mesh textile pants. how safe?

i have a pair of mesh pants that are classified as "overpants". i dont use them as overpants, i use them as stand-alone pants. up until now i hadnt questioned it. but when i got to thinking about it i dont think theyd be very good for crashing and sliding at highway speeds.

should i buy new pants as stand-alone pants?

these are my pants:



they are all mesh you can see thru the pants pretty well everywhere on the pants. it is all a textile mesh.

Nothing will be as protective as leather. If I owned the pants you have I would always ride with jeans underneath.

NON-mesh textile pants? would they be a good option for highway speed sliding?

andrewclaycomb said:

Nothing will be as protective as leather. If I owned the pants you have I would always ride with jeans underneath.

Click to expand...

Hmm these jeans seem to be much more abraision resistant to leather..so says this company

About Us

Play the video on the right.

Listing the actual manufacturer/model pants would be more helpful than a picture... hard to see the specs just from a pic.

But, with that said, I don't trust my Fieldsheer Titanium Air mesh pants by themselves. The mesh portions are just too thin for me to be confident they will hold up under a crash at speed. The solid textile portions of the pants are fine but the mesh is always the weakest link. Air flow is great and they have armor so they have something better than jeans. Yea, I'd love to wear them with just a pair of shorts underneath but if I go down like that my ass may be hamburger.

My solution was to buy some kevlar mesh liners to wear under mesh pants (liners are made by Draggin Jeans). This way I have airflow, armor and abrasion protection. Downside is that the liners are an extra $160. Total cost for this "package" is $260. Here's a link to the liners I have: Draggin Liners They are mesh and they allow plenty of air to flow. Just to clarify, I wear these mesh kevlar liners underneath mesh armored pants.... mesh, armor, mesh-kevlar.... yea I think I'm covered and comfortable. I've worn them the past couple months and they're comfortable. I'm happy with my purchase.

MOTORCYCLE RIDE: Triple Digit Twisties
FLORIDA SUMMER: 95 degrees and 95% humidity
$260 OF PROTECTIVE GEAR THAT WORKS AND IS COMFORTABLE: Priceless!

Say what you will. I'd rather spend cash on gear than spend the same amount on bling. 260 for protection or 260 for bling??? You make the choice.

This company claims they make the only textile clothing that can be safely worn over bare skin: Motoport - Cycleport The Motorcycle Supplies Provider

According to the website, normal textile will melt into unprotected bare skin during a prolonged slide. "Cycleport's Air Mesh Kevlar Pant is the only Air Mesh Pant that is safe to wear shorts underneath in hot weather. (No Polyurethane coating to melt into legs!)"

Their stuff looks pretty good, but very expensive.

-John

JohnP... thanks for the link. That's about the same price I paid for my mesh pants + kevlar liners. The one-garment option is definitely more convenient... wish I would have seen this company earlier.

Expensive pants yes. Skin grafts and knee surgery is expensive too.

Jake

Up until now, after I read this thread, I never thought about the mesh/plastic melting during a slide and going into my bear skin. It's consistently close to 110 degrees here in Vegas these days and I've been wearing my mesh textile pants over my shorts, leaving parts of my thighs, knees and shins exposed. Even though my Motoboss textile mesh pants have some padding, no armour, I still feel that I'm better off than just wearing jeans or jeans made out of Kevlar. It's a tough call, as I have even created a poll asking what other members thought. Those kevlar mesh pants look great and I may consider those as the weather begins to cool off or perhaps winter. They appear that they would be awfuly hot in any hot climate, Florida, TX, AZ, Vegas.

http://www.600riders.com/forum/safety-equipment/5296-riding-pants-extreme-heat.html

I ride to work with jeans, kahkis or dress pants under my textile Buell pants. In hot weather I wear long shorts under the textiles.

I need to get my butt down to Cycle Gear and get a pair of the First Gear mesh pants. Austin had the hottest June on record, and my textile pants, which have removeable panels, that expose mesh, are still too damn hot.

