When selecting a Bulk Varsity Jacket, even before you begin comparing the many jacket styles and features available to you, it’s a good idea to first consider which jacket material best suits you and the way you ride. For example, if you want to go hiking, you should look for the womens hiking jacket.
You have three motorcycle jacket materials to choose from…
- Leather…
- High-tech synthetics…
- Cotton/denim…
The material you choose should suit the…
- Type of riding you enjoy most…
- Type of motorcycle you ride…
- Typical daily biking miles you travel…
- Weather conditions in which you ride…
- Seasons when you like to ride…
- Types of roads or trails you enjoy most…
Here’s info to help you compare each jacket material’s qualities and features and its ability to…
- Protect you in an accident…
- Keep you comfortable…
- Fit your riding style…
Leather
Leather jackets come in many styles to suit the types of riding you enjoy and the seasons when you ride.
Also, leather jackets look good.
A leather jacket will keep you safe and comfortable for many years if you occasionally apply a cleaner/preservative to keep it clean and soft and prevent it from becoming dry and brittle.
You can rely on a leather to give you great abrasion protection if you have an accident.
But leather alone won’t absorb hard falls onto your shoulder or elbow if you have an accident. To gain the advantage, you need strategically placed armor or padding on these impact-prone areas.
Leather will block cold winds and keep out mild rain and damp weather.
But, unless your jacket is lined with a waterproof material such as Gore-Tex, or the leather has been specially treated to make it water resistant, you must wear a rain jacket over your leather jacket to keep it dry and prevent water from seeping through.
On hot days, your leather jacket — especially a black jacket — that isn’t well-ventilated and exposed to a direct breeze when you ride can become very hot and uncomfortable.
Leather jackets tend to be snug and form-fitting. This keeps out drafts and prevents the material from flapping in the wind. But it also restricts your ability to wear extra layers underneath on cold days.
High-tech synthetics
A motorcycle jacket made of synthetic textiles such as nylon, polyester or Kevlar can be thinner, cooler, lighter, more flexible and more comfortable than a leather jacket.
Such benefits are important if you prefer a loose-fitting garment and — to some degree — if you’re concerned about riding in hot weather.
However, when it’s cold outside, you need an insulating layer underneath your synthetic textile jacket to keep you warm. Most synthetic jackets come with such a layer that you can remove in hot weather.
Synthetic materials resist mildew and are easy to wash and keep clean.
But they’re not waterproof. So when riding in the rain, you need a jacket with a waterproof lining — such as Gore-Tex. Otherwise, you can cover up with a rain jacket.
Nylon and polyester won’t protect you from abrasions if you hit the ground. Both materials will tear or wear through when scraped against a rough road surface.
But jackets made entirely of Kevlar can prevent road rash, especially on your elbows, shoulders and other abrasion-prone areas.
But, just like leather, synthetic textiles won’t absorb the impact if you hit the ground hard. That’s why most synthetic jackets have armor padding on elbows and shoulders. Many have built-in spine protectors.
Jackets made of synthetic fibers tend to fit loosely. But most have well-placed tabs and straps that let you tighten things down and customize the fit. This capability enables you to wear extra clothing underneath — or not — according to the weather.
Cotton/denim fibers
Cotton/denim motorcycle jackets tend to be airy, comfortable and will keep you cooler than leather or synthetic textile jackets.
Motorcycle jackets made of these materials give you lots of value and many nice features.
But because these natural materials by themselves give you virtually no abrasion or impact protection, such protection must be built in.
You can find cotton/denim jackets that have impact-absorbing padding or armor on the elbows and shoulders and protecting your spine.
But even with such protection, well-built leather and synthetic fiber jackets have the edge over cotton/denim when it comes to abrasion prevention.
Cotton/denim fibers are not waterproof. So, if you ride in all sorts of weather, you’ll need a rain jacket.
When you start trying on different types of motorcycle jackets, it’s good to know what each material offers. This awareness make selecting the right jacket for you that much easier.
Here’s where you can get more info to help you choose a motorcycle jacket and other riding gear, and info that will help you to get the most enjoyment out of motorcycle riding…
The Biker Jacket
It is easy to say that perhaps one of the most famous and outlawed style for jacket has been the biker jacket. It has been always associated with the rebel.
