Tear & Abrasion Strength of Clothing

[rod2625]

I see lots of posts on suggestions on what gear to post. For me a big consideration was how is it going to protect me. I purchased a 1000 denier cordura jacket and pants and have been very satisfied. For textiles, from what I have read, nothing less that 620 cordura is satisfactory for motorcycle gear, yet much of what I see hanging on the racks is 500 cordura. For those of you that are leather fans, everytime leather gets wet and then dries it can loose up to 20% of its tear and abrasion resistance.

For those of you considering purchasing new gear you might want to check out the numbers:

Tear and Abrasion Strength by the numbers
Pounds of force until fabric tears Abrasion cycles on pavement until fabric fails
CottonJeans 4.5 pounds to tear 50 cycles to failure
70 Denier Standard Nylon 4.5 pounds to tear 165 cycles to failure
500 Denier Polyester 8 pounds to tear 180 cycles to failure
200 Denier Standard Nylon 7.5 pounds to tear 275 cycles to failure
500 Denier Cordura 22 pounds to tear 710 cycles to failure
620 Denier Cordura 35 pounds to tear 1200 cycles to failure
NEW Competition Grade Leather 80-110 pounds to tear 1200-1700 cycles to failure
1000 Denier Cordura 110 pounds to tear 1780 cycles to failure
Air Mesh Kevlar 1260 pounds to tear 970 cycles to failure Stretch Kevlar Blend 420lbs pounds to tear 1800 cycles to failure

[RichLockyer]

But even at a 20% loss, it still blows textile away.
The best Kevlar textile is shredded in 18 feet.
Quality leather is good for 80 feet.

[Uthor]

Where do jeans, t-shirt, and flip flops fall on that scale?

[NCDave]

What about shorts and a tank top?

[A2rider]

You don't see many people who wear these above mentioned items posting on how well they came out in an accident.

This is how well jeans hold up. This my leg.

[CheriAnn]

Oh Tina....

OUCHIES!!!!!!!

Good illustration of how jeans hold up!!!!

[A2rider]

Scars are cool, ask anyone under the age of 30!

[stevend135]

I'll never wear another mesh product while riding, it was a first gear mesh jacket, the arm slide across the pavement and shredded in about 30ft at 40-45 mph. Leaving my arm exposed to road rash which wasn't fun.

[rod2625]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

But even at a 20% loss, it still blows textile away.
The best Kevlar textile is shredded in 18 feet.
Quality leather is good for 80 feet.

Rich I found the sticky on the testing that was done 20 years ago that may have provided these figures. I would like to think the newer cordura and Kevlars have improved since then as indicated in the test results. If doing the same test for abrasion, i.e. repeatedly rubbing a material on asphalt and the numbers show that the newer kevlars as good or better than the "competition grade" leather that is hard to dispute. Also I suspect that 90% of the leather being worn is not anywhere close to "competition grade".

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by rod2625

Also I suspect that 90% of the leather being worn is not anywhere close to "competition grade".

I would agree with that. There is too much "fashion leather" out there that people think will protect them.
My jacket is a Fox Creek Classic-II... 3-4mm thick, the jacket itself weighs over 10 pounds.

[El Zorro]

What exactly is an abrasion cycle? How does it translate to distance traveled?

[rod2625]

Originally Posted by El Zorro

What exactly is an abrasion cycle? How does it translate to distance traveled?

Short answer is, it doesn't.

Basically they have a device that they put the material on. It then rubs it against asphalt with the same pressure everytime. The same test it done with every material so you are always looking at apples to apples as far as test results. Just think that the more cycles before failure equates to further distance traveled on your butt before it comes apart.

[twoisbest]

Who makes this 1000-Codura?

[rod2625]

Originally Posted by twoisbest

Who makes this 1000-Codura?

The company that made my suit gets their textiles from Schoeller Textiles, Switzerland. The company makes their suits here in the California. The kevlars they use are all blends, as pure kevlar will not hold up.

MotoPort

[Domonlord]

Originally Posted by rod2625

I see lots of posts on suggestions on what gear to post. For me a big consideration was how is it going to protect me. I purchased a 1000 denier cordura jacket and pants and have been very satisfied. For textiles, from what I have read, nothing less that 620 cordura is satisfactory for motorcycle gear, yet much of what I see hanging on the racks is 500 cordura. For those of you that are leather fans, everytime leather gets wet and then dries it can loose up to 20% of its tear and abrasion resistance.

