Construction
Leather
Our weatherbeaten cows have may have tough skins but they make luscious soft supple hides, this combination of strength + malleability makes a superb product.
We use NZ cow hide, at 1.2 to 1.4mm thick, this means you have about 3.8 seconds of tear time, and with 2 layers, 18 seconds.
Linings
Leather offers not only protection for your hide, it also can help keep the elements out and a good lining can improve on this.
We like to use a weatherproof breathable fabric layered beneath a durable synthetic knit. This helps keep the weather out.It is not sealed at seam edges so in prolonged rainfall seepage can occur.
You are also able to choose other fabrics if you wish.
Body Armour
After seeing the results of many meetings with the road, We have found the users of good quality soft body armour come off very well, and so do their leathers. This is my choice of body armour too.
Why?..... well I know it cannot injure the user any further under crash conditions as hard body armour may if it breaks. Also, the soft armour absorbs the impact of the road reducing the impact on not only you but the leathers as well therefore reducing damage.
Techniques
The heavy weight bonded polyester thread we use is treated against deterioration from UV light. We double stitch all our seams with at least one line hidden, on the inside of the garment.
This means if you grate off the upper layer, you still are held together by the one underneath. This is extremely important in motorcycle wear and any gear you buy should have it, unfortunately this is not always the case.
We use an extra layer of leather on all your vulnerable places, elbows, shoulders, hips, bottoms and knees. This increases the the tear time hugely and as we have seen over and over again, this is where you need it.
We do not use any form of fabric in our garments on the exterior. Experience with crash damage has shown that it is always the first place to tear. We have also found that excess use of it around the knees and elbows can cause the body armour to move on impact.
Design
After all that, it still has to look good and fit really well. This is also a safety feature as an ill fitting suit cannot protect you if, on impact, your body armour is not where you need it, a smooth fit also slides better.
The less room you have between you and your leathers also means the less room cold air has to sneak in and fill it. Layers of snug thermals under a fitting garment keep you warm and the weather out.
We have designed our figure hugging garments to look great as well. We consider this extremely important! Top grade leather is such an amazing material to work with, its softness, strength and ability to mould to form can make a stunning looking outfit
