Gear on Nanikore

Draggin' Jeans

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:48:10 +0000

Currently, when I’m out on the motorbike, I have two options for leg wear - either my 5.11 Tacticals with the Alpine Stars solid knee protectors, or my Dainese leathers. I’ve always felt a bit vulnerable in the former, but the truth is, for quick runs and errands (statistically when you’re more likely to have an accident) and especially in the hot weather, the leathers can be a bit cumbersome to get on, sit in traffic with and walk around the shopping centre in. With that in mind, I went looking for some biker oriented jeans or similar, which either had pads, or under which I could use my solid knee pads.I looked at a few places like Aerostich, but after trawling forums, found that Draggin’ Jeans always seemed to get decent reviews. They do a fair sized selection, but in the end, I went for their basic [Classic](http://www.dragginjeans.net/product/classic for men) jean - nothing fancy, a thick weave denim with their standard Kevlar weave at key points inside.

Obviously ordering online is always a bit worrying for clothing, but for better or worse it seems that Draggin’ has some limits which may help - as far as I can tell, they only sell 34" inseam trousers for men. This is a bit longer than my usual 30" but I thought I could get them altered with minimum fuss, and bike jeans do need to be a little longer than usual.

So how are they? They’re really good. Lets cover fit first: the waist is pretty much exactly what I was expecting in terms of size, and similar to jeans I’ve bought in the UK - but not in Japan. The leg didn’t actually seem that long, and of course sat on the bike, with boots on, you want it to cover your ankles, and they did, and despite obviously being a bit long, they didn’t drag, and a simple measurement showed the seam at 33.5" so it is pretty much what it says.

They’re very well made - thick denim material with quality stitching. The yellow kevlar weave inside is particularly striking, but it doesn’t feel rough when you’re riding, and does seem to feel like it’s going to help if you end up sliding on some asphalt in the future. They have the usual jean pockets, but I found them a little difficult to get into, which may be a problem for some, but I tend not to put anything in my trousers on the bike anyway.

On the road with the bike, they’re really comfortable, and blocked a surprising amount of wind, though I haven’t tested them in any rain, but I would expect they’d react like all denim - might become cold and wet quickly, with a long dry time. That said, they’re definitely worth the money and a huge improvement on normal jeans and even the 5.11s. I also received some of the basic Knox kneepads, which seem pretty good - 3D molded solid core with a foam outer; interestingly the way to affix them to the jean is to glue a strip of ‘military grade’ velcro (supplied) to the knee area of kevlar weave, and then affix the pad to the corresponding strip of velcro on the pad. I haven’t done this yet, but these are Draggin’s own guidelines, so I see no reason they shouldn’t.

My only point of note on these is that if you had the velcro in, but for some reason didn’t wear the pad, you’re probably going to get a decent red mark on each knee from the velcro. They’re not cheap though - 249AUD (they’re an Australian company), which is about 175USD or about 20,500yen plus shipping. Are they worth it? Yes, I would say they are - a vast improvement over even tough jeans, and whilst not leathers, they do feel safe, warm and comfortable.

Original Comments

Comments from the original WordPress blog post.

theDude — 2011-01-29

Neat to run into this….

I’ve found that wearing armor that affixes to your leg works well with Draggin, eg MX style armor or the Forcefield ones. I use both. MX style strapped to the calf seems the better of the two.

In either case I wear some kind of wicking under layer which prevents any of this rubbing annoyingly.

brightblack — 2011-01-30

Thanks for the tip Dude. My Alpine Stars velcro on shin/knee seemed OK. The ones which shipped with the Draggin’s also seemed OK, but I’m not sure I’d want them on the expressway.

All Meshed Up

Sun, 24 May 2009 13:22:56 +0000

After an impressive two years of not getting round to it, I finally bought myself a mesh riding jacket for being out on the motorbike - all meshed up.

I’ve been happy to run around in my plain leather jacket for quite a few years, but Japan to be fair, does get a bit hot in the summer down on the plains and even on the coast, regularly hitting 35-40 degrees C plus pretty nasty humidity on most days. I’ve gotten back from rides just plain hot, sweaty, and I dare say, a fair bit dehydrated.

Therefore it makes sense to get a mesh jacket to make the rides - or more specifically the stops - just that little bit cooler. I went looking around for one which was not only a good fit, but had some decent hard padding or armour which many Summer jackets don’t. After trawling the web for information, I finally decided to hit the local NAPS shop, which is deliciously close to the new house.

In the end, after trying on quite a few jackets, I went for the RS Taichi Exceed mesh which not only fitted well and had good hard protection, it also has the same system for the front chest protector, which I already have from my Honda leather, meaning I can continue using that.

Snow is here

Tue, 09 Dec 2003 02:59:51 +0000

Just days before my first snow board trip next Monday, and it finally looks like the winter is here. The snow has been later than normal, but finally a lot of the areas can open. A good place for info is Snow Japan (formerly known as Ski Japan Guide). I suppose this saves me abandoning hope and resorting to Shinto chanting. If anyone knows which is the correct god, let me know!

On the subject of snowboards, I got the last of the things I need for the season - some new goggles , as my ‘old faithful’ ones I bought at a roadside stop three years ago have finally been retired as the foam over the cheek had disintegrated, meaning it would cut into my face if it got knocked (like in one of my famous high speed wipeouts!). I went to a great shop in Jimbocho called ‘Himaraya’ which has a small front onto the main street, but a much bigger shop behind the main one. On the fourth floor they have a pretty good selection of goggles - maybe over a hundred different types, and after trying on pretty much all of them, I settled on the Dragon DX pair - a bit more expensive than I wanted to spend, but like most snowboard stuff, it’s a case of finding something that fits well. I must have a wide head (smirk) because some of goggles seemed to limit my horizontal and peripheral view, especially the Oakley ones. I quite like the Axe range, but the Dragon pair seemed to give a better field of vision - always useful on a high speed run!