14 DAY TRIAL // The European Space Agency (ESA) recently authorized a new technology transfer to the industrial and commercial sectors, when it gave a French company the recipe to creating high-tech fibers, generally used in space missions. This could enable the creation of new protective gear.
The fibers are so resilient that, even when blended with denim, they are capable of supporting the weight of a Hummer truck dangling from a crane. The jeans obtained with these fibers are also comfortable and very stylish.
Those who wear jeans regularly say that the material appeals to them because it is very comfortable, while at the same time allowing the legs to breathe. Until now, this also meant little protection.
The material is not strong enough to resist abrasion, in the same way that leather used in motorcycle protective gear does. Under these circumstances, the ESA fibers make for the perfect ingredient to add to denim.
Pierre-Henry Servajean, a motorcycle enthusiast who felt on his own skin what it means to fall off a bike wearing jeans, founded the company ESquad in a bid to develop ultra-durable, denim-based motorcycle equipment.
At first, he thought about using Kevlar, the strongest material in the world that can be produced at a large scale. But it disintegrates in the presence of ultraviolet radiation in sunlight.
Additionally, the material is uncomfortable to wear in its woven form, and does not allow the legs to breathe. Therefore, Servajean began looking for a replacement, and found it in the form of a common plastic.
The fiber is called ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), and is derived from the most regular plastic in the world, called polyethylene. Fibers made from this material are two times stronger than Kevlar, and 10 to 100 times more resistant than steel.
A half-millimeter thick, 30-kilometer-long line of UHMWPE was used by ESA in 2007 to demonstrate that “space mail” is possible, as the YES2 tether experiment piggybacked on the agency's Foton-M3 microgravity mission.
What Servajean did was take these fibers and wrap them in cotton, and then mix them with denim to develop stylish jeans that are incredibly durable and tear-resistant. “In the core of the yarn, instead of cotton you have high-performance fiber,” he explains.
The company got the fibers through Nodal, which is the ESA technology transfer broker for France.
“The fabric is a perfect combination of abrasion resistance, strength and comfort. Tested to European standards, it measures up to motorcycle leather in terms of crash protection,” ESA says in a press release.
“The motorcycle community has gotten the message already: ESquad jeans are sold in motorcycle shops all over Europe, and have earned rave reviews from motorcycle magazines in France and Germany,” the statement adds.