The Bomber
The Bomber style jacket safely secures a long term spot in fashion industry. It is always cool and hip to wear a bomber leather jacket. They never look outdated. No matter what kind of bomber jacket you choose let it be a grungy urban bomber jacket or an expensive and classy one it would not fail to complete your look.
The Aviator
Hollywood movies have played a huge role in promoting leather jackets. The military style leather jackets commonly known as the aviators also gain their popularity majorly because of being shown in Hollywood movies. Top Gun was a movie after which every guy wanted to have at least one aviator jacket in his wardrobe.
Many manufacturers out there specialize on jackets for different seasons. There are jackets like overcoats, tall jackets, insulated, windbreaker and fleece that are good for winter. Manufacturers like Columbia and Roxy offers high quality made winter jackets whereas Old Navy denim jackets are good for autumn or spring season. You can also look at online stores like Amazon to check out and compare prices.
Finally your choice of jacket should suit your style and personality, if you are loud and out going, a brightly coloured jacket will be perfect, if you are laid back and relaxed perhaps a more casual style of tailored jacket will better suit you.
1. The Genuine Military Item
Some lucky ladies own genuine B-13 or A-2 jackets bequeathed to them by grandfathers or uncles. It probably looks better than ever, and that is because it is made from strong, durable leather, possibly “shearling”, leather, which is soft, pliable suede with woolen pile still intact. Some of these vintage coats still have historically valuable patches and memorabilia on them. These are as scarce as hen’s teeth, but they do come up for auction from time to time.
2. Replicas and Nostalgia
There are manufacturers (some would call them craftsmen) in North America and Europe who create replicas. These aim to maintain the strong, rugged look of the original jackets. Some have genuine or faux fur collars. Authentic they most certainly are not, but they are lovely objects just the same.They tend to be a little “knocked back” compared to the genuine ones, not having patches or other loud embellishments.
3. Women’s Style
It is a fact of life that young women have small waists. The earliest variation on the flight jacket for women theme was the creation of a shorter jacket, one that did not end at the bottom of the hips. It has a narrow waist, often with elasticized fabric, and is cut much higher. It tends to be plain and without military aspirations in its styling. The pockets are more refined and less capacious than in the men’s version. And yet it is clearly identifiable as being an item of apparel for a woman.
4. Relax, Ladies!
Next the ladies version of the aviator jacket stopped taking itself seriously. The manufacturers and designers realized that it was okay for the jackets to have pockets and zips everywhere, for instance, and still be identifiable for what it was — a superior leather coat.
5. Edgier Versions
About the time of the movie Star Wars in the early 1980s the jacket became edgier, with shoulder flaps and highly stylized sleeves. The cleavage started to get a look in, and these jackets graced the catwalks of the world. The designer version had arrived.
6. Enter the Hood
When “hoodies” became the latest vogue, it was not long before the hood was added. Suddenly it took on a softer and more feminine aspect.
7. Claret and Blue
Why should a bomber jacket be black or brown? There is no good reason why, of course, especially with the wonderful, colorful leathers around. There are women’s bomber jackets made from lovely, naturally textured ostrich leather in vibrant colors too, and also made of distressed leather (usually cowhide) and other special leathers such as “pearlized” leather.
8. Seeing Red!
A red bomber jacket (or claret or maroon or pink) makes a great fashion statement. What great contrast could there be than between a style of jacket with military undertones and fabulous primary colors? You also get aquamarine and yellow bomber jackets…
9. Jackets With Knobs On!
In the eighties there were sequins of everything. It took some time for embellishments to be added to women’s bomber jackets, but today there are bomber jackets for ladies with sequins, rivets, costume jewels, patches and lots of other armor attached. The sky is the limit!
10. Good in a Vest
The latest in the long line of events to have befallen the women’s bomber jacket has been the elimination of the sleeves to create a bomber jacket vest. This allows softer fabrics of shirts to show on the arms, and makes the bomber vest much more versatile. It remains to be seen where the women’s bomber jacket will go from here.
