Several years ago when I was getting back into riding I bought a cheapo pair of pants with some knee armor(payed less than 100). Was making a left turn into a parking lot and some dude bumped my read tire hard enough to send me over as I just began to make the turn(evidentally a turn signal can be ignored....grr). Anyways...I went over still hanging onto the bike straight onto my left knee then slid. When it was all over I got away with nothing more than a limp for a day or so. My pants however were toast(as well as a glove). The left knee was worn through and the hard plastic that coated the cushion had some gnarley pavment marks. Without the integrated armor I can say my knee cap would have been toast... So summary...yeah...it's worth it..still riding!
Basically textiles offer more comfort with a compromise in protection...something is better than nothing.Of course you have the higher end textiles offering good abrasion resistance but still they are usually more comfortable than leather mostly because of the fit ...that being closer to the looser side rather than a tapered fit.However once you get into the Rukka,Klim, BMW and other high end Euro textile brands they do fit a lot better and the pads should stay in place. That is IF you actually buy the right size.That alone is the difficult part...joint size doesn't always correspond to the size of your belly! Most people tend to lean towards compromise and settle for a fit somewhere in the range of adequate protection vs comfort.Then they go down...brings a new perspective. Like others have said...armored shorts,strap on knee/elbow pads under kevlar,high level denier will generally offer better results than inserted pads. However I'm interested in this new material called "covec" that is used in Bull-It jeans.The claims are that their lined jeans are better than kevlar and wear through at different "time" intervals depending on how thick of a material they use...4 and 7 seconds.I think leather wears through in around 4 seconds according to the "Ride" magazine test?They even have a pair of jeans that are supposedly CE level 2 approved but since it's a new product it's hard to get!Seems the word hasn't really gotten out yet.
oh..fit! forgot to post..I now ride in Motoport stretch kevlar pants. Not fit issue there as custom made to your measurments and the kevlar is supposed to be as good if not better than leather. What I can say is they fit like a dream and the system to get them on and off is by far the best I have ever seen..super easy. They are not weather proof but you can buy a liner..and the stretch kevlar is just fun to play with..god it is a strange material! It flexes and pulls just like leather Plus they come with a 7 year if you crash and need it we fix for free guarantee... For the hot weather they make mesh kevlar which is supposudly stronger than stretch...good lifetime pair of pants!
The real benefit, and it is a significant benefit, is keeping your skin attached. Many of the products out there will actually melt and bond to your skin in a crash situation and there is no means to separate the synthetic (often marketed as ballistic) material from your skin, so everything gets removed. Leather is still king. Patrol, so what is the best materials to have between your skin and the armor besides leather, cotton?
..From someone who spends all day working on impact protection, and been down the road a few times myself, i've seen lots of different solutions and methods to 'fixing' pads in an area over a joint, certainly compression wear with installed pads is a good idea and reduces and lateral slip on impact, but yes, melting points of most compressions are low and that's the last think you need is molten lycra in your open wound after a long slide. Any decent apparel brand offers the right 'fit', this is key in the first place so there is no extra material where its not required, and through movable velcro pockets or using the right protector in the first place, some are a waste of space, soft protection is always the best option to reduce any chance of high pressure between a composite protector and the outerwear and the road resulting in ripping. Make sure your gear is the perfect size for you, the best you can afford and try not to fall off in the first place...
My vote goes here: http://www.johnsonleather.com/under_garments.htm You know the armor stays put! They also make strap on or limb tube armor without the need for an undergarment. JR356
Over the years I think I've tried it all, leathers, Kevlar, all the various grades of textiles, denim, separate armor, Bohn Armor, Rev'It, Aerostich RC, Darien Lights, Joe Rocket, Alpinestars, Dainese, MotoPort, Diamond gussets, Draggin jeans, blah blah. These days I no longer ride off-road, just tour a lot but some of the tracks are still a bit challenging - Mexico, Alaska - and I find I don't heal as fast as when I was younger. My choice for touring requires compromising because I can't haul one of everything along so I've settled on Darien Lights that are tailored to my needs. The knee pads are big, really big enough that even if they shift around they're still in front of my knees and because I had the pants tailored they're nicely centered vertically whether sitting or standing. The hip armor is right where it should be. The jacket's armor is nicely placed and there's lots of it, all decent quality. Finding a single outfit that can handle a truly wide range of weather conditions is really challenging but for me at least this is the outfit that does the best job. It ain't as cool looking as the others I have but I can wear it with reasonable confidence and I don't have to carry separate rain gear or worry about high temps. I agree with everything that's been said, if the armor you're wearing won't stay put it might not be there when you need it most.:eek1 If ever there was a reason to spend a few bucks on tailoring this would seem the right place. LL75
Leather is NOT king for street use. Motoport Mesh Kevlar is King for street use. It is custom tailored to your measurements - so as long as you measure correctly, it will fit well and the armor will be positioned properly. Mine is in the right spot whether I'm on the bike, riding, or walking around. And my MP mesh kevlar gear has more body armor in it than my custom race leathers or any other race leathers that I've seen. Besides all the normal armor, it has armor that wraps around the thigh and armor that wraps around the sides of the torso and covers part of the front. I NEVER wear my race leathers any more, when street riding. The MP stuff is more comfortable and has more armor. And it's stronger. I do still wear my leathers when on a race track. On the track, handling a slide is more important for the gear than handling an impact. On the street, handling an impact is more important than handling a slide. On the street, you're pretty darn unlikely to ever crash at 100+ MPH and slide to a stop without hitting anything. But, even if I did, I am pretty confident that my MP gear would thoroughly protect me.
I ride with a BMW RP2 suit and one of the primary reasons I bought it was the way the armor formed around your elbows and knees. I have NO worries about it moving around. I only have one significant crash experience with it. A FS road, car in front of me, waited for him to pull over to let me pass. He finally does, pulls into a turnout, and I accelerate past... Almost! He makes a u-turn (or half of one as I T-boned him, never checked his rear view as we were remote). I went over the bars and blacked out the instant after impact from my brain sloshing forward decelerating. Red paint was on my crash bars on the GSA, on the underside of the swing arm, the bottom of my foot peg. I woke up with pain in two areas. A small scratch on my neck and what felt like a bruise on my upper shin. No doubt my armor stayed in place and protected. Wasn't even a bruise. Best part? I drove away with $6,000 of cosmetic damage (his insurance covered) and his car had to be towed!