Let me throw in my 2 cents although it seems like everyone else has it covered.
When it comes to gear I really don’t think mesh is that bad. Leather is better, but Mesh is pretty damn good (if it is quality made). The thing about mesh and textile is it is designed to sacrifice itself in the crash to save your own skin. This is why if you crash in a textile/mesh jacket you most likely have to throw it away (although I got 2 crashes out of my textile pants before I had to toss em!).
Leather on the other hand can survive pretty bad crashes with little damage. Hell, I still wear the jacket that I was wearing when I crashed and broke my shoulder blade. It is a little scuffed on the shoulder, but other than that it is more than fine.
One more thing: Although a lot of the pictures on Ride2Die are real, I know of at least one that is widely believed to be fake (the last one with the rider in a leather suit in pieces).
Ben