hemp + cordura denim...

[barniebro]

12oz hemp/cordura twill denim

this ain't for the purists, but i have found a supplier in china (where most of the world's textile hemp is from) who can make this for me.

im doing this mainly because i need something with a higher tensile strength than cotton denim. i ride bikes a lot in jeans, the arse wears out quickly, the knees rip when i fall off.

what do you guys think?

[tweeds]

interesting--but who's going to be making the jeans for you?

that's something i've wondered for awhile about sugar cane: apart from the texture of the denim being spun, does the use of sugarcane fibres add anything to the tensile strength of the denim?

[barniebro]

im not too sure about where im gonna get them made yet. one of the patterns will be designed to resist riding abuse though.

as far as tensile strength goes, i was trying to get the stuff ringspun into denim but no one in china really seems interested in doing that. not commercially viable. hemp is stronger than cotton though, i imagine sugarcane is too. not to mention a shitload better for the old environment.

[tweeds]

arguable...any process taken to industrial levels usually diminishes the "betterment" it generates for the environment, no?

[Cali]

Btw you know Self Edge is coming out with special cycling jeans right?

[axtsang]

They're already out.

[LaiShin]

u sure?

even SExIMP isn't even for sale yet...unless u're referring to that as the cyclist jeans. 'cos I thought SExSC was the cyclist jeans:confused:

[viv1984viv]

barnie - you should really approach howies, they are a bike clothing company and have worked with hemp in the past, often use interesting fabrics, and their jeans are very good ( they sometimes do japanese selvedge thats very nice ).

They print custom tees so they may ( its a long shot though ) , may want to help you.

[ringring]

This is very interesting Barnie.

Will the hemp be the indigo carrying warp yarn and the cordura the weft? Or will the cordura be the core with e hemp wrapped around it? Would you add some lycra/spandex for comfort?

Hemp jeans, of course, although rarer, have been on the market for years. It's a great fibre and they work well. Bamboo is another interesting fibre that's also been exploited for denim - with far less commercial success.

The search for tough jeans for bikers (particularly motorcyclists) has been a long one. I've been told that kaihara's 21oz denim was developed with this in mind. Cotton, for all it's qualities, is terrible protection from a sliding fall. And, as a sidenote, terrible heat retention once wet.

There are companies like Australia's Draggin - who have made kelvar lined jeans as a solution. And I notice that there appears to be trousers by BMW made from cordura & denim.

And of course, Kohzo, who make kevlar jeans amongst their exotic collection of hemp, bamboo, paper and silk jeans.

[Guest]

ringring, i'm always impressed at your knowledge far and wide of all things denim. I have a pair of draggin jeans and I've seen their tests as well. They dragged a dude down a runway on his ass with no tearing / holes.

[ringring]

I hope you pulled them up about faking their whiskers

[Skeese]

Wouldn't denim with gore windstopper or gore-tex do the trick?

[theetruscan]

u sure?

even SExIMP isn't even for sale yet...unless u're referring to that as the cyclist jeans. 'cos I thought SExSC was the cyclist jeans:confused:

No.

Cyclist Jean is SExIH03. It's out October 30th, One other is out November. The SExSC or SExI, can't remember. Either way, the cyclist jean is from Iron Heart and is 21 oz denim.

[theetruscan]

The search for tough jeans for bikers (particularly motorcyclists) has been a long one. I've been told that kaihara's 21oz denim was developed with this in mind. Cotton, for all it's qualities, is terrible protection from a sliding fall. And, as a sidenote, terrible heat retention once wet.

And of course, Kohzo, who make kevlar jeans amongst their exotic collection of hemp, bamboo, paper and silk jeans.

Are Iron Hearts made from Kaihara's 21oz denim?

[Raijin-Fujin]

Are Iron Hearts made from Kaihara's 21oz denim?

I'm pretty sure they are Kuroki and not Kaihara, I'd not heard of a Kaihara 21oz. (I could be mistaken Ringring usually knows his stuff) Iron Hearts denim isn't even their denim really, they took it from another jeans maker, Yoroi jeans (done through Toyoshima). I know the guy that developed the first 21oz pair for production (In fact I even own a pair of the original 21 oz Yoroi jeans). When they shut the project down they basically let Iron Hearts continue with their fabric.

[barniebro]

hey cheers for your comments on this guys, real helpful, and i need all the help i can get with this at the moment.

i'm aware of most of the other 'heavy-duty' denim on the market at the moment, including all the kevlar stuff. i originally wanted to use kevlar for this project, but decided not to because of the cost, and im pretty sure that draggin has some kind of patent on its use in denim. and yeah, check out that dragstrip test video - fckn amazing.

i ride bmx, mountainbike and commute on a bike too, so i want to create something for bicyclists, not motorcyclists. i didnt know about the new ironhearts and i havent worn 21oz denim before, but what is that like to wear pedalling a bike to work? hefty and sweaty?

ringring - cheers for sharing your wealth of knowledge. the denim is going to be blended from yarn, as you described. and yeah i think it will need a bit of lycra too.

viv - howies rules ay?! ive been a fan of them for years, also loving fenchurch's stuff. unfortunately im from new zealand, where anything coming from the uk ends up being retardedly overpriced. our kiwi peso is worth about 40pence or something. however, if i can get enough cash together to produce these jeans, they could be pretty affordable for you poms...

[dim376]

I Would like to know a source for 21oz denim - if somebody knows about the same.

[Raijin-Fujin]

I Would like to know a source for 21oz denim - if somebody knows about the same.

I'm sure you could get from a Japanese denim mill if you asked about, providing you buy a full run of production, around 1,000 meters....