Home made combat biking trousers.
Project make my own Kevlar Jeans, well in my case try to… lol
Well if you know me at all you all seen me in my black track suit style combats and that’s pretty much all I wear on my bike (cos it is so comfy and plus I am a Fat Bastard and hard to find dedicated bike sized clothing) so I thought why not make a motorcycle versions with all the protection like my matching motorcycle hoodie I also use.
I did some researching about this idea and that started in the form of finding a suitable fabric to line my current combats and the only real reply on what fabric was “Kevlar” (Which I have in my Hoodie), Kevlar is a branded name for “Aramid” Weave fabric, so researching more under Aramid Weave it shows its used and known for its use for racing and fire protection side with clothing, so confirming it is the correct stuff I needed to find the type of Aramid, as you can get either a Weave or Knit type, and a quick check on strength for the slide factor the “weave” kicks the knitted type arse, so order placed for 5 metres of Aramid Weave.
I have order 2 more combats work tracksuits so that I have new ones to work with, I also needed to order some way to stick this to my combats as stitching them would take ages, I also needed to decide on do I just do the basic coverage areas like butt cheeks, hips and knees or should I go full hog and make these into fully lined combats ….. I have now decided that I will go full coverage as I have plenty of fabric.
Now I know what I plan to make and have ordered the kit in I have now started cutting up a template to allow me to cut the needed sizing for the Aramid Weave to be attached to the combats, this was pretty simple by using cardboard and cutting them to the same size as my combats. I then used these and made them into 2 templates (top and bottom of one leg) I then used these to make the markings on the Aramid Weave. I will need 4 of each template for the full coverage I am after.
Cutting the Aramid Weave thou was not as simple, and for this I needed to order a dedicated pair of kevlar scissors as cutting the fabric is not really possible using any of my standard cutting tools apart from a surgical scalpel which tears the weave and leaves loads of frayed edges :O (I should have guessed this thou as Aramid is made to handle a slide on a bike), so I have ordered some dedicated kevlar shears. The shears made cutting the fabric a breeze and got the cutting down in no time at all.
Attaching the Aramid fabric to my combats is the next part, now I have already looked into this and seen some odd videos already of ways to do this, yep sewing double sticked with a decent machine with Titanium needle is the best but something that would need a proper setup for, but in my research I seem people who have done similar for home made versions use with spray glue or wonder web and some needle work, and results from this being used is very promising, they lasted well and even handled washing in a washing machine on hot cycle and also then daily use and repeated washing without separating. So I have gone with this very idea myself as it is a practical way to bond the two fabrics together and only time will tell how long it lasts, but that’s the whole point of making my own and learning from it all.
Items brought to make this all happen are …..
Aramid Weave fabric
New Combats
Wonder Web Hemming tape
Spray glue in a can (extra strength)
Kevlar cutting shears
Now I have completed the above sections I finally got round to more testing and it seems to have held up well with the product being completed now. The glue has done a pretty decent job of keeping the Aramid fabric to the inside of the combats and I taken the test now to the next test which is doing a full wash cycle with the biker combats now there complete and again I got to say they did hold up rather well. I did not check the glue before washing a lot as I wanted to just get the washing test tried as that really would be the failing point of this build but they held up great with a few small amount of corner and edges of the Aramid fabric coming slightly away, and I do mean a little. 99% of the Aramid fabric has held strong to the combats which is a real result from the build.
I plan to just re touch up the glue on these small edges that have come away and then I may use the wonder web and strips of Aramid fabric to seal the edges more so it has a double glued effect to see if that will help get a real bond to the Aramid fabric to the combats more, as I have a feeling over time if not sealed properly at the edges it will continue to get larger amounts pulling away, so its now a case of being thorough and checking the edges are correctly sealed this time before I run a second wash with them. I also hoping that this second wash will help soften up the Aramid fabric a little as currently with the current amount the combats are rather stiff, but this is all new gear, so it will need some wearing in I believe to become more natural. Overall to the current stage I am really impressed with the out come, and I can stay this project has worked better than I expected.
