Crashing Sucks Part 3: How Tobacco Motowear Protected Me
If you’ve read Part 1 of this series, you know that I put my body through a fair bit of trauma in a recent crash. You also know that almost all of it was sustained by my upper body. From the waist down however I was equipped with Tobacco Motowear’s Ironsides jeans and Maverick Boots. Here is what they went through and how I came out the other side.
Gearing Up
Back in late 2020 I sprung for what my experience and research had led me to believe was the best pair of riding jeans on the market in the Tobacco Ironsides jeans. I was looking for the ideal combination of protection and innocuous good looks. More so than most riders, I place a significant priority on safety. Having worked for the Shift Racing division of Fox Racing, I was there from the infancy of their (now defunct) street segment. Within a few years we had build up signficant experience and I had gained a fair bit of knowledge in protecting riders, some of whom we sponsored, such as a young AMA Daytona winner named Josh Herrin. Race gear is great and all, but few people want to be wearing a leather onesie all day, and I am among them. We also had our own line of Kevlar-lined riding jeans, the last of which I designed myself, so I knew exactly what I was looking for.
For me, abrasion resistance isn’t enough. If you go down without armor the best you can hope for is a pair of jeans neatly containing a bunch of broken body parts. I wanted armored jeans that didn’t look like motorcycle gear, just good looking jeans.
What Tobacco Brings to the Party
The Tobacco brand is known for making mostly low key protective apparel that allows riders to achieve an improved level of safety without sacrificing style. Some brands tend to focus on the flashy end of the spectrum, my former employer included. For the most part, Tobacco tends to focus on the quality of the materials and the fit and less on flash. This is not to say they don’t have some pieces that will get you noticed, but that’s not my thing. I subscribe to the low key theory.
Enter the Tobacco Ironsides.
Their combination of raw denim with a bit of stretch, Kevlar lining on the seat and knees, and cleverly designed armor pockets was just what I was looking for. No True-like crazy stitching or dad fit (yes, I’m a dad of teens) would do. Once you eliminate those from your choices there really isn’t much left. The Ironsides are not cheap, mind you. Coming in at nearly $400, these American made jeans are on the upper end of the market, but in my experience they’re worth all of it. Let’s work from the outside in.
The cut of the jeans is generally straight yet slightly slim. Unlike other offerings, the Ironsides waist sits at your hips, not up around your natural waist like you’re from the 1940s. They are long enough that no one should find them on the short side. If you’re in the 90th percentile you should still be just fine. I stand 5’8”and cuffed mine 3.5” so they’d sit at the perfect length. I figured one day I would get them hemmed, but I never did. They look just fine cuffed, plus you get that selvedge denim cred from the hipsters, right? Yep, they are a slightly heavy 12.25 oz raw selvedge denim woven with a bit of stretch. They’re on the stiff side the first few times you wear them, but they break in nicely without requiring a wash to do so. In fact I never got around to washing them myself. Tobacco offers multiple colors including black, but I went with indigo. I like the way the denim wears in naturally and creates a patina unique to the wearer. These jeans did just that. I could even see where my knee was rubbing on the right side of my Speed Twin’s head.
Tobacco Ironsides armored jeans
I appreciate the clever way the folks at Tobacco sewed their reinforcements in a way that doesn’t create any extra stitching on the outside that would otherwise give them away as protective apparel. Genuine DuPont Kevlar lines the seat of the Ironsides. It is sewn into the waist band, side seams, and inseams and is sufficiently long to cover your keister and then some. The bottom edge is surge sewn to prevent fraying. The most ingenious part of their construction is the way they managed to avoid any stitching across the front panels above the knees. This is where most jeans, including those designed by your author, fall flat. Tobacco chose to use a mesh panel at the crotch which anchors the top of the front Kevlar panels. Like the rear panels, those are also sewn at the inseam and outseams and left loose at the bottom.
D3O armor (sold separately) is the perfect complement to the Ironsides. Hip armor is held in place with mesh pockets sewn into the waist and tacked down at the outseams to keep them in place. With the opening placed at the top, it is fairly easy to remove them if you want a bit of extra comfort between rides. Another nice touch is the non-visible zippers on the lateral side of the knees. Tobacco have integrated them with the outseam so well you wouldn’t even notice them. The only clue is a discrete zipper pull and a gold bar tack stitch at either end. If they chose thread to match the body fabric, you’d never know they existed. What’s more, like the hips, you can remove the knee armor if you so choose without taking the pants completely off. A strip of Velcro loop runs the length of the knee armor pockets. This corresponds with the two pieces of Velcro hook on the armor, allowing you to vertically adjust their location to suit the length of your legs.
Sturdy Maverick Boots
You can read my full breakdown of the Tobacco Maverick boots in a previous article, but I will cover them briefly here. Built in the style of a sturdy work boot, the upper is made entirely of waxed genuine cowhide. It is stiff at first but breaks in nicely and the amber color develops an attractive patina over time. The Maverick’s heavily lugged Vibram soles are robust and provide plenty of traction, even on loose or slippery surfaces. I never once found myself sliding around as I came to a stop whether it be on gravelly parking lots or rain-soaked tarmac.
Broken in Mavericks Look the Part
Holding up Through the Crash
If you read Part 1 of this series, you are well familiar with the details. If not, let me summarize the wreck. For reasons I still don’t understand, I went straight off the road through a barbed wire fence and well into a field. In the process I suffered a nasty concussion that wiped my memory clean of the entire day and a broken finger that required multiple pins. As for my legs, a sore knee that comes and goes, a nasty bruise to my right ankle and a few minor scrapes and punctures to me left leg. That’s it.
Ironsides Performed
The EMS crew cut off my pants to check for any hidden injuries, but much to my liking, there weren’t any to speak of. Looking at my jeans I can see three punctures I assume were caused by the barbed wire. That they correspond with the punctures in my leg confirms as much. While there was no asphalt-to-denim abrasion, I’m certain there was some sliding involved, but there were no tears as a result of it.
I did sustain some damage to my left knee, but by the time I was ambulatory the pain had sufficiently subsided. While there is some damage to my knee, it wasn’t in great shape to begin with. I believe the jeans and their armor performed at least as well as can be expected, probably even better. Given my lack of recall I can’t say for certain, but the fact that I was walking a few days later is sufficient testimony for me.
Mavericks Come In Clutch
While the left side of my body did take a bit of a pummeling, my left foot and ankle have never concerned me. A gnarly bruise did form on the medial side of my right ankle, but it dissipated with time. I can be plenty thankful to have my toes as you’ll see in the pictures below.
As for the boots themselves, they are still in operable condition, though the once beautiful patina is on the more extreme end of the spectrum. The EMS crew removed them from my body intact. The substantial thickness of the genuine leather withstood a full assault from the barbed wire. Deep scratches across the toe box attest to their durability.
Would I Repurchase Them?
How well your gear protects you is largely theoretical. You need to put yourself in the hands of people you don’t know to keep you safe. You can do all the research and even gain years of experience in the field, but you only know for certain how well they will perform when you go down. It will be at least a couple of months before my hand heals sufficiently to ride, but when I do I will be in Ironsides and Mavericks.
