Im looking for some pants. My wife has been repairing mine for a couple years now, but some of them are coming apart at the seams. I got mine really cheap. Im willing to spend if it means they are repairable and made better. Any suggestions?
I’ll copy-paste what I put in that previous thread.
You want real, non-stretch jeans or canvas. Bonus if they tell you the weight of the fabric. Once you get any spandex in there, you are limited in strength. I also always go for pants with reinforced crotches, cause otherwise that fails first for me.
In order for pants to stretch, the cotton (or whatever other blend of fibers) is essentially held together by spandex fibers. You might get the feel of the cotton, but the structural integrity of the garment is dependent on the spandex. Spandex wears out, especially if washed and dried a lot. In some cases, this results in the pants just getting permanently stretched out, but in other cases the fibers just come apart in a way that you can’t really repair.
I really like pants with a crotch gusset, because that’s where mine typically wear out. That gusset prevents the wear out, but it is also easier to repair if necessary. I have a pair of pants with a spandex blend gusset, and plain cotton throughout the rest of the pants, and ibthink that’s a good combo of durability, repairability, and mobility.
Go to the cowboy store and get some work jeans. Make sure the tag says 100% cotton. They can be stiff and take a while to break in, but when they do, they’re comfy and durable. I usually get wranglers for $25-30 and they last years and years. I usually replace them because they’re oil stained, not worn-through.
Got a friend who works with his hands in a dirty job and he really likes Duluth Trading pants. Big dude too
These are the best. The Flex Firehose ones may not be super repairable, but they straight up last forever. I wore a rotation of 3 of these for 3 years straight before I saw the first fray.
I have to disagree. While I really like the pants, their design, the fit and gussets, but they’re not even as durable as carhartts. I bought a pair of the original fire hose mostly because of the warranty (get a hole in the fire hose pants they’ll replace) Well I got a hole in the first couple months sliding between 2 walls. Small hole figured I’d just wear them out. A year later I buy another pair and a couple other styles. The next year the first pair are trashed worn through both double knees. They no longer honor their warranty… The other pants lasted one more year. The flex fire hose, the waist band and belt loops just separated from the pants on both sides pulling them up one day. I thought the price was worth it with the warranty, too bad thats not a thing any more.