I'm hot. Let's try Draggin' Jeans.

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ToyAddict

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Apr 27, 2010
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Location
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Its been a few years since I've been riding so I thought I would get some new gear to go with the new bike. Among other things I got a pair of Draggin' jeans. I know, I know denim will never be the best in crash protection but I'm old and fat and it gets hot in South Texas. Anyway, I ordered the jeans and to make myself feel better about it I added the optional knee protection.

The jeans shipped out and arrived promptly. They also looked good (well, like jeans) and seemed to be well made. Kevlar 360 around the knees and hips and wow, are they heavy. (They are supposed to be a heavy weight denim.) So far so good, but I notice I see no pockets for the knee armor. Hmmm.

Now I reach in the bag and pull out the knee pads and 4 pieces of adhesive backed velcro, hook side only, each about 1.5 inches long. According to the instructions you are supposed to stick the velcro to the armor and then place the armor on the kevlar in the desired position. You are warned that when removing the armor to wash the jeans that the velcro may pull up little tufts of fiber. That's it.

That's it? I am supposed to be protected by 6-8 inches of sticky back velcro? Not only that, the velco just BARELY clings to the kevlar and can be easily dislodged with a single errant toe while trying to put the jeans on. I even put the jeans on the floor and stepped on the armor trying to get it to stick. That worked about as well as you would expect. Now, as if that isn't bad enough, after maybe 3-5 hours of riding and repositioning the armor a couple of times the sticky back is separating from the armor. I'm certain that in an accident the one place these pads will not be is on my knees.

The sad part is I really like the jeans themselves and think they are going to be just what I wanted. Draggin" jeans made a good product and then went and screwed it up by offering these lame knee pads and making me feel somewhat ripped off.

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Separating already :angry2:

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((No cool signature yet. What'd you expect, I'm an FNG.))

 
Thanks. That's the first actual review of those jeans that I've seen. Much appreciated.

I suppose the target market is the squids who don't normally wear protection at all, so they wouldn't notice the missing armor.

 
After my experience with the knee pads available from them, I now wear my Draggin' Jeans under my Aerostitch. Yes, I was a Boy Scout!

 
On those super hot & sticky DC summer days when I'm riding to the office I pull on a pair of Draggin Jeans rahter than wearing the full 'Stitch. I too know somebody who had a chance to test them and they held up for abrasion, but he did get some skin burn and serious bruising. Maybe it's knee shape or something, because those pads stay really well for me.

 
I was wearing diamond gusset kevlar jeans when I slipped in some mud. They rode up just enough during the getoff, my brake pedal went through my shin -- missing the kevlar panel by an inch. I lost weight and own riding pants now.

 
On those super hot & sticky DC summer days when I'm riding to the office I pull on a pair of Draggin Jeans rahter than wearing the full 'Stitch. I too know somebody who had a chance to test them and they held up for abrasion, but he did get some skin burn and serious bruising. Maybe it's knee shape or something, because those pads stay really well for me.

Do you have the same sort of velcro to kevlar arrangement? My velcro sticks to another test piece of velcro loop really well, but sticks to the kevlar in the jeans with about the same strength as a piece of scotch tape.

 
On those super hot & sticky DC summer days when I'm riding to the office I pull on a pair of Draggin Jeans rahter than wearing the full 'Stitch. I too know somebody who had a chance to test them and they held up for abrasion, but he did get some skin burn and serious bruising. Maybe it's knee shape or something, because those pads stay really well for me.

Do you have the same sort of velcro to kevlar arrangement? My velcro sticks to another test piece of velcro loop really well, but sticks to the kevlar in the jeans with about the same strength as a piece of scotch tape.
I don't know how "same" it is, but yes each pad is held with two pieces of velcro. The hard part was getting them in the right spot, so I marked the spots with a sharpie on the kevlar.

 
My recommendation is to find some textile pants with CE armor and see if you can try them on. I have have some Firstgear textile pants with CE armor (armor that actually has to pass certain standards), and they come with a windproof/water-resistant liner. And in the summer (starting to hit 90s here in GA where I just moved to), I just wear some basketball shorts underneath them since they are abrasion resistant, and are perforated. About as cool as you can get while still offering MUCH more protection than just a pair of jeans.

It was my first pair of pants, still doing good, but I think I am now a textile kinda guy. Seems like the layering system is for me. Too warm? let the perforations show. A little chillier? Put in the windproof liner. Still colder? Put in a thermal liner. Awesome stuff. I recommend.

Alexi

 
Jason. the Draggin setup w/ knox knee armor is all I wear. I substituted a more HD velcro and in combination with the natural pressure of your knees against the pants, holds them in pretty well. Never crashed, but the reports I have read are positive.

Jack.

 
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