Am fairly new to this work trouser thing. Am working as a caretaker and need trousers for carrying bits and bobs, be fairly robust, good on the knees etc etc.
All seem to be a similar (ish) price.
I’ve seen Dickies, De Walt etc. and they seem very heavily branded on the outside. I don’t like the look of them.
Is there any particular make I should be looking at. Rather like Blaklader,on the web but don’t know if i can buy them over here.
Any suggestions?

You can get Blaklader at yesss.co.uk (electrical screwfix type place)

Snickers make the best work trousers IMHO, worn them for about 20 years, tried other makes, keep coming back to Snickers. They are more expensive than most but I seem to get decent wear out of them.

Snickers have one of the widest ranges – best known for their all singing all dancing Holster Pocket trousers, with kneepads and all sorts of handy knife and ruler pockets. Lots of companies have followed in their footsteps but nobody has all the details worked our quite as well as they have.

Their newer lines are a bit brash but their classic ‘craftsman’ range is a bit more understated. Theres various fabrics to choose from too. Canvas+ is the best all rounder for comfort and strength. Duratwill is more abrasion resistant and shrugs of dust very well but looks very shiny. Both of those are quite vulnerable to heat though – the duratwill especially so. Theres a pure cotton thats better if you do hot work but wears faster. Theres also a lighter weight fabric which is good in hot conditions.

Their ‘Service Line’ trousers are a bit more subtle, are cheaper and have simpler less fussy designs but very hard wearing. They’ve a really good range of sizes (4 choices of leg length for every waist size)

A sister company of Snickers – ‘Dunderdon’ is new in the UK, pretty much online only though. They’ve got some good stuff in denim fabrics and a denim-look cordura mix. Quite pricy though. They benefit form the same wide range of sizes as Snickers.

We get Blaklader stuff through work, generally tough and well thought out, but the cut isn’t to everyone’s taste.
Think the supplier is Workwise, not that cheap, but not my budget.

Would look at Carhartt if getting my own.

We get Blaklader stuff at work and tbh I’m not impressed with it. I’ve had 2 different trousers and the pocket linings wore out within a few months. The black pair I had faded to grey very quickly too. Might start buying my own Snickers ones.

Snickers floorlayers with the kevlar knee are without a shadow of doubt the best work trousers you’ll buy – be prepared to pay £80+ but they soon pay for themselves. I’ve got 2 pairs, one must be 3 years old and the other 2 years old and not a sign of wear (or fade) on either. Plenty of pockets and flappy paddles (as my mate calls them) too!

Mascot work wear is worth a look.

Had several pairs at different times, always served me well.

Snickers here, 3212 with the flappy pockets. I don’t bother with anything else. Massive range of sizes. The 9118 kneepads are like miniature beanbags for your knees too.

Keep an eye out at Arco, they have 50% off Snickers every few months.

Engelbert Strauss. Current pair of their Motion 2020 are over 2 years old. Worn up to 5 days a week, rope access work so not an easy life. One of the kneepad pockets has worn through a bit & I’ve lost the tag from one of the rear vent zips bit they seem bombproof.
Have also got through several pairs of JCB and Dickies in that time, they just fall apart after a few weeks.

Aldi stuff is cheap enough. They’ve faded with washing but otherwise wear well for lighter use, slabbing, painting, etc

Dickies Eisenhowers.
Loads of pockets, super tough as last forever.
Very few logos on mine that I can see.
Nail pockets tuck away as well if you don’t need them.
Tim

Snickers 3312 for me.

Had Dickies for years, a bit more lightweight and fade in the wash but wear well.

I’ve tried most of the above, but Carhartt double knee are what I wear now – very tough and comfy.

Thanks all, food for thought, think I’ll look at the Snickers and Dickies.
Arco, sell Snickers and there’s another place near work that sell Dickies.

We use Apaches. Discrete logo, wear well, lots of handy pockets, slots for knee-pads if you need them.

flappy paddles (as my mate calls them)

Haberdasher’s Pockets 🙂

Just moved to mascot Erfurt trousers after 10 years of englbert strauss. First impressions are very good/excellent considering they are at least £20 cheaper (even if they cost the same I’d be happy)

Had to take the left knee pad out tho when driving , cause it hurt me patella.

Strauss is to over priced these days methinks.

These are great but expensive.
http://www.cactusoutdoor.co.nz/clothing/heavy-duty-pants/wk-trade-plus-supertrousers.html