Avalibility of "mesh" fabric

[machinest]

Dose anyone know a source for mesh fabric as I would like to make my own riding jacket .

[bwringer]

Not a clue.

I just buy 'em on clearance at http://NewEnough.com . A little while back, they had some smaller sizes of mesh jackets on clearance so cheap that people were buying them just to get the armor pieces.

In case you were looking for inspiration, these guys make riding gear from Kevlar mesh, which is supposed to be more durable and less prone to melting:

http://www.motoport.com/

[predator]

I was looking for the stuff myself and online would be the only place. I sure couldn't find anything local. Figure the material, backing for the pads, all the padding, the zipper its not worth it. I bought one in the Bargin Basement at NewEnough.com for next to nothing. I was able to make my own electric vest at a lot less than anywhere I could buy one so I opted for that project.

[machinest]

Not so much interested in the "cheap" aspect as in having something unique when I was done may well end up costing more and certainly taking longer.

[bwringer]

I wonder if the Kevlar mesh is similar to the stuff used in making composites?

Also, there are many different articles of clothing made with Kevlar fabric these days (e.g. http://dragginjeans.com/category.aspx?categoryID=39 ), so the cloth version should be readily available.

If you're a smaller person, perhaps you could get plenty of raw material from an XXXXXXXXXXXXL jacket.