So I’m looking to get a pair of comfy, stretchy, pockety trousers which are above all tough, for use in fishing, general garden tidying, etc. over Winter and Spring.
The standard Im going to are British issue combats, ot the DPM ones, the later MTP pattern ones, so probably about 2010 onwards. These are great, but I would prefer something a bit tougher around the knees and arse.
So, any suggestions for super duper trousers , or do I just buy a few extra pairs of combats? Anything markedly,obviously better out there on the civvy market? Cheers.

It sounds like you need a pair of Keela Scuffers

Decathlon.

I have a couple of pairs of these – I am impressed with them

https://www.blacks.co.uk/15906582/oex-men-s-strata-softshell-trouser-regular-length-15906582

Pah!
For maximum STW approval you need Fjallraven Barents trousers….and a sandvik axe.

Kuhl…

Bought a pair last month lived in them love it

Haven’t tried them personally but the Revolution Race ones are all over my social media and quite a few friends have them and rate them highly

Snickers 6903’s in all black, not cheap but brilliant.

Snickers 6903’s in all black, not cheap but brilliant.

Can you do Marathons in them?

IGMC…

Revolution Race, as suggested above, are certainly worth a look; I’m on my second pair of trousers (only because the first pair was always a bit ‘snug’ and I put on a bit of weight so sold them on) and the Silence Proshell jacket is astounding value for money – very well made kit.

I’d discounted RR basically because of the sheer amounts of bloody adverts I see from them, worse than Huel! 🙂

Revolution Race

Are they the ones that fill my FB news feed with adverts?

I quite like the Craghoppers fleece lined ranges. Light “Basecamp” model with a thin microfleece lining and a heavier fleece one I typically pay £20-£25 via amazon/eBay. Resistant to most stuff though I can’t get spray building foam off..but cement/grease etc. has not been a problem. refresh the DWP if required but mine have been as weatherproof as I prefer (not to the point of sweating)

The heavier ones would be ideal for fishing… or anything you need to sit for a long time.

The belts are gaff though… I replaced them all with Karrimor ones.. so factor that in.

These are brilliant.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/men-s-snow-hiking-warm-water-repellent-stretch-trousers-sh500-x-warm/_/R-p-193598

Haglofs Rugged Mountain Pant kind of does what it says on the label, relatively heavy at 800g, reinforced seat, knees, ankle area, good but not cheap:

https://www.haglofs.com/gb/en-gb/rugged-mountain-pant-men/p/604147-3NR.html?

i live in Keela roadrunners once it gets cooler. just perfect for everything.

Revolution Race for me. I’ve got two pairs and they’re excellent quality and very comfortable.
Getting the sizing right takes a bit of work though, so I’d recommend buying 2/3 pairs and sending back what you don’t want.

Example:
Nordwand are thicker and baggier, at 6’2″ and 32/33″ waist I wear a Medium and they’re a tad long for my personal taste.
GP Pro are much more flexible, and better for slightly warmer weather. They’re really comfortable. I wear a Large but in the short length.

I wear a Large in everything normally, so ordering Mediums and short lengths seems odd, but I really like them.

An of course, never pay full price, you should always be getting at least 20% even if you need to wait a few weeks for the offers to cycle.

Just a general point, ideally for maximum durability you want a Polyamide-based stretch fabric rather than a Polyester. Polyamide is basically more abrasion resistant, though it doesn’t wick quite as well. It’s what gets used for the face fabric on shell jackets etc. Posh name for Nylon. The Haglofs trousers I linked above use Polyamide fabrics throughout, the Revolution Race stuff, as far as I can see, is a Polyester main fabric with a Polyamide reinforcement on the knees and seat etc. TBH all this stuff would probably work fwiw.

How long are your legs? If you are tall, or have a long leg, I’d go for something that supports this. I have RR and Montane trousers in a long leg length and they are still shorter than I would prefer. Haglöfs make good stuff and offer a long leg, but are way more expensive.

@ton – do you wear them riding as well? Given our relatively similar build, I was looking at various trail pants as I am now quite liking the idea of something other than shorts and knee length Sealskins socks for Autumn/Winter/Spring riding in not great weather. Figured might be better value to get all purpose trousers that I can wear hiking too.

@johnnymarone – apologies for the hijack!

Alpkit Arnison trousers are great for hiking, crap weather dog walking, and what not.

But for what the OP describes I would wear one of my many pairs of Dickies 874 trousers. Order via big evil Amazon Global store for buttons. Get 873 if you want a slightly slimmer fit.

Hmm, good thread because I think I need to add something similar to my wardrobe for this winter. Paramor Cascada are my go to for seriously shite weather, but I really need something lighter. Liking the Revolution range – not heard of them before, but reckon the Nordwand are a good match.

