What is a jacket's life span?

[1moreroad]

How long does a textile jacket last? Specifically does armor age to when it's no longer protective? 

I have a Roadcrafter that I bought used 10 years ago (by memory it might have been 5 years old when I bought it). I had it refreshed 4 years ago after a crash and now the liner seams are starting to fray again. The armor in it is original. Do I refresh again? Do I replace armor just in case?

I have 2 Teknic jackets, a mesh probably 16 years old and a multi-layer probably 13 years old. Both have some ground in dirt, but otherwise look and feel fine. Neither one has been crashed. Are they still safe?

Does armor compress or become brittle over time? I can't find any info about lifespan. CE armor is made out of many different materials so there probably isn't one standard.

I'm riding more so I'm willing to invest in good gear. But I don't want to spend money unnecessarily. What say y'all? 

[betoney]

I have never heard of the armor having a shelf life.  I would say to wear the jacket until it starts to fall apart or you get tired of it, save the money for tires.

[bugie]

I don't believe textile or leather jackets have a shelf life but manufacturers advise that textile jackets are changed after accidents as due to the way they are made there may be invisible damage to the woven threads that weaken the jackets strength. This is not the case with leather

[BBB]

All compressible polymers lose their elasticity with time. The rate this happens varies a lot, so it would be worth taking any armour out if possible and just giving it a bend and a squish to see if it is still flexible and returns to its original shape when deformed. If the armour is too rigid then it won’t do its job of absorbing impact forces and spreading the load away from the landing patch. 

A final point is that back armour technology for example, has moved on a lot in the last five years as new polymers have become available. There are now materials that have variable viscosity and stiffen on impact to spread loads more effectively so you may want to upgrade the armour anyway, even if it seems okay.

[1moreroad]

3 hours ago, bugie said:

I don't believe textile or leather jackets have a shelf life but manufacturers advise that textile jackets are changed after accidents as due to the way they are made there may be invisible damage to the woven threads that weaken the jackets strength. This is not the case with leather

Haven't crashed in either of these jackets. I left my leather out of this discussion since I understood the same thing. I have crashed in leather and continued to use it after checking it out. 

[norcal616]

Long time... Don't leave leathers hanging up in damp area for example...

[keithu]

The armor in my first Roadcrafter did start to deteriorate after about 15 years. The foam padding started to come apart. Fortunately the armor is easily replaceable. 

[1moreroad]

I emailed Bohn and Knox.

Bohn says good to go on its armored leggings unless you crash. They said their newer armor is thinner for the same protection if I wanted to upgrade.

Knox said 5 years. The Fort 9 YouTube channel said D30 is also good for 5 years. That will make it easy - replace armor when I replace a helmet.

I'm making some wardrobe changes (my Aerostich is for sale). Given what Knox said, I tossed my textile jacket and I'm replacing all the armor in my mesh jacket.

As @keithu said, armor replacement is cheap. Level 2 back pad and level 1 shoulder and elbow pads (only sizes that will fit in mesh jacket pockets) cost about $55 total on Revzilla.