I tried these pants because I thought there just must be something better out there. Specifically, I just got tired of heavy cotton work pants that soak up sweat, oil, and water and never seem to let it go.
- Function - The modern material is awesome in 2 ways. First, it doesn't soak up sweat or water, so when I have to kneel on a wet surface and my knees get wet, the pants are dry again in 15 minutes. Try that with Carhartt pants or jeans. Not happening, you've got wet pants all day. IMO this is a major benefit.
The other major benefit to the modern material these pants are made from is that dust and durt can't cling to the pants. Sawdust just hits them and drops right off. When I'm using a string trimmer, the grass clippings again will just fall off instead of sticking to the pants which is what always happens when I'm wearing jeans or cotton work pants.
The material is very tough, this is my first pair, but I would estimate that especially the high wear areas will last much longer than jeans. I wear through the knees on jeans and work pants and they also wear at the front at the bottom of the pockets from sticking tools in the pockets. This modern material appears to be much harder wearing.
- Comfort - These pants are very comfortable, the range of motion is excellent when kneeling or bending down. The waist is "canted" forward so the waistband doesn't cut into me in the front when I'm leaning forward, and this is a major comfort feature for me. The pants have great pocket placement.
The "swishing" sound is a thing, but IMO the noise the pants make goes way down after 5-6 cycles through the washer and dryer.
Opportunities for improvement:
First, I don't think the phone pocket on the right side is deep enough for the current gen of phones, it only covers about 2/3 of my phone making me concerned it could fall out. This pocket would have been fine for the phones we had 2-3 years ago, but it needs an update.
Secondly, these pants do NOT work if you are using any tool that sparks. Angle grinder, welder, chop saw, etc. If it throws sparks, you will burn holes in these pants. That's just the way it is with a synthetic material. I keep an apron in my shop so I can have protection when using the grinder and angle grinder, but be aware.
SF67
Mike H.