A couple questions for those have experience with "kevlar jeans" ( possible project)

[Monkeytofu]

I've been interested in buying Kevlar/reinforced jeans for a while now but the combination of ridiculously high prices for what are (in my opinion) extremely unfashionable and badly cut jeans. This have forced me to be creative.

I'm going to make my own.

I plan to take one of my thicker pairs of jeans and line the "crash points" with about 2 layers of untreated (for more breathability) Cordura 500 and sew it together with a high strength nylon or Kevlar thread. I may leave pockets on the knees for putting in pads from the inside and not having to sew twice on the front of the jeans.

I know these will never compare to leathers, but they're not a viable option for my commute and daily classes.

But, for those who do have these pants I wanted to know a couple of things:

1. How many layers is the Kevlar/abrasion resistant material?
2. What abrasion materials do they include?
3. Any crash experiences you can tell me that may help me decide how to place the material?

Any comments/advice welcome. I wouldn't mind testing out plenty of materials in an old pair of Levi's I have laying around (without me in them of course :P) if you guys have any materials in mind that would be better for this than Cordura 500.

Edit: I've heard perforated deer skin (from some other forum's musings) might be a good, washable material to use.

[Kevin2109]

sweet, super curios! Been thinking about this myself

[newninja123]

Well... I had my heart set on some kevlar jeans... but this is a good idea... Shame I'm no sewer haha, but if you make a few pairs, I'd buy em!

[Jiggles]

Buy these

http://www.motoport.com/index.php?op...d=13&Itemid=15

[Kevin2109]

These are pretty cool

http://www.s3performance.com.au/mens...ns-p-3239.html

[Mountain Dew]

Just buy a pair. A decent pair will run you ~$100.

[newninja123]

Originally Posted by Mountain Dew

Just buy a pair. A decent pair will run you ~$100.

WHERE?!??!!

Whever I look, decent pair runs 100-250...

[newninja123]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

These are pretty cool

http://www.s3performance.com.au/mens...ns-p-3239.html

Wow.. They look pretty nice....

Had any experience with them? The whole thing looks a bit iffy though... Pics make it look like crappy Chinese jeans...

I reckon the Draggin Jeans Slix or Sartso Deep Blue Jeans look the best..

the kevlar dainesee D1 jeans are also nice...


BUT THEY ALL RUN $200+!!!!!

[Kevin2109]

No experiece with them, they were brought up over at zx6r.com and I think someone was going to order them, idk

Honestly they arnt THAT expensive, $100+, $150+ for a nice pair of normal jeans is pretty normal (not work jeans, like "going out" jeans lol)

The only time im going to choose kevlar jeans over leather is if im going on a date, other then that I squid it in normal jeans or throw on my leathers. I think having a nice pair of reenforced jeans would be pretty ****ing awesome

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by Kevin2109

These are pretty cool

http://www.s3performance.com.au/mens...ns-p-3239.html

Texas weather doesn't agree with full Kevlar pants and my body doesn't agree with skinny jeans haha.


http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43580

From a lot of reading I've done most people recommenced Cordura over Kevlar because Kevlar seems to be weaker and is made for high speed punctures rather than abrasion.

Originally Posted by Jiggles

Buy these

http://www.motoport.com/index.php?op...d=13&Itemid=15

and regarding the Cordura pants, they're not as discreet as I want them to be. They look much closer to a pair of racing pants/motorcycle pants than what I want to do with this project.

http://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82182

However, considering the cordura 1000 seemed to be pretty light and easy to move around in when it was untreated I'm going to look into using it instead of 500.

At 6.99 a yard for Cordura 1000 and around 2 dollars for high strength thread, there's a big cost intensive for me to do this with a pair of jeans I already own. Plus, it's just a cool project to do.

[lostdaemon]

I have a few pairs of kevlar jeans. The closer to a 'street' look the happier I am, because otherwise I know myself and I'd squid it in regular jeans around the city. The skinnier the jeans, the better too - Sartso and Dainese were the closest with good protection - because I hate feeling like my pants are going to get caught when I put my feet on the pegs at a quick takeoff, like from a light.

Now, I hafta wear girly jeans so my experience may be a little different...but the ones I like best are by Shift, they have Kevlar in the seat and knees. I have another BILT pair that has pockets in the knees, but I have to sew the pocket down to shift the armour down and to the side, otherwise it rides up and against the tank. Both only have the one layer of Kevlar. Both were also only like $50, but girly jeans, on sale...

I considered Draggin' Jeans for the full Kevlar liner, and may still get a pair for long trips/over 40-50 avg mph.

[gwilo]

I have/wear Draggin (Australia) (Drako in US) cargo pants as well as some ICONs.

If you are looking for jeans take a look at Ebay (Australia) and check out the different styles/cut that are available. Then google the brand and read up on them.

First off the prices are good.

