Cowhide vs Kangaroo leathers for durability

Cowhide vs kangaroo which leathers is the strongest? Ive always been under the impression that a thick cowhide suit gives more abrasion protection vs a roo suit. Which is why all the years ive only owned "trackday" suits. The thick heavy cowhide!

So whats the skinny on roo suits, I never owned one, only roo gloves. The leather on the gloves only last 1-2 seasons, how is it with kangaroo suits do they shred like the gloves after a year or two?

 

Forget roo, not great.

 

You should pick a suit on fit/comfort...then durability.
Personally Im a fan of RS Taichi.
Kangaroo is definitely lighter weight.

 

Rotella

 

Kangaroo if you want to replace every year. It doesn't last long if wearing many times a year, the leather breaks down way quicker than cowhide. You can wash them about as regualr as clothes if you want them to last longer. It's also hard to tell when they arent good any more. Cowhide for longevity.

 

I am on my second year of the RST air bag roo suit may have fallen in it twice.
The roo is a lot lighter i have been conditioning mine regularly and it is holding up quite well and i ride a lot (Probably around 25-30 days a year)
Had a couple minor repairs done by sportbike leather service but so far so good and the bag is amazing when you fall.

 

The reason I ask was because on my last crash it was violent, my back hump ripped and 1/4 of my back was exposed. Im thinking if kangaroo is stronger maybe that would have prevented the suit from tearing so badly.

 

What brand/model suit? I’ve had cow hide suits from a few different brands and they are definitely not created equal, both in material and craftsmanship.

 

not necessarily... if the suit tore it might be because it wasn't cared for. Body sweat could have compromised the threads.
It should always be stored/dried on a hanger.
Do you wear a seperate back protector?

 

Spidi supersport, its a trackday suit! I think its 1.3mm thick cowhide

 

Suit is well cared, I do sweat a lot because of the humidity. I wear a dainese back protector.

It was just a weird wreck, I was having suspension issues and front tire tucked on me and the bike may have landed on top of me, I got knocked out for few hours. The way the suit ripped from my back was crazy, the seems did not pop open it was the actual leather tore. I figured if kangaroo was stronger it may have prevented the tearing. This suit did have a few falls on it but none on the back

 

Roo is lighter not stronger, unless you want to spend a lot of money.

 

Want a suit that’ll hold up for multiple crashes and outlive you? Vanson.

also heavy as heck but if you can destroy a set you’ve accomplished something.

 

Bison has a write up comparing the different materials.

 

Is it a lot lighter though? I bought an RST roo suit and a regular suit and barely could tell the difference. Ended up returning both because I'm too short and fat.

 

At the point in my life where I won't want to buy anything but kangaroo. My old Dainese roo suit is 8 years old, probably has 4-5 crashes on it, and still ticking. The zippers need some love every now and then from the seasons of sweat. My HNB suit is kangaroo, and my new Dainese Mugello is as well.

Suit build quality, stitching in particular, in my mind matters more than the material itself.

 

Can you explain how washing the suit makes them last longer? Honest question.

 

Dainese Trickster Evo? Amazing suit, still one of my all-time favorites.

 

It gets the salt and other minerals out. Those minerals being in the fibers cut the fibers over time weakening the material.

 

Kangaroo leather is stronger and also lighter. A little bit like titanium where a thinner kangaroo leather is stronger than cow leather, but sometimes it's taken too far and made too thin and therefore isn't as strong but usually given the same requirements, it should be stronger as well. It's also more flexible and comfortable to wear. BUT it may not be the best for everyone, and obviously it's more expensive than cow leather.

As others have mentioned, I would take a better quality suit from a reputable manufacturer with the features I wanted (air bag, venting, armor, fit, etc).

Somewhere I use to have a graph or file that showed the tensile strength, abrasion resistance and other qualities of a few different leathers. Even within brands they have different levels of leather if they are good at their job. The leather used in a $800 suit isn't going to be the same as what is used on a $3k suit. Nor is the stitching, design, etc.

One thing I always appreciated was the lack of venting perforations near any stitching on Dainese suits. Perforating leather weakens it, so it makes sense to not perforate the whole section of leather if possible to maintain the greatest structural integrity. I'm more familiar with their suits, but their D-skin 2 leather is typically 1.1-1.3mm thick while their kangaroo leather is .9mm thick. The Laguna Seca is the base cow leather, Misano is the D-skin 2 (higher quality leather) and the Mugello is the roo.