I wear running tights under mesh over pants. My Olympia Airglide II's have knee armor and hip pads. The butt and knees are solid 500D Cordura and the mesh is nylon. Cordura is more abrasion resistant than polyester (and nylon mesh is likewise tougher than polyester mesh). The purpose of the mesh gear is to hold the armor in place. So, ideally you would fall on your knee, then either slide on your knee or on you butt. If you end up sliding on the mesh, then you may have a problem.

You can read a lot about Aerostich wearers surviving long slides (Aerostich is made from solid 500 D Courdura with Gortex). I think that "rug burns" are common. IMO they are caused when the outside fabric or armor hits the ground and stops, but your knee/leg keeps moving. Most of the summer time mesh stuff is not polyurathane coated (because it is not waterproof). Anyway, I think if you land on the armor, you should be OK (that is if it is CE armor, not the fake stuff).

If you plan to slide down the highway @ 80 mph, then leather or kevlar with armor would be the choice. However, if you are not made of money (Kevlar) or it is really hot, then mesh would be the choice. That kevlar mesh underpants is an interesting concept. It seems like it would not have to worry about the asphalt reaching your skin, regardless of what part was sliding. However, I suspect that the "rug burns" would still be in play.

I like lots of armor and it only serves to support a good pair of pants. So, buy a pair of underwear....

Man its a how much protection vs cost vs comfort thing.
I have worn shorts under my mesh j. rocket gear.

Mainly what I have been wearing recently are Shift kevlar jeans, A* knee armor and my perforated leather jacket.

Sometimes I wear the j. rocket jacket and pants.

I dont know why but I feel more proctected in the kevlar jeans and the leather jacket than I do in the mesh.

I have leather pants but I dont wear them much.

I have a full textile suit too, but its just to hot to wear right now.

Its one of those its your call type of things.

The mean crash speed is something like 35 mph. (also most fatalities occur at 35 or so too)

Basicly what I am saying is any gear is better than none. A pair of jeans under overpants is a big step up over shorts. Gotta wiegh it out and decide what you think is best.

well up until now i had been doing mesh overpants, but alone, just wearing boxers under em. but they are really pretty flimsy, no matter what they are made of these pants are not kevlar and they are mesh. i dont think theyd last long in a slide. im gonna get new pants on tuesday. i dislike wearing 2 pairs of pants anyhow.

Hellgate said:

I ride to work with jeans, kahkis or dress pants under my textile Buell pants. In hot weather I wear long shorts under the textiles.

I need to get my butt down to Cycle Gear and get a pair of the First Gear mesh pants. Austin had the hottest June on record, and my textile pants, which have removeable panels, that expose mesh, are still too damn hot.

Click to expand...

I purchased a pair of the First Gear mesh pants at Skagit Powersports in Burlington, WA a month or so ago. These pants are NOT over-pants, they are meant to be worn with minimum clothing underneath. They are well made, but the plastic fly zipper failed the second time I wore them. The zipper pull itself was defective and was not locking the little plastic "zips" together. I've had that replaced with a stronger metal zipper. Otherwise, they are terrific mesh pants; very cool in 30 deg Celsius heat, or 90 Fahrenheit to our Southern Neighbours and are very, very comfotable to wear over a pair of shorts. They are dark enough that you could go with underwear if you want to be even cooler. I have replaced the questionable thin rubber knee "armour" with Joe Rocket upgrade hard armour.
Both of my crashes (40 years ago) involved t-boning cars turning in front of me....in both crashes, my knees impacted the ground VERY hard, damaging them. I was wearing ordinary uniform dress pants in the first crash, and plain jeans in the second. I would urge riders to consider this when putting their faith in kevlar jeans. Yes, they would be great for sliding, but impact?
I highly recommend the First Gear mesh pants, but with the addition of hard armour in the knees and shins.
Oh, a bonus with the First Gear pants is that the bottoms of the legs are expandable. They can be worn with the calf/ankle zipper undone for over my boots, or zipped up snugly to go inside my boots if I feel like showing off my Sidi's.
I think they're the ONLY mesh pants that can do this.