Second if the OP is looking for ideas, you will find them there.

[Monkeytofu]

Short update: I ordered samples of a couple of materials I'm interested in. I'll be doing a couple of tests on the material (abrasion, heat resistance, etc) with whatever is available to me and I'll report back on what I find.




From the conversation I had with the helpful people at rockywoods the Nomex/ Kevlar blend seems really promising. Seems to be lighter and more breathable than pure Kevlar but with the added protection the blended Kevlar would give. It's also more heat resistant than Kevlar alone.

They also mentioned the tensile strength of Kevlar (23 grams) versus the tensile strength of a typical nylon such as cordura (3.94 grams).

Originally Posted by gwilo

Second if the OP is looking for ideas, you will find them there.

Yeah, I've been looking at a lot of cuts and patterns. I more interested in the sartso jeans because they do a good job of hiding their lines.

[auknight]

I was wearing Cortech DSX jeans, the ones with Brazilian Leather panels as opposed to kevlar. The included knee pads shifted during a crash, and my knees are forever scarred. Yes, the leather themselves worked awesome, but I think the fact that i was wearing armored shorts when I crashed helped in some areas, like my thighs and hips, where there is generally just denim. I had tears in these areas especially. I would never wear armored jeans as standalone ever again. I would also wear armored shorts as i always have been, but additionally i would have standalone knee pads directly worn under the jeans. But it also defeats the perceived convenience of throwing on jeans and going out. I guess if you stay on your back during a slide you should be ok, as you use your backpad, and most protection in kevlar jeans is in the seat area. But one roll along the front is all it takes to tear through the unprotected areas.

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by auknight

I was wearing Cortech DSX jeans, the ones with Brazilian Leather panels as opposed to kevlar. The included knee pads shifted during a crash, and my knees are forever scarred. Yes, the leather themselves worked awesome, but I think the fact that i was wearing armored shorts when I crashed helped in some areas, like my thighs and hips, where there is generally just denim. I had tears in these areas especially. I would never wear armored jeans as standalone ever again. I would also wear armored shorts as i always have been, but additionally i would have standalone knee pads directly worn under the jeans. But it also defeats the perceived convenience of throwing on jeans and going out. I guess if you stay on your back during a slide you should be ok, as you use your backpad, and most protection in kevlar jeans is in the seat area. But one roll along the front is all it takes to tear through the unprotected areas.

Ouch.

By any chance would you still have your old pair of jeans? It'd be very useful for me to see any damage done to them.

I'm under no illusion that these jeans will provide protection like full leathers, strap on knee pads, etc but they will better than what I currently wear and will be within my budget.

Pads under my jeans are always an option, but I'd like to get the abrasion issue out of the way first

[auknight]

Originally Posted by Monkeytofu

Ouch.

By any chance would you still have your old pair of jeans? It'd be very useful for me to see any damage done to them.

I'm under no illusion that these jeans will provide protection like full leathers, strap on knee pads, etc but they will better than what I currently wear and will be within my budget.

Pads under my jeans are always an option, but I'd like to get the abrasion issue out of the way first

Well I kind of cut up the jeans to use as heavy duty clothing patches lol. But I should have some pics somewhere. I'll upload them if i find them.

[CZroe]

Make sure to reinforce the existing stitches with Kevlar.

[NDspd]

I have the Icon Victory Jeans, one layer of kevlar and a thin cotton layer behind that to prevent rubbing you raw. They are a little too loose for my comfort, but they don't cost too much. Although being cheap, they lack in quality, the denim is quite thin and wears holes in a few months of use.

I was looking at buying Sliders Kevlar Riding jeans. For $80 or so, I can't pass that up. They have great reviews, good kevlar coverage and look great.

[Monkeytofu]

Bump

Just got the materials in the mail. I ordered a student pack with came with some other high strength fabrics. Now on to the next step: testing.

Any idea on how I should test these for abrasion? I figured a belt sander might do the trick or I can strap a couple of them to the bottom of my riding boots and see how the survive a certain distance. That'd be pretty hard to keep track of if one of them fell off.

the fabric dealer I got these from recommended running scissors over them as one of the tests, but no idea if that's not going to be the best test I can run.

[THE BIG SITT]

Is that a camo sample on the left? If so, I'll take two. I wear a size 36

[Monkeytofu]

Originally Posted by THE BIG SITT

Is that a camo sample on the left? If so, I'll take two. I wear a size 36

Haha, I did get a lot of camo patterns, so it may end up being the recommended pattern if the strongest fabric has that pattern. Although I don't think the camo "princess satin" will hold up well...


Hopefully I can get a good, easy tutorial up once I'm done. I'm currently asking friends to see if I can get access to their sanders and other tools I might use to test the strength of materials, I'm trying not to let this stagnate like similar projects have.

[Kevin2109]

update?