5 Workwear Pants We Actually Worked in and Liked

5 Workwear Pants We Actually Worked in and Liked - Outside Magazine

5 Workwear Pants We Actually Worked in and Liked - Outside Magazine
Mission Workshop Signal Pants: The Best Travel Pants I've Ever Worn - gearpatrol.com
Subway riders go without pants to help the homeless and those with disabilities - KYW Newsradio 1060
Skimpy Subway: Hundreds turn out for ‘No Pants’ ride through Manhattan - amNY

5 Workwear Pants We Actually Worked in and Liked - Outside Magazine

Posted: 12 Jan 2020 03:00 AM PST

The right pair of workwear pants should be like a good work companion: excellent at their job, efficient, and comfortable in their surroundings. And ideally, model trousers can pull double duty at the bar to celebrate finishing a project. I enlisted help to put five work pants from top brands in a head-to-head test to help you pick the perfect pair.

The Test

Since my everyday work life is usually split between a desk and the trails, I outsourced this test to a pro: my buddy Jason Hutchins. Hutchins is an architectural fabricator who helped me beat the living snot out of an Oxx Coffeeboxx a couple years back. He uses a blowtorch to build large (and beautiful) metal structures all day. On top of testing these pants in his shop for a month, he also took them hunting and then shared his notes.

The Results

The Winner: Walls Kickaround Double-Knee, $50

Fit: 4
Comfort: 5
Shop Utility: 5
Overall Utility: 4

These were Hutchins's favorite in his shop, which is why they took the win. "They fit really well. I wore them mostly as an extra layer while deer hunting. Warm, quiet, and good mobility," he says. "At work I have to flex, move, and put my body in lot more awkward positions than you might think. These were the most flexible and comfortable to work in." Credit the articulated knees (with added seams to minimize constriction), a design feature we wouldn't expect to see in a traditional work pant. While Hutchins experienced a little bunching when crouched, he found the Kickaround a great overall pick. His only gripe: the extremely relaxed leg meant it couldn't pass as an everyday pant. "I would wear them hunting or to cut down a Christmas tree, but you're not going to catch me in the coffee shop in them."

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2. 5.11 ABR Pro, $55

Fit: 5
Comfort: 5
Shop Utility: 2
Overall Utility: 4

Hutchins said that the ABR Pro is the only pant in the test he'd be excited to wear in a social situation. "They were the only pants that weren't too baggy in the legs," he says. While some might think that overall fit and style aren't important considerations for work pants, they absolutely should be. If you have a single pair of pants that you can wear to build a structure, and then out to celebrate at the bar, you've saved money and space in your closet. While the DWR treatment and synthetic material proved amazing for Hutchins while he bushwhacked through damp brush on a hunt, he was very wary of the polyester in the pants, noting that it's "not the best fabric for my type of work." He was terrified the pants would melt to his skin while he welded in his shop. If open flames aren't in your wheelhouse, though, the ABR Pro is solid.

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3. Carhartt Washed Duck, $40

Fit: 3
Comfort: 3
Shop Utility: 5
Overall Utility: 5

Hutchins was very familiar with this established silhouette from the most iconic workwear brand. "These are run-of-the-mill work pants. They're the Carhartts they've been making for years," he says. They worked great in the shop and moved and felt like what Carhartt fans have grown accustomed to. He felt the fit was middle-of-the-road, too. "They were a little baggy, a little big, but overall had a pretty good fit," Hutchins says.

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4. Filson CCF Double-Layer, $125

Fit: 2
Comfort: 1
Shop Utility: 5
Overall Utility: 4

The Filson CCF was absolutely bombproof—for better and for worse. "These were the sturdiest of all the pants—like Dickies with rhino liner," Hutchins says. While the superstiff, double-layered canvas pants would likely break in after a lot of use (and be capable of withstanding brutal abuse), he couldn't wear them without significant chafing at his waist, even after testing them for a month. "As much as I love thick canvas, I washed and dried these twice, and they are still as stiff and rough as starched roofing shingles," Hutchins says. Style-wise, they missed the mark because of their extremely wide legs. "The girl at the coffee shop asked me if JNCOs were back in style," he says.

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5. Patagonia Iron Forge Hemp Canvas 5-Pocket, $75

Fit: 1
Comfort: 4
Shop Utility: 1
Overall Utility: 1

Hutchins loves Patagonia products for outdoor pursuits and so felt genuine remorse for how much he disliked these pants. He was not a fan of the way the hemp fabric and generous leg width worked together to make them hang loosely off his body. While he found the hemp, polyester, and cotton blend comfortable against his skin, it had a frustrating side effect of catching many of the metal shavings that fly around his shop. "I looked like a dangerous lint roller," Hutchins says. He was impressed with the durability, but you might want to steer clear of it if your work involves shaping metal.

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Lead Photo: Sarah Jackson

Mission Workshop Signal Pants: The Best Travel Pants I've Ever Worn - gearpatrol.com

Posted: 12 Jan 2020 06:41 AM PST

I used to dream of a middle ground designed specifically for traveling. Somewhere between sweatpants and jeans that looked good, but not sloppy. I refuse to buy stretch denim, so that was never an option. Lululemon's ABC pants were close, but they don't offer the performance and durability that I want in a do-it-all travel pant. Then I tried Mission Workshop's Signal Pant for the first time, and I was smitten.

It's a difficult thing to get right; comfort, performance and aesthetics don't often go hand in hand. But the Signal brings all three to the table and more. I've worn them hiking, cycling, running through the airport, on 30-degree days and on 80-degree days — and they've never disappointed.

Mission Workshop spared no detail in the Signal. It's crafted from an ultra-durable, military-spec, four-way stretch nylon fabric that manages to bring all of these properties to the table while remaining breathable. The pants also have an EDC blade-sized pocket on the right-hand side so that your knife is always at the ready. And if you happen to get caught in a rainstorm, no bother. The military-spec nylon fabric is also highly-water repellent.

If there's one feature on the Signal that I'd rather go without, it's the zip pocket on the outer right seam of the pant. It isn't exactly necessary, and it gives away the Signal's technical prowess with its inclusion in a product that's designed to fly under the radar. But it's a minor detail, and one that I'll happily overlook for the best travel pants I've ever owned.

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Subway riders go without pants to help the homeless and those with disabilities - KYW Newsradio 1060

Posted: 12 Jan 2020 03:12 PM PST

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Sunday was an unseasonably warm day in Philadelphia, and for some, that made it the perfect day to make their way through the city without any pants.

"It's amazing," exclaimed Kenyatta, one of several onlookers taken by surprise when dozens of people dropped their pants on the Market Frankford Line, showing off their fishnets, boxers, briefs and granny panties.

"My favorite reaction is the shock on people's faces once you take off your pants," said Raymond Wall, one of the organizers with No Pants Subway Ride Philly, "and they're like, 'What's going on? Why are people taking their pants off?"

For the last eight years, Wall's company Got Laundry has teamed up with Disability Pride Philly, where they ride the El from Center City to 69th Street and back, pantless. "What we are doing is we are dropping our pants in appreciation of the homeless, and also to recognize what's going on in the disability community," he said.

The pantless day is also about taking action, according to Wall.

"This is also a clothing drive for the homeless," he explained. "People drop their pants if they're willing to give them away, they give them away, we give them to the homeless, and we also do a drive for socks. Not a lot of people know this, but homeless people are in need of a lot of socks."

The No Pants Subway Ride originated in New York 20 years ago, and has since spread to cities all over the world.

Skimpy Subway: Hundreds turn out for ‘No Pants’ ride through Manhattan - amNY

Posted: 12 Jan 2020 02:59 PM PST

In the theater of the absurd, one shouldn't be caught with one's pants down — unless, of course, you are one of the many people who took part in the 19th annual No Pants Subway Ride Sunday.

A more frigid event in past winters, this year's skimpy subway ride began with balmy spring-like weather at Foley Square in Manhattan.

More than 200 participants gathered to take a slew of trains to various parts of the city before ending up in Union Square. With temperatures in the 60s, most participants had no problem handling the weather.

Last year, participants started out from four boroughs, but it became somewhat unwieldy, according to organizers, thus leading to changes for the 2020 ride.

Julianne Boucher and her husband Christopher get all dolled up for the event.

"Who doesn't want to throw on their undies and ride the subway in the middle of the winter?" Boucher asked. Christopher, who dressed in a grey suit and hat, added, "I wouldn't have it any other way. It's a sense of community – it's fun to engage with other people."

"He's humoring me," Julianne replied, adding, "I love my crazy events."

Joanne Mane took her son Ram with her on the train and both of them took off their pants.

"I love taking my kid and seeing people in their underwear, it's hilarious," Mane said as they sat with her son drawing pictures.

Curious straphangers looked on and some of them took pictures of the unusual sight.

Zach Linder, one of the No Pants Subway Ride "generals," said it was important to act normal other than to take your pants off. The joke is funnier if "there are no other distractions other than the missing pants," he said.

The event was founded by the Upright Citizens Theater Brigade, an improv class, and what founders intended to make it funny was the "improv." Participants are asked to act completely normal – use their phones, read a book or draw pictures.

"Some people might ask why you are wearing no pants, and you might reply, 'I forgot to wear them or it's just too warm today,'" Linder said.

The event was being held simultaneously in 10 other countries, including as far away as Australia.

"I'm doing it because she's doing it," said Helen Canese, referring to her friend Jane Hudson of Park Slope, Brooklyn. "She does it religiously."

Hudson added, "I take the subway every day to work. Today, I'm going to do something fun on the subway."

Two men showed up dressed as the Yankee ball players – they were the first to take their pants off on the #6 train.

"Why am I doing this? It just reminds ourselves not to take life too seriously — it's something kind of fun, different," one of the "players" said. "Being out here on a – normally cold, but today, its pretty warm – it makes you feel alive."