Need help with leather riding gear...

3 different Vanson jackets(full perf, supermoto, partial perf- lightning). Cortech Deckers overpants. Revit Gear 2 pants. Comfortable in pretty much all types of weather. I have rode in everything from 35- 105 degree weather.

you folks that ride with preferated Vanson leathers .. how do you handle wet/cold nasty conditions.

in 90f+ temps .. wearing heavy anything, leather or otherwise gets pretty darn HOT.

I handle wet/cold conditions by wearing another jacket.
Actually, although Vanson offers a windproof/waterproof liner, I have a very thin North Face vest that goes under the jacket. The vest is great for when the temps are in the 60's or low 70's in the early morning, and then the 80's and 90's in the afternoon. While the competition weight leather is indeed heavy, the completely perforated jacket makes a huge difference in comfort. When stopped at an intersection, they all make you feel as if you are gonna die. Like you, I too live in Oklahoma, so I know the weather you ride in.
My Vanson Hurricane Pro-Perf jacket is considerably more comfortable in hot weather than my Olympia Sport Airmesh2.

I find mesh to be less comfortable while stopped than good perforated leather. Maybe it's just me, but when I'm baking in the sun in stopped traffic, mesh is actually the least comfortable gear I could be wearing. When I'm moving, I still like perforated leather better. It doesn't flow as much air as mesh, but it flows enough, and the fact that it flows less actually makes it more useful over a broader temperature range.

I've had similar experience with perforated leather keeping me cooler. All I can guess is that the air flow tends to be less turbulent so the outside air can evaporate perspiration more effectively.

There's a good article on the topic from the guys in the Iron Butt Association, and although it seems counter-intuitive, my limited testing tells me it is spot on.

+1 it's a great suit.

Older fieldsheer perforated and non plus older hein gericke nonperf, all heavy leather and for under $100 each on fleabay

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Not whale foreskin like everybody sez????

but isn't that just another goretex suit? only with leather exterior instead of conventional fabric like Aerostich?

no goretex suit will allow air to flow through. which is excellent for wet/nasty conditions. but miserable for temps above 80f or so.

been trying to find one suit for all conditions. but starting to think it doesn't exist.

I've been wearing my Transit year-round in NC for two years now. It's absolutely not true that it's only for cold or nasty weather.

It isn't perforated-true. But open the collar, the sleeves and the back vents and dampen your shirt, and I'm good up to and over 100 degrees.

I can't speak highly enough of the Transit. It's comfortable as all get-out, completely waterproof, and very well constructed. It's heavier and more solid than my old Vanson track leathers.

I just ordered a NOS Teknic Durango from Roseburg Cycle Center (ROSEBURGCC@YAHOO.COM). I've bought several jackets in the past from them. They used to have them on Ebay all the time but I did not see one posted, so I figured I would just e-mail them. They confirmed they still have them at $99.99 each. It's similar to the old Hein Gericke Dakar jacket. Not sure if this is the type you're looking for, but it has plenty of vents: 2 chest vents, 2 arms vents, and 2 vents just below the shoulders in the back. This will be my fourth Teknic leather jacket. Good stuff at close-out prices.

There is Only one brand. I see where someone said they wear Vanson. They are excellent. You want the BEST. LANGLITZ LEATHERS in Portland Oregon. There are lots of opinions but believe me they are the best. If you order from them and are not happy they will refund your money. Each garmet is custom built.

Very Heavy and VERY expensive! (I don't care for the styling)

+1. I'll still take Vanson, because of the Armor. I don't think Langlitz has provisions for it, and I'm not going to wear motocross gear under it.

I have a Langlitz Colombia in Goat, it rains a lot here. Absolutly the best quality out there

Brother, can you spare a grand? :eek1

have never heard of Langlitz before. they certainly go to a lot of trouble with measurements all over. must fit really good!

Kangaroo is suppose to be world strongest leather for the weight. allowing a superlight jacket that's stronger than much heavier leather.

Wow! Thanks for all the replies. A friend I work with actually suggested I check out GoldenBearSportswear. They're located in San Francisco and supply the SFPD motorcycle cops their jackets. Since I work in SF, I'll check out their facility and products. Said friend has one of these motorcycle cop jackets and it's incredibly well constructed and the leather looks and feels top notch.

You need better friends.

Today, most leather is made of cow hides, but many exceptions exist. Lamb and deer skin are used for soft leather in more expensive apparels. Kangaroo leather is used to make items which need to be strong but flexible, such as motorcycle gloves. Kangaroo leather is favored by motorcyclists specifically because of its lighter weight and higher abrasion resistance as compared to cowhide.

KANGAROO LEATHER is widely accepted as being one of the strongest light weight leathers available. Yet the reasons for this strength are not widely appreciated.
Studies conducted by the Australian CSIRO confirm that kangaroo is one of the strongest leathers of similar substance available (Stephens 1987).

Similarly when split into thinner substances kangaroo retains considerably more of the original tensile strength of the unsplit leather than does calf. When split to 20% of original thickness kangaroo retains between 30 to 60% of the tensile strength of the unsplit hide. Calf on the other hand split to 20% of original thickness retains only 1-4% of original strength (Stephens 1987).

Studies of the morphology of kangaroo leather compared to bovine help explain these remarkable differences.

The collagen fibre bundles in cattle hide are arranged in a complex weaving pattern. The fibres are often at angles as much as 90 degrees to the skin surface. Cattle hide also contain sweat glands, erector pili muscles and a distinct gradation in elastin levels, concentrated in the upper part of the skin.

Kangaroo on the other hand has been shown to have a highly uniform orientation of fibre bundles in parallel with the skin surface. It does not contain sweat glands or erector pili muscles and elastin is evenly distributed throughout the skin thickness (Bavinton et al 1987). This structural uniformity explains both the greater tensile strength of the whole leather and the greater retention of strength in splits. Bovine skin is much more complex in cross section. Hence in whole section it has many more weak point from which tears can start when placed under tension. In addition when sliced into splits the collagen fibres running at significant angles to the skin surface will be cut. These then become weak points in the structural strength.

Thus the structural uniformity in the morphology of kangaroo leather readily explains its dramatic strength and the retention of this strength when split.

This uniformity requires efficient fat liquoring and staking to obtain optimal results from processing. These processes have the effect of unsticking fibre bundles from each other, thereby enabling each bundle to move independently. Since kangaroo fibres are aligned parallel to each other they contact other fibres along much of their length. Bovine fibres on the other hand only contact other fibres at the points where they intersect with them.
http://www.kangaroo-industry.asn.au/...her_review.htm