon. I have different priorities now and was really impressed with the performance of the leather/textile Wolf gear.

Any other experiences?

BTW the bike damage looks superficial, so probs ony 3k to fix! The left side Vario pannier saved the bike, and I reckon the case is ok, only the lid is damaged.
Click to expand...

Yes. Went down the road in Frank Thomas gear in 2006. Schuberth S1 helmet cracked but saved my life. Jacket survived almost unmarked. Trousers wore through and so did the muscle at the front of my shin so skin grafts and a drop foot. Broken leg, crushed foot from where the car hit.

I have no doubt at all that leather gear is better. But the problems are a/ hot weather and b/ winter weather. You can possibly get round b/ with oversuit and fleecy things but a/ ?
 
Had an off in Halvarssons jacket (outer shell, inner safety vest with all quality protection at elbows, shoulders, back) & HG trousers.
(see http://www.motolegends.com/brands/halvarssons/Halvarssons-safety-jacket-CE-1-Black.html for jacket)
60 mph round a RH bend, truck on my side of the road meant I had to run wide, hit a ditch and bounced out of the hedge down the road.
Bike written off (snapped front yoke, ripped open cylinder head despite engine bars, ripped clocks, screen and front fairing off. Smashed top box. All I knew was somebody waking me up to ask if I was ok.
Jacket had a slight scuff on the shoulder, bruise on lower back where back protector ended, trousers were scuffed but no holes. Schuberth C3 (2 weeks old) totalled with large crack and scuffs on side. Not sure how much abrasion the jacket got, but it certainly took the impacts really well. Still wearing it now - heavy but comfortable.
Walked away after an ambulance check up and serious conversation from missus! Not sure if leathers would have left me unbroken.
 
birdseye said:
I have no doubt at all that leather gear is better.

But the problems are in hot weather
Click to expand...

I have the BMW Atlantis suit, which is waterproof and has vents for hot days.........because it's a natural product it is actually cool on hot days

Expensive but an excellent suit and has never let water in, even in monsoon rain................impressive for an all leather suit
 
JohnnyBoxer said:
I have the BMW Atlantis suit, which is waterproof and has vents for hot days.........because it's a natural product it is actually cool on hot days
Click to expand...

Alright then smarty, why do cows stand in the shade on hot days? :D
 
Does anyone know which armour offers best results for impact protection? :nenau

It all seems a bit confusing :confused:

D3O , SeeSoft, gore, SasTec etc
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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