@big_scot_nanny

yes mate, wear em for riding all winter. or when it is cold.

Just pulled the trigger on some REvolution Trousers and a jacket after getting drenched walking the dog at lunchtime

BILLINGHAM20 for 20% off (a code I found on Facebook, not my own code, before any mods delete the post)

I have 3 pairs of Kuhl trousers – the first pair of Kanvus jeans were ace, great fit and wearing well. Second and third pair were rubbish, cheaper fabric, not as stretchy – like a cheap copy. Currently rocking some Carhartts work pants (got them cheap) that feel like they’d survive Armageddon.

@big_scott_nanny,
It’s all good mate, this is a public forum, as with any thread I start, I want the conversation to go wherever it goes, it belongs to everyone.

I live in some Helikon UTP, love the pockets on them.
Going to try treat the latest pair with some Nikwax cotton proof to see what they will be like in the wet.

Edit* as long as we ‘re all being civil to each other!

Anyone got any experience of the Arktis C111 combats? Yes I could buy 3 pairs of issue combats for the price of one of these, but they look a similar design and fit to my favourite, sadly deceased Maharishi snow trousers from a million years ago.

Anyone got any experience of the Arktis C111 combats? Yes I could buy 3 pairs of issue combats for the price of one of these, but they look a similar design and fit to my favourite, sadly deceased Maharishi snow trousers from a million years ago.

@johnnymarone Yes, I have a pair in (they were on sale at the time) Swedish M90K Desert. They’re very comfortable, a very roomy fit and well made. They don’t fasten like a normal pair of trousers; the front of the trousers is a large flap that gets cinched tight by the webbing at the sides. Also, on mine, the fly is closed up by pulling the zip down… I don’t if it was something that the Swedes wanted but you need to remember!

Also have a pair of C411 Ranger Shorts and they are the best and most robust cargo shorts I’ve ever had.

I bought a pair of a Keela roadrunners based on Ton’s recommendation. Very nice fit, comfortable to wear, they just get out the road on the bike, and just seem nicer to wear than thermal tights.

Was dry and crunchy this morning, so interested to see how they compare to tights when it’s wet.

Cheers!

I’m a long leg and find many of the usual brands, even if they do long leg, aren’t long enough.

Berghaus seem to just fit and work well. I’ve slowly replaced all my Montane, Salomon and Patagucci trousers with them and now have 4 pairs. Ahem.

@big_scot_nanny what’s the sizing like on them? True to size?

For maximum STW approval you need Fjallraven Barents trousers….and a sandvik axe.

I have the Barents trousers (a present – v spendy but v nice) but my axe is Gransfors, surely I still get the approval?

I have 3 pairs of Kuhl trousers

Kuhl story bro 😬

@Nobeerinthefridge : aye, seem to be true to size from a waist perspective, and generous on length. The longs seem spot on for me, a great length for riding that stay round my ankles and don’t get pulled up to mid shin, or pull down at the waist.

Depending on your legs, hard to say what they will be like for flappyness/tightness. As we established from the ‘find me gaiters’ thread, I’ve got very big calves and quite large thighs so for me, they are just perfect. Not too tight, but also not flappy.

Magic, I’ll give em a go, down to 50 quid on keela site.

I’ve been using a pair of Fjallraven Vidda Pro trousers for 5 months for walking and bushcrafty stuff and have found them great. I managed to find them for £90 instead of the usual £140 ish and wouldn’t have bought them otherwise. Haven’t tried much else but they work for me and feel rough.

The best bit for me is I can drop onto my knees or bum on a wet forest floor and stay comfortable and dry.

The Roadrunners were recommended to Ton by me, they’re ace aren’t they? Although I found the long leg lengths to vary between waist sizes, strangely the smaller waist size had a longer leg length than the bigger one, of the ones I tried anyway. In terms of value for money, there’s not much else out there like that. I like the slim fitted nature of them, the reflective bits are useful for riding too. They are nicely long too

Haglofs trousers also work really well in a long leg length, genuinely long. I have 3 pairs of rugged mountain pants and 2 pairs of mid fjells (i think that’s the model anyway)

I’m 6’3 with a 34″ inside leg and 32″ waist

Aye, I’m sold on MTBing with trousers on now, it’s so much better, warmer, keeps feet dry, comfier, win win.

Sneaked a pair of £50 Keela Roadrunners on Monday before the price went back up. They arrived today and they’re absolutely spot on. Thanks for the recommendations. Only slight gripe is the single rear pocket – this seems to be a common thing with trousers but I don’t understand why they think I might like to keep things by one arsecheek but not the other. Very minor though. I actually checked to see if they were still £50 since I might have bought another pair – sadly not.