Friday, November 11, 2005
Why I still Prefer Leather?
I love leather. It’s perfect for my motorcycle apparel. I guess this is not only true to me but to the majority of riders, if not all.
Leather, as we know, is animal skin. Basically, since it is skin, it needs oil to keep it supple, flexible and soft to prevent it from cracking or chaffing. It differs with live skin in the sense that leather is not renewed from within and does not produce its oils to take care of itself. Nonetheless, leathers are treated with similar processes for skin like cleaning using soaps, conditioning and drying up.
There are a lot of materials in the market today like nylon, pleather, vinyl-based materials and mesh but they did not spoil my fascination for leather. Why?
First, because leather has a very high abrasion resistance compared to other materials. Every time I come off my bike and slide over a gravel-strewn stretch of asphalt, I know that I will need something that will abraid to shed speed without tearing.
Second, leather is pretty durable. The more you use it the more it gets better. In fact, it can last a lifetime. Compared to other materials, they can only last for 5 years – the most.
Third, it is not flammable unlike vinyl-based materials and pleather.
Fourth, other materials can lead to heat stroke. Unlike these materials, leather produces same rate of heat with the human skin, thus, it can less likely produce the same.
Actually, this is not the end of the list. There a lot more reasons to use leather but as for me these are the topmost reasons.
Leather, as we know, is animal skin. Basically, since it is skin, it needs oil to keep it supple, flexible and soft to prevent it from cracking or chaffing. It differs with live skin in the sense that leather is not renewed from within and does not produce its oils to take care of itself. Nonetheless, leathers are treated with similar processes for skin like cleaning using soaps, conditioning and drying up.
There are a lot of materials in the market today like nylon, pleather, vinyl-based materials and mesh but they did not spoil my fascination for leather. Why?
First, because leather has a very high abrasion resistance compared to other materials. Every time I come off my bike and slide over a gravel-strewn stretch of asphalt, I know that I will need something that will abraid to shed speed without tearing.
Second, leather is pretty durable. The more you use it the more it gets better. In fact, it can last a lifetime. Compared to other materials, they can only last for 5 years – the most.
Third, it is not flammable unlike vinyl-based materials and pleather.
Fourth, other materials can lead to heat stroke. Unlike these materials, leather produces same rate of heat with the human skin, thus, it can less likely produce the same.
Actually, this is not the end of the list. There a lot more reasons to use leather but as for me these are the topmost reasons.
# posted by j0hn @ 1:36 PM 
