DESIGNING PRODUCT FOR CASUAL PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Hi guys,

I am currently doing a presentation for university where i have to design a product for a market of my choice. I am a motorbike nut, so I thought I would design a product for bikers.

The product I am thinking of doing is a line of Kevlar lined casual clothing. Namely, shirts, long sleeve tee's and jumpers. The products would be casual clothes lined with Kevlar and padding so that you can go out on your bike looking cool, while remaining protected.

I understand it would not be a substitute for a full set of leathers, however it would be a lighter alternative for the fashion conscious lot.

I know there are similar products, however not easily available for the UK market.

I have a few questions that I would like you to answer, if you can, to help with a survey i am doing:

1. Would you consider buying a padded Kevlar shirt for use on roads: YES / NO

(if not, why not)

2. If so, what protection would you prefer: Kevlar Lined / Soft padding and Kevlar / Hard armour and Kevlar

3. Would you like the shirt to be customisable (i.e patches, different prints, colours, names etc): YES / NO

4. How much would you be willing to pay for just a Kevlar lined shirt:

£20-40 / £41 - £60 / £61 - £80 / £81 - £100 / £101+

5. How much would you be willing to pay for a fully armoured and Kevlar lined shirt:

£20-40 / £41 - £60 / £61 - £80 / £81 - £100 / £101+

6. Sex: MALE / FEMALE / YES PLEASE

7. Type of bike ridden: Sports / Naked / Tourer / Cruiser / Commuter / Moped / Custom (cafe, brat, chopper, bobber, streetfighter etc.)

Cheers guys

Alright bud. It's not really my bag because I’m already unbelievably cool.

If I wasn't then I'd probably want to wear trendy looking clothes in the summer so my mates could see which would necessitate something light and airy so I could jump off the bike and loaf about some poncy café or other without sweating my nuts off.

Surely a single garment i.e. a long sleeved shirt or something would work best. The challenge would be getting a material thin enough so as not to overheat, yet have high enough abrasion resistance so the wearer wouldn’t get a dose of gravel rash if they binned it. Not sure how you'd incorporate a super thin and effective padding unless you went for something exotic/non-Newtonian.

What does it matter when it cools down? There’s no end of stylised jackets for the fashion conscious or stand-alone armour for people who don’t want to wear a “biker” jacket.

Just my thoughts...

I'm thinking, why are you just thinking of a shirt? Is it because no one that I know make's one? Any way I for one would not be interested in such a product. Top kit as I call it, is subject to the weather. The warmer it is the less you wear. But still have enough to make some kind of protection. I think the trick is layers. The more you have the better chance you have. On the other side, No matter what you have on, impact force will still cause you a lot of damage. So protection is more in the sliding force. That's where many layers come in handy. Long sleeve thermal vet with a fleece over the top, and some kind of textile jacket is a good start.

John933

Does it need to be an item of clothing?

Or could you do any product?

1. Would you consider buying a padded Kevlar shirt for use on roads: NO

(if not, why not)

Its not been tried and tested quite as much as leathers. I wouldn't feel as safe

2. If so, what protection would you prefer: Hard armour and Kevlar

3. Would you like the shirt to be customisable (i.e patches, different prints, colours, names etc): YES

4. How much would you be willing to pay for just a Kevlar lined shirt:

£20-40

5. How much would you be willing to pay for a fully armoured and Kevlar lined shirt:

£61 - £80 / £81 - £100

6. Sex: MALE

7. Type of bike ridden: Sports

It would be predominantly for summer use. I'm thinking a kevlar lining with a shirt stitched onto the top, with a heavy duty zip on the front and cuffs with fake buttons to give the appearance of a shirt, but making sure it won't fly open if you start eating gravel. I haven't quite worked out the ins and outs yet; but i was thinking a gel or thin soft shell padding for the lighter shirts, and harder, thicker armour for the heavier shirts.

It can be any product, but its the only semi-original idea I could think of.

1. Would you consider buying a padded Kevlar shirt for use on roads: NO

Crap idea. Have you seen Kevlar hoodies? They are too hot for the summer and not waterproof so shite in winter, on top of that they slide up in crashes so unless you have a cut or something on top they are pointless and if you have a leather cut on top they are pointless as you have leather on the body. Shirts and the like = fail for same reasons. I do wear Kevlar jeans and cargo's 99% of the time I ride but they don't suffer the same fails.

2. If so, what protection would you prefer: If I had too..... a decent layer of some kind of Aramid (Kevlar is a brand name) not pointlessly thick like draggin use though. Couple that with removable CE inserts

3. Would you like the shirt to be customisable (i.e patches, different prints, colours, names etc): NO

If you belong to somewhere that needs patches you don't need to buy em from the guy that sold you a shirt.

4. How much would you be willing to pay for just a Kevlar lined shirt:

B-all because I think it's a bad idea but if one was made as I described in question 2 and you put a rifle to my head and told me to buy if it was over £50 you can squeeze the trigger.

5. How much would you be willing to pay for a fully armoured and Kevlar lined shirt:

As above... foam armour does not equal more money.

6. Sex: MALE

7. Type of bike ridden: Anything with 2 wheels and an engine though currently a sport tourer.