IB article on how mesh gear may not be good for heat control

[atadaskew]

http://www.ironbutt.com/ibmagazine/IronButt_1002_62-66_Hot.pdf

[bomber]

makes sense, and matches my entirely non-scientific experiments . . . .

[sammyseaman]

I've read how it's good on hot days and how it's bad. All I know is when I wet down my shirt and wear my mesh jacket it's feckin' awesome  

[Strog]

We had a bunch of over 105 degree days last summer. My Motoport Air Mesh Jacket just let too much air through. It was like riding with a blast furnace right in front of me.

I switched to my perf leather jacket and it was pretty warm getting over to the access road to get on the highway heading for home but it felt soooo much better once up to speed. Let just enough air through to cool the sweat but not so much as to dry you out like a piece of jerky.  

[atadaskew]

I've ridden in full, unvented leathers in 106 heat (Paso Robles in the summer) and was fine.  Hot but fine.
As long as I was moving.

It did feel quite a bit better when I hit the marine layer and 65 heat down the fwy in San Luis Obispo though...  40 degree swing in 20 miles!

[Andrew]

Mesh gear in 100+ is sort of like experiencing convection cooking first hand.

Better bring lots of water

[jesse v]

THanks for this link.    Very informative read.  I never would have thought wind could make my body temp rise.

[veefer800canuck]

I was riding in California in over 100 degree heat in full, non-perforated BLACK leathers. The most effective thing I found to do was soak my T-shirt in WARM water (so it wasn't shocking to put it on) then don my leather jacket and button everything RIGHT CLOSED, including the small zippered vents on the front and rear.

In about 3 hours, the shirt was totally dry, and I felt great!

[M.Brane]

 Full silk undies under perfed leathers with frequent stops for water/shade, and I'm good into the low triple digits. Anything above 105° is just too damn hot to be on a bike for an extended period of time IMHO.

 There's a good reason the Arabs wear all those clothes, and are still walking around the desert.

[UFO]

Mesh gear promotes extra evaporative cooling (the extra convection from hot air will just suck the moisture out of you)...so drink your ass off even more than normal when it's hot.

[tomek]

  That article  does not take humidity into account , it makes a huge difference .

 100 F degree and more of dry heat , a.k.a low humidity , you can wear a fricking black leathers , perforated leather , winter sheep coat , etc , does not matter , you`ll be fine . Just make sure to drink enough water ( I personally use 2qt bladder in the tank bag ) and don`t leave any part of your body exposed directly to the sun .

High humidity and 90 degrees or higher - you are gonna fucking die without mash gear . You are gonna die in black leather .
I`ve seen people pass out during trackdays when the temps were in low 90`s and humidity was high .

[Squareman357]

Cool.  I saved that PDF.  Looks like I've been doing things mostly right.  

[wibornz]

Hum riding across Death Vally in the middle of July,  Mesh? or regular riding Jacket?  

I think I will be hot either way.  I plan on having my 2 quart water blatter in the tank bag and up to three gallons of water on the back of the bike.

Should be ok.

[chilipeppernorm]

Go to Cabela's website and look up commercial food dehydrators and the principle on how they work. That's us exactly in a non humid hot weather day riding around in mesh. You get dehydrated very quickly. I pour a liter of ice cold water on my tee shirt and unzip the arm, chest and back vents on my TourMaster jacket and that keeps me surprisingly cool for at least 100 miles, then stop and repeat.

[ConPilot1]

From personal experience, air mesh is the bomb in hot weather. You can dehydrate though if you don't drink, and I don't mean stopping for a drink now and then. MUST HAVE CAMELBAK OR SOMETHING SIMILAR. I sip that thing all day long, as long as it takes to get where I'm going.

It's all about keeping yourself hydrated and by that I mean steady sipping on an ice-water Camelbak through the day. I didn't read the link article but all I know is it was hot as all balls the other day on the way to WVA and my 'Bak kept me cool and comfortable and feeling all kinds of good.

If there's one single piece of gear I'd recommend to anybody trying a day-long run in the summer it would be a Camelbak or other water source.

BTW the new style CBK;s are the shit. They have incorporated some neat little features that shows somebody there in the R+D department are thinking. I love my new one that I bought for the R6 Boyer meet trip.

Water is life. Our bodies are 70% water, you will turn into jerky if you don't keep that going.

On the way down to WVA, I would have been in serious trouble if I didn't have a 'bak.
And on the way home as well.

That said, my MP AMK suit is a lifesaver in the heat if you ask me. I don't do well in the heat, and the "I was fine, but hot" argument about full leathers doesn't fly with me. If I'm hot, it's uncomfortable. Just IMHO.

Irregardless or either way, dehydration is nothing to f*ck with.

[Hambonee]

I had a choice between the mesh and flex kevlar setup for my suit. I actually went with the flex as, in the log run, it feels cooler to me.

Several people have said it all ready but to me, the mesh just flows TOO much hot air. I can open up the arm and back vent if I need more air flow plus I have a mesh piece I can zip in to vent along the chest if needed. I just make sure to drink a lot of water and all is good.

That being said, like ConPilot..man..I can't handle leathers in the heat...and I have a decent perf leather jacket. Thankfully textiles have come a long way and are getting better!

[MidLifeMike]

 

 There's a good reason the Arabs wear all those clothes, and are still walking around the desert.

I wondered when someone would catch on to that.

[ConPilot1]

Best thing about my Motorport suit is when I start getting the schweddy balls, I just spread my legs and the Baker Air Wings on my C10 direct airflow directly
into my crotch. Sounds gross, but it's instant relief    and keeps the moisture out of my pants.

[johnnyquest]

I'll chime in. I've ridden in temps as high as 110 F in the desert southwest. The difference is whether you're commuting or riding the open road. I have an Olympia mesh jacket (with a rain/wind liner and cold weather liner) that is awesome when I'm commuting because it keeps me from swimming in sweat at every stop-light. I drink enough water in the summer that I won't run the risk of dehydration on a 30-40 minute ride. On long trips in the summer, I use my old BMW 3/4 length touring jacket (I can't recall the model). It is textile (non-goretex) with zippered vents in front and behind the shoulder/armpit area and it has full-length zippers on the inside of the arms running from the wrist up. Under that I wear a cooling vest I bought years ago...the kind you soak in the sink for 5-10 minutes and put on wet. It retains water longer than a wet t-shirt, and the vents on the jacket let in just enough air to keep my core cool. (I realize this won't be effective in hot and humid climates). I also close up the collar around my neck to keep the hot air off. Lastly, I have a water bladder (like the ones inside a camelbak) with a 90 degree bite valve that will fit under my helmet. Every time I stop for fuel, I fill it up with ice and water and drink small amounts almost constantly while riding.

JQ

[2DFlyer]

Timely.   I'm contemplating gear right now for an Aug trip from NC across the mid west and found myself at the LD Comfort website today.   I was there primarily for ways to combat monkey butt, but came away realizing I need to pay more attention to cooling in general, which they have an interesting take on.  They're not saying anything different, just in a different way.

https://ldcomfort.com/store/help.php?section=FAQ#LSTopUse

The evaporation rates in the IB article were a real attention getter.  Guess I need to scrap the 0.5L water bottle hydration plan and start thinking about a bladder of some sort.