For those of you considering purchasing new gear you might want to check out the numbers:

Tear and Abrasion Strength by the numbers
Pounds of force until fabric tears Abrasion cycles on pavement until fabric fails
CottonJeans 4.5 pounds to tear 50 cycles to failure
70 Denier Standard Nylon 4.5 pounds to tear 165 cycles to failure
500 Denier Polyester 8 pounds to tear 180 cycles to failure
200 Denier Standard Nylon 7.5 pounds to tear 275 cycles to failure
500 Denier Cordura 22 pounds to tear 710 cycles to failure
620 Denier Cordura 35 pounds to tear 1200 cycles to failure
NEW Competition Grade Leather 80-110 pounds to tear 1200-1700 cycles to failure
1000 Denier Cordura 110 pounds to tear 1780 cycles to failure
Air Mesh Kevlar 1260 pounds to tear 970 cycles to failure Stretch Kevlar Blend 420lbs pounds to tear 1800 cycles to failure

Awesome information, but where did you get it from?

[azwiley1]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

I would agree with that. There is too much "fashion leather" out there that people think will protect them.
My jacket is a Fox Creek Classic-II... 3-4mm thick, the jacket itself weighs over 10 pounds.

Hey Rich, not to split hairs here and the only reason I bringit up is because I am looking for a new leather, as my other one is just plain worn out. Darn thing is about 25 years old.

Anyway, I looked up Fox Creek and they say the Classic II is Crafted from 1.4-1.6mm naked leather. This from what I have seen, seems to be the "norm" in thickness for most bike leather jackets.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by azwiley1

Anyway, I looked up Fox Creek and they say the Classic II is Crafted from 1.4-1.6mm naked leather. This from what I have seen, seems to be the "norm" in thickness for most bike leather jackets.

It seems that is a standard thickness for the "name" gear.
My Classic-II is at least twice as heavy (physical weight) as my "mall special".
Of course, it was over 4x the price too.

[azwiley1]

Originally Posted by RichLockyer

It seems that is a standard thickness for the "name" gear.
My Classic-II is at least twice as heavy (physical weight) as my "mall special".
Of course, it was over 4x the price too.

I'm not disputing that with you Rich and I agree with you that any mall bought jacket is just not the same. That being said however, my jacket that I would love to get repaired was bought in a mall, at Wilson Leathers and cost me as much as a Fox Creek (when they were worth a damn) in 1987. It is a motorcycle jacket and I would put it up against any other.

My question/statement was more toward the numbers you mentioned vice what they report. Only trying to edumacate myself so I buy smart and quality.

[RichLockyer]

Originally Posted by azwiley1

I would love to get repaired was bought in a mall, at Wilson Leathers and cost me as much as a Fox Creek (when they were worth a damn) in 1987. It is a motorcycle jacket and I would put it up against any other.

You said it right there.... Wilson in 1987.

By "mall special" I'm referring to the stuff from places like Leathermode and similar shops where they market inexpensive products from Asia and Pakistan.
It's hit or miss... some of the stuff I wouldn't trust to protect me from a stiff wind (which is exactly why I started buying "biker" jackets long before I owned a bike). Some of the stuff is decent quality... My cheaper jacket gets compliments all the time, even from other bikers. They seem surprised when I tell them that it's not my riding jacket... I just wear it for work and play. For $80, I don't care if it gets mud splashed on it working, or fish guts on the boat... the double flap front keeps the wind off of my chest.

[rod2625]

Originally Posted by Domonlord

Awesome information, but where did you get it from?

On the Motoport website (posted earlier) is where I found the information when researching my purchase. When I asked about the testing here is the response I got:

"The testing performance shown on Save Your Hide were from an independent company in Los Angeles. All major materials suppliers in North American use this company and one more in Long Beach. Another verification has come from Schoeller, the company that supplies all of our Kevlar Blended materials. Schoeller has by far the best testing methods in the world."

I also found several very detailed, positive reviews on the ADVrider - Powered by vBulletin regarding the materials used in their products.