Sept 88 "Cycle" magazine article "Abrasion Testing: Torn in the USA".
Drag Test
"For the Drag Test, samples were stitched to a bag that held a 75-pound
sandbag inside a milk crate, then dragged behind a pickup truck..."
New, 100% Cotton Denim Jeans: 3' 10"
Senior Balistic Nylon: 3' 10"
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz/sq. ft. 4' 3"
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz/sq ft. 4' 4"
Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 4' 5"
Cordura Nylon Type 440 18' 3"
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 22' 1"
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz//sq. ft. 86' 0"
"For the Taber Test, the specimen was mounted on a rotating platform and
scuffed by two rubber-emery grinding wheels." The numbers represent the
number of revolutions until the fabric totally fails. A vacuum clears
debris.
Two-year-old 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 168
New 100% Cotton Denim Jeans 225
Kevlar 29 Aramid Fiber, Style 713 506
Cordura Nylon, Type 440 559
Leather, Lightweight, Nude Finish, 2.25 oz./sq. ft. 564
Leather, Fashion Weight, 1.75 oz./sq. ft. 750
Senior Ballistic Nylon 817
Leather, Competition Weight, 3 oz./sq. ft. 2600
"Finally, protection from road abrasion cannot be guaranteed by a
materials abrasion resistance alone. A jacket may have panels of
highly abrasion-resistant materials, yet if low-quality stitching joins
those panels and the seams come apart upon impact or during a slide, then
the abrasion resistance of the panels could count for nothing.
Furthermore, an ill-fitting garment may ride up in a slide, contorting
the body and exposing the skin. And the best jacket in the world, left
unzipped and/or unsnapped, won't give riders the protection they pay
for. When it comes to safety, the issues are more complex than just the
abrasion resistance of materials."