Howdy,
On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Bruce Haden wrote:
> YEARS ago I saw a rather unscientific test in a motorcycle mag of
> leather suits vs denim and various other things. Leather isn't nearly
> the wonderful skin protector we all think it to be. Kinda like we
> have all thought hay bales made good barriers on race courses until
> we hit one or saw the results of a hit. Modern high strength fibers
> offer better cut/slash/gouge protection than leather could dream of.
> That's what bullet resistant vest are made of; Kevlar and stuff like it.
That's probably true for cut/slash/gouge protection, but I find it hard to
believe (and remember reading tests to back it up) that its true for
abrasion resistance.
In fact, when I quit racing motorcycles in '97 non-leather suits were
specifically outlawed (alternatives at the time were Kevlar and some sorta
ballistic nylon or whatever it was that Aerostich used).
As to why they aren't used for fire suits, cost comes immediately to mind.
Good MC race leathers were in the $600 to $1.4k range back then. Aren't
fire suits in the $500 or under range?
Mark
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