Dutch company Dyneema Denim is launching a single-layer denim that meets the toughest CE standards for protection without the need for a separate layer.
They say their new fabric will provide the same protection as leather (about 3.7 seconds of abrasion resistance), but will keep you cooler.
However, it will also be fairly expensive.
Australian company Saint has been working with the single-layer Dyneema Denim since 2014 and is now producing an “Unbreakable” line of pants costing $700, jackets at $600 and $170 gloves.
READ ALL ABOUT SAINT UNBREAKABLE DENIM
The fabric was developed by Berto EG Industrial Tessile over two years and they are now working on a stretch denim and a “nanospherical finish” to make it water-repellant.
They also expect that further development will increase the world’s strongest fibre by up to another 30%.
Saint cofounder Mike Lelliott sees a big future for the product.
Saint cofounder Mike Lelliott in Unbreakable DyneemaDenim“It would be fantastic to see someone out on the MotoGP in a denim race suit,” he says.
The fabric was developed on special spinning mills and they claim it is the only material that uses 62% Dyneema fibres.
Dyneema is 15 times stronger than steel and lighter than water and has long been used to moor oilrigs, sail ships, resist bullets and repair humans.
It is also becoming popular with high-performance sports from mountain climbing to motorcycling.
Dyneema is also soft, flexible and thermally conductive which means it keeps the skin feeling cool in hot conditions.
The other popular protective fabric in motorcycle clothing has been DuPont Kevlar, but it is fairly prickly in the heat and requires a mesh comfort layer.
Fellow Australian company Draggin Jeans has been using Kevlar knitted with Dyneema and adding a mesh layer, which makes the product very strong, but we’ve found in testing several of their products that it is fairly thick and warm.