WHEN I first saw this product on Kickstarter I was confused, after all, waterproof, roll-up, emergency trousers have been around for years haven’t they?
Well yeah, they have, but after further investigation, it turns out these are not your average waterproof trousers.
Inventor, Ben O’Brien, claims to have many friends who find the main problem with roll-up emergency trousers being that when sat astride a bike the seams around the groin area will stretch and allow water to force its way through to the inside of the garment. “I ride a motorcycle to work every day, along with a lot of my friends.” He said, “We were always lamenting how our waterproof over-trousers were prone to leaking at the crotch.
“There are some thicker pants, with multiple layers, that do stay waterproof but cannot be folded up small enough to carry all the time. I discovered the problem is twofold. Waterproof over-pants follow a traditional trouser design. They have seams that run front to back and up each inside leg, forming a junction right where water pools on a motorbike seat. When you throw your leg over a motorcycle and sit with knees spread apart, it puts a lot of pressure on these seams.”
To solve the problem and prevent soggy embarrassment, the seams now run around the top of each thigh, kind of like a nappy. And instead of being stitched together they are now ‘ultra-sonically’ bonded, meaning there’s no way they can be pulled apart. Okay, it may not make them the most attractive item when not on the bike but if they work as well as claimed, they should go down well with UK bikers.
Mr. O’Brien has a Patent Pending on his design and hopes to put them into production later this year, for delivery in early 2019.
We’re hoping to be able to try out a set of these over the winter so keep an eye on the site for a first impression and a full review.
For more information head to the website or click here to back the product on Kickstarter.
