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?
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.
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.
My dad used the same pair Fjällräven pants for something like 15 years. Frequently used, often for day walks/hikes, and I don't recall seeing any signs of they were wearing out.
Now that I think about it, I should find out where that issue of pants ended up.
I have experienced that the quality of the classic fjällräven pants have dropped significantly over the past years. I have a pair i bought 2 years ago and already had to repair them 2 times because stitches suddenly broke and the pockets woren through. The belt strops seems to be next in line.
I'd much rather recommend Härkila since they are way more durable. They are ment for hunting and the fabric soft and light but also is super tare resistant and dries really fast if wet.
I picked up some Prana jeans recently that I really like, but I haven't had them long enough to make a BIFL recommendation. If anyone has experience with the brand, I would be interested in hearing about it.
I have a Prana zip up hood that I've had for like 3 years. Moderate use. Looks good still after a decent amount of wear but I don't really wash it much so I don't know about color fading from that.
I've had a fair amount of Prana clothing that I've worn extensively. It is some of the most comfortable stuff I own but most of the pants are starting to wear out. I'm not sure exactly how old they are but I would guess 3-5 years and generally heavy use.
Specifically I think I have Bridger jeans and Vaha pants but I could be mistaken about the branding.
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.