Review: Richa Hammer jeans – £79.99
Competitively priced, good quality riding jeans with Kevlar fibre panels and knee armour
I'VE BEEN meaning to write about these Kevlar lined and armoured Richa Hammer jeans for a while, but have been using them so much that until now, I’ve been reluctant to stop using them off for closer inspection while I write about them.
That’s testament to how good they are, and how comfortable they are too. They’re made of denim that, to my fingertips, feels like it’s good quality. The quality of the finish is similarly impressive with neat, tidy stitching, a good quality YKK zip, plus a consistent rich dark blue colour that hasn’t faded in the wash.
Once on, they feel like a normal pair of jeans, although the cut feels a bit less tailored than what you'd get with from Levis or similar. Having said that, they're good to wear all day long without any problems and thanks to the absence of stitching across the knees that usually indicates armour, it’s not obvious these are designed for riding in.
You’ve got to turn them inside out to get a good look at what protection is on offer and where it is. There’s abrasive-resistant Kevlar fibre material across the arse area (I think that’s the medical term) and over the knees. It’s all soft and comfortable and compared to a regular set of jeans, the only difference in how these feel is that they’re a little thicker in places.
Additional protection at the knees comes courtesy of the removable, shaped knee armour, which comes supplied. Inserting is as easy as popping it round a few loops (four for each knee) and the soft pads sits comfortably in place while riding and walking about, without making it look like you’ve got gigantism of the knees.
Although the knee armour is appreciated, it’s can be irritating because the Cordura-type material that attaches it to the jeans doesn’t have a soft finish; it's scratchy and sometimes rubs against the skin. For this reason, I mostly wear these with the knee armour left at home, although I suppose I could stuff it down the crotch instead of those socks I always use.
There are pockets at the sides for hip armour, which doesn’t come supplied.
They easily fit over all my boots as well.
For all-day long comfort, more protection than standard denim, and a competitive price £79.99, I'm impressed.
Tested: Richa Hammer jeans
Price: £79.99
Colours: Dark blue, light blue and black
Contact: Nevis
