Motorcyclist

Vanson Leathers Strip Motorcycle Jacket Evaluation

Mesh leather, Cordura, Vanson quality, and creative construction, and you get a heavy-breathing lightweight motorcycle jacket that cools and protects.

February 24, 2009

Summer is supposed to be motorcycling weather, but what about the heat? Wear your usual real leather jacket and you sweat like a politician at an ethics hearing, but if you switch to a light mesh jacket you kind of feel like a scab looking for a place to happen.

Consider then Vanson's Strip jacket, which lays strips of leather—either solid or perforated—over a short (waist-length) Cordura mesh jacket (which Vanson calls a shirt). Gaps between the strips allow air to flow almost as freely as with the lightweight mesh alone (we wore the plain mesh to compare), but the leather (the same heavyweight stuff used on other Vanson apparel because it is actually taken from the leftover pieces when Vanson cuts them) provides a much more substantial buffer if you happen to buff the pavement. It also breaks in more quickly than Vanson's solid-leather garments. The Strip comes in the two designs shown here plus solid black in men's sizes XS to XXXXL. Our Large fit our size 44 tester like it had been tailored to him and the combination of the vertical strips and the vertical checkered stripe made him look 20 pounds lighter.

Details include Vanson oval logos on the shoulders, an embroidered logo just below the neck on the back, two zipping pockets set into the lightweight nylon liner, foam pads in the elbows, medium-weight YKK zippers (with Vanson logos on the pulls) at the front and sleeves, and Vanson's enviable made-in-USA quality.

**Price: ** $299
**Verdict: ** Low in weight and cost; high in comfort, protection and quality—everything you could ask for except armor.

Vanson Leathers, Inc.
www.vansonleathers.com
(508)678-2000

This is the S1 design, with perforated leather strips.

We found that this design, the S2, has a slimming effect on the wearer. This example uses the solid leather strips, which still provide excellent venting, since the air flows between them, front and back.