Unconventional climbing clothes

A

Ascension

Location
CNY
I was shopping at a thrift store tonight and came across a pair of Grundens Gage pants. They are constructed of heavy nylon with a waterproof coating on the inside. Designed as outerwear for fishermen. They're not comfy against my skin, but for the $8 they cost, I'll wear an underlayer.

What other kinds of unconventional clothing have you all found that adapts well to climbing?
 
BDU/DCU pants or ACU pants. Whatever the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy calls their battledress are probably good climbing pants too. I think my dad called them utilities but he got out of USMC around 1970.
You can probably expect almost any military fatigue trousers to have gusseted crotch, reinforced knees, lots of room, and cargo pockets or some kind of extra pockets on the legs. Usually comfy and if you get the real issued stuff they’re well made and durable. The 1st generation of Army ACUs had some bad durability problems but they fixed them a long time ago.

Only potential problem is a lot of people will find them kinda too loose and baggy. Doesn’t really bother me.

There was a thread going last year about some winter pants from Walmart that were nice for climbing, they’re nice I bought a pair, and they can be bought without the lining for warm weather too. I haven’t really abused them much, so can’t speak on the durability, but they’re warm and have all the features people like for climbing pants minus reinforced knees. They’re a bit stretchy, very comfy.
I’ll try to find the thread, I think they were wrangler for around 20$
 

$25 winter climbing pants

We’ll see how they hold up. Found these during a reluctant trip to walmart. Just as good as $100-200 climbing pants so far and fleece lined.
www.treebuzz.com

Here ya go. They come in unlined too.

* edit* I had to look up the Grunden pants you mentioned, they look good for wet weather or to wear as an outer layer over other clothes in cold weather. Real nice score for 8$!
 
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The item number shown in the picture must've been discontinued since it wouldn't load in Wal-Mart's site. I searched for wrangler outdoor pants and there are several options that look nice. I'll make a trip there to see what they have in stock. Good tip! Thanks!
 
My favorite all around work/climbing pant is the truspec ascent. Tactical style, softer with just a touch of stretch. Gusseted crotch. All the new fancy stretchy material pants don't breath well enough for hot humid Cincinnati summers for me. Can't stand the swamp ass. That goes for the clogger spyders, sip progress, and the Truewerk pants I have. Once summer hits they are out. Will still wear the clogger zeros as they have the protection, so the added sweat is worth it. Not using a chainsaw, tactical it is...
 
I wear BDU pants. The older woodland camo style from before the digital pattern that emerged in the early 2000’s. I find them in thrift stores. I wore out all my issued pants with in a few years of separating from the DoD. So I buy used. If I lived near a base, or wanted to shop the bx/px online I could get new but I don’t/won’t. They do last along time, and do work quite well in trees. But they have to be the true mil spec units with the green tag in the ass. Anything else will fall apart as they are knock offs or cheaper versions for non military use. The weak spot in them is the crotch, especially in the non rip stop/winter weight material. All my old cutoff pants have the blown out crotch. I keep only a couple pairs of long pants. And several pairs of cutoff shorts. Despite being baggy they are extremely comfortable in the saddle and the cuff doesn’t get in the way of the foot ascender. I can’t wear tight/skinny/