[Big_Bird]

I have two sets of Bohn Armor net and medium for cooler weather. The net version is likely the coolest option and then you can wear whatever shirt or pants to adjust for the heat or cold. Also it reduces the bulk of the armored heavy jackets you might have otherwise worn. If a glutton for punishment you can wear both the Bohn and the your armored jacket, and add a second layer of crash protection. Add an inflatable vest, and be triple protected. Just throwing spaghetti on the wall - what the hell.....LOL

Breeziest is not necessarily coolest. At temps above 92 it will quickly become hottest. The hot weather riding article cited early in this thread hits the thermodynamics. Science.

I had not heard of Bohn and just browsed for a few minutes. Saw the CE rating for impact but not for abrasion. Kudos to them in the FAQs for the shirts for spelling out there basically is none.

I do some riding in the humid mid-Atlantic, slower speeds, less than super long-distance, where mesh hits its relative performance peak. I've moved back to using a Klim Baja S4 jacket - pretty breezy, but still carries a AA rating. I wouldn't wear it on a run trying to keep up with @Glockjock . My Darien gets me through deserts much better.

 

[Jack2]

There are three primary objectives when selecting protective gear:
1. Comfort - if it’s not comfortable in the heat (the main topic of this forum thread) or the cold or the rain a person won’t be happy wearing it and will be tempted not to use it
2. Impact protection - most often in the form of padding or inflatable air cushions
3. Abrasion resistance - there are very few materials and riding gear products I’m aware of that have the strength not to tear, come apart, and/or melt onto skin as a tossed-off rider skids and bumps across pavement at highway speed.

Choose wisely. Good riding gear is expensive, just like a Goldwing.

 

[Big_Bird]

There are three primary objectives when selecting protective gear:
1. Comfort - if it’s not comfortable in the heat (the main topic of this forum thread) or the cold or the rain a person won’t be happy wearing it and will be tempted not to use it
....snip.

Mostly concur, but comfort is a tricky word. In high heat, mesh gear deceives with faux comfort through rapid dehydration.

I don't mean to preach to the choir and don't have a simple, clear, superior bumper sticker term for performance-comfort to inject here, but that is the key operative distinction that is lost on so many.

Worse, T shirt guy thinks he is giving up protection for comfort, but he is losing on all 3.

 

[Sojournr]

Worse, T shirt guy thinks he is giving up protection for comfort, but he is losing on all 3.

THIS!! There is a guy that lives a few houses down from me who has an orange Gnarley Davidson. He always rides with shorts, flip-flops, and a tank top. The roads here in NE Tennessee are known for having NO SHOULDER, so there is no slop factor before you fly over a ledge or end up in a deep ditch or ravine. He has no place to avoid a hazard, and no gear to protect him when he finds himself off the road or sliding down the road on bare skin.

I may have mentioned that my DIL is the head trauma nurse at a hospital and she has told me in vivid detail what happens to skin and heads from motorcycle accidents where riders had the wrong gear or no gear, and no full-face helmet. I don't want to end up looking like an Orc from Lord of the Rings, so I'll stick to my full helmet and armored riding gear.

 

[Adfalenski]

My thoughts exactly. It seems backwards to cover up with full textile gear over 93 degrees but the science behind it is solid and so is my experience. The under mirror wings on my GW funnel air right up the sleeves of my 1 pc Aerostich and out the center back vent. The rub is that if I’m bumbling along and in stop and go conditions there is not enough cooling air so sometimes I still pick out and wear a mesh 2 pc outfit for riding that day. On my fully faired bikes there isn't much air flow and almost no direct air flow to continously support the hyper dehydrating evaporative cooling of direct air flow across bare skin.The mesh material provides a shade of sorts and keeps direct sun and wind off. I still wear long sleeve wicking shirt and pants and underwear. It works for me.

One of the motorcycle magazines tried something about 40 years ago. The wore snowmobile suits in the desert in the summer but had the inside soaked with water. They opened sleeves and vents to control evaporation. They rode from LA to Vegas and remained cool and comfortable the whole way. The point being made is that evaporative cooling works best if you can control the rate of cooling.

 

[rbrauner]

Breeziest is not necessarily coolest. At temps above 92 it will quickly become hottest. The hot weather riding article cited early in this thread hits the thermodynamics. Science.

I had not heard of Bohn and just browsed for a few minutes. Saw the CE rating for impact but not for abrasion. Kudos to them in the FAQs for the shirts for spelling out there basically is none.

I do some riding in the humid mid-Atlantic, slower speeds, less than super long-distance, where mesh hits its relative performance peak. I've moved back to using a Klim Baja S4 jacket - pretty breezy, but still carries a AA rating. I wouldn't wear it on a run trying to keep up with @Glockjock . My Darien gets me through deserts much better.

A person can get hypothermia in the desert rain because water robs body heat far faster than air—and the desert can get surprisingly cold, especially when wet and windy.



Here’s the breakdown:

1. Rapid heat loss from wet clothing and skin
   • Water conducts heat away from the body about 25 times faster than air of the same temperature.
   • Rain soaks your clothes, removing the insulating air pockets and letting body heat escape quickly.
2. 
   
3. Desert temperature swings
   • Deserts aren’t always hot—temperatures can drop sharply after sunset or during storms, often into the 40s °F (4–9 °C) or lower.
   • A thunderstorm in a desert can bring sudden chilly winds and rain, dropping the effective temperature fast.
4. 
   
5. Wind chill effect
   • Storm winds strip away the thin layer of warm air around your skin.
   • If you’re wet, this process accelerates, making you feel much colder than the thermometer reading.
6. 
   
7. Body energy reserves
   • If you’re tired, hungry, or dehydrated—common in desert travel—your body has less fuel to generate heat, making hypothermia set in faster.

So even in a place famous for extreme heat, the combination of wetness + wind + falling temperatures can push your core body temperature into the hypothermia range surprisingly quickly.


Yes — low humidity can speed up the onset of hypothermia, though it’s not the main driver in most cases.

Here’s why:

1. Evaporative cooling is stronger
   • In low humidity, sweat and rainwater on your skin (or soaked clothing) evaporate faster.
   • Evaporation requires heat, and that heat comes directly from your skin, lowering body temperature.
2. 
   
3. Dry air pulls moisture — and heat — from you
   • Even without visible sweat, water is constantly evaporating from your skin and breath (“insensible water loss”).
   • Dry air increases this effect, so you lose both water and heat more quickly.
4. 
   
5. Amplified by wind and wetness
   • If you’re wet and it’s windy in a low-humidity environment, evaporation becomes even more aggressive, causing rapid cooling — the same principle behind “wind chill” but combined with desert dryness.

Bottom line:

Low humidity on its own won’t cause hypothermia quickly in warm conditions, but in cooler weather (or when you’re wet), it can accelerate heat loss significantly. That’s one reason why desert rainstorms, despite happening in arid regions, can lead to hypothermia shockingly fast.

 

[Big_Bird]

^^ @rbrauner , OK. Cold & dry, cold & wet, yes, it's cold. While I don't totally co-sign your emphasis on low-humidity in colder temps, your post there is science and in play. Some of the coldest I've ever been is in the high desert. I feel you have preached tangentially to the choir. Am I missing a "so what?"?

This thread is on hot weather riding. Bohn, the manufacturer you put forward with all their meshiness, doesn't seem to play prominently in the cold and wet (be it an arid or humid wet). For many of the reasons you point out for the cold, as well as the ones previously mentioned for higher temps, the easy breazy beautiful Cover Girl mesh thing is extremely limited. But pleasant in its sweet spot.

 

[MN Mike]

55 or 60 yrs ago I would watch our farming neighbors out in the field covered head to toe during the summer. I Thought they didn't know what they were doing. As I would be on the tractor with my shirt unbuttoned and no hat. Like many things in my life, they were a lot smarter than me.

 

[Adfalenski]

One important fact about protective gear is MANAGING the benefits. If a rain shower or a cold spell comes along, put on a rainsuit. The rainsuit will help manage hypothermia generated from the evaporation. It is more important to manage body temperature than if you are wet or dry.

 

[Mayor Hal]

Agreed
22 and snowing just south of Filmore, UT on I-15 April 18th headed to St. George, UT. Ground was warm, so no ice, but damn cold. 100+ a couple days later in the Heart of Texas rally. My Aerostich Transit 3 suit and Warm-N-Safe heated jacket liner kept me warm (and cool)

Hey Glen, maybe you and I could switch places. I'll ride in the 30° weather for you! 😊