Pants; Draggins no good, howzabout perforated leather or textile?

[Leroy]

Opinions please, from winter and summer users of leather and textile pants in Perth, half commuting, half country riding.

I'm over Draggins - read too many horror stories about lack of impact protection and the denim tearing away from the kevlar and leaving you to the shredder. They're also fairly hot in summer, and mine are getting too old for my peace of mind. Do decent textiles (eg Joe Rocket) with armour or perforated leather work in summer in traffic? I could wear overpants to keep warm in winter, but I want decent protection without the sauna and potential heat exhaustion. Have now been convinced about leather jackets, and got a new a-stars - feels much better.

[Captain Starfish]

Hey Leroy - if it's any help I'm pretty much back to jeans/trousers in general commuting and putting up with the heat of leather for a "real" ride.

I found that wearing either "skins", a no-name equivalent thereof or even stockings under leather makes a huge difference to the comfort level. Gives the leather a chance to move around without sticking, wicks away sweat etc.

[SPman]

Textiles are about the same as draggins in summer. Mind you, leather bottoms aren't that much hotter, so I just wear my 2 peice summer and winter and put up with the discomfort.

[Mish]

I wear draggin's in summer, haven't heard too many horror stories about them. Obviously they won't have impact protection, but neither will textile I'm guessing. No where near as hot as my Ixon textil (Climber I believe) pants that are an absolute joke in any weather except winter or if it's pissing down.

2 piece will be worn on the weekends in Summer for enthusiastic rides, with Draggin's and textile jacket for commuting.

[Insane]

Draggins all year round..
Sometimes in Summer they may get a little uncomfortable, but only while commuting, walking about is no prob..
winter, sometimes a little "thin' in the really cold morning

[cruelcheffy]

Draggins all year round for me too. In winter, early morning commuting I throw a pair of thermals over them.

[Leroy]

[quote= I found that wearing either "skins", a no-name equivalent thereof or even stockings under leather makes a huge difference to the comfort level. Gives the leather a chance to move around without sticking, wicks away sweat etc.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that. I'd never considered that possibility. The Skins themselves are pretty pricey, but they sound like they're worth it.

Re the support comments for Draggins. I've worn mine for a few years now in all weathers and thought they were as good as I needed but only recently started reading about people being badly scraped when the denim around the kevlar disintegrated,even in new ones and particularly the cargos, letting it get pulled off the bit of skin - usually a knee, that was in contact with the ground at the time. Messy.

I've also read that adding optional extra protection to Draggins isn't all that successful or comfortable.

So I've been checking out textiles with venting (adjustable) and good armour in key places, or perforated leather also with armour, cos leather is always better for protection, but all the reviews I've found are by Yanks needing them for mostly cool or even winter conditions - at least not Perth summer conditions. The textiles seem to work well in cool and wet conditions.

I find it fascinating that they're generally cheaper than Draggins - or about the same price. And seem to give far better protection. . But can you survive a 37 degree ride home through 30ks of peak traffic?

[Mish]

I would really like to see the reviews on the draggin's about people being badly injured in them. I agree, they are not a fool proof way of stopping you getting hurt, but then again what is on a motorbike!

[mattzx10r]

I went down the road at 80kph thanks to a car and the ambo's couldn't believe i had no road rash to my legs. I was amazed at how well my draggins worked.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Mish

I would really like to see the reviews on the draggin's about people being badly injured in them.

Look at what happened to me when I lowsided at about 40kph on a wet road (and new tyres) wearing Draggin Cargos (pic attached).

I put it down to the fact that the cargos are partially lined and yet loose fitting - as a result when I slid on my hip there was no kevlar between my skin and the road - only a thin layer of cotton.

The answer is for kelvar lined jeans to be FULLY lined. That way even if the denim tears away there is a still a kevlar layer underneath.

There was one Aussie manufacturer that made such jeans but alas they no longer make their jeans because they did not get the support from Aussie motorcyclists (because their jeans had 'boring' blue denim styling instead of trendy 'camo' etc.). In the end it's all marketing over function.

pps - I see in adverts that Draggin now include kevlar lining in the hip area in one of their new girls jeans. This is a good start - hopefully they'll extend that to their whole range.

ppps - nothing beat leather pants. I wear leathers for any serious riding and Kevlar jeans only for coffee shop runs.

[mattzx10r]

Totally agree with you spock. I ride the same way

[Ice]

Draggins occasionally but they are hell uncomfortable. They just about come up to my armpits because I have a very short body. HATE them. So I'm back to wearing normal jeans for commuting and the odd city ride.

Full perforated leathers for 'proper' rides. Decent airflow through them for cooling and the protection of leather.

[Captain Starfish]

Same happened to my knee as spockers.

Except the graze went down to subcutaneous fat.

Draggins twisted on me, pulling the kevlar to one side (it's still in a1 condition) and tearing the fabric only bit and my knee to keep the kevlar pristine.

No moar. I now ride around in standard jeans or chinos for general commute - because I believe they offer about the same level of protection as draggins - and for a spirited "let's go for a ride" ride I'll put full leathers on.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Captain Starfish

Except the graze went down to subcutaneous fat.

Ouch.

So basically, if your draggins are a tight fit and you are lucky enough to slide 'correctly' in them (as per the CEO being dragged on his bum in the adverts) - it'll be okay - but if not.... it could get nasty.

[Leroy]

I think I've made up my mind to go perforated leather (Joe Rocket Blaster perforated, about $240 from US) with overpants in winter to stop freezing. I hear that most people are OK with Draggins, but I can't see them being worth the price - especially if they don't always work.

Nearly grated my kneecap off a few years back , and it still looks and feels odd. Admittedly my draggins were in the wash that day.

[Captain Starfish]

It healed over eventually, sadly, the hideous scar that remains is pretty small. Not tough, no not at all

I think I would have fared better had I been wearing the jeans instead of the chinos. Or even those el cheapo cordura knock-off camos. Or, let's face it, normal jeans!

[g0zer]

i had a good slide at about 50kmh across at least 20m of bitumen (note: over 10 years ago) in a pair of king gee type cotton drill pants. Because it was a cold winter morning i was wearing a pair of cotton track suit pants underneath. I didnt recieve any grazing at all, just some minor bruising around the knee. i was also wearing a leather jacket, which i rolled onto pretty quickly.

It amazes me you can get such severe grazing on the back of the leg from a 40kmh slide through draggins.

[Leroy]

So basically, if your draggins are a tight fit and you are lucky enough to slide 'correctly' in them (as per the CEO being dragged on his bum in the adverts) - it'll be okay - but if not.... it could get nasty.

The worst stories (X2) (with pix) I found (but can't remember where) were of properly fitted denims (not cargos) where the the denim split horizontally bellow the knee pad and let the pad ride up over the knee. An angle grinder would have been kinder.

[Ice]

The fact that they move is my biggest concern. I've had denim grazing, and I've taken my knee back to the bone wearing normal jeans... They don't do a lot, but I'm not convinced Draggins will do much more and I'm more likely to be distracted by discomfort if I wear them. I still wear the Draggins occasionally - but I'm not convinced they're much use. I guess there is a chance I'll slide the 'right' way and they'll do their thing... Probably are better than normal jeans, but not by much. Leathers are the only real protection I trust.

[CRB]

Mine tore a little when I high sided and I ended up with a burn rather than gravel rash... Plus they're a 501 cut, two thumbs down for Draggin's from me. Saving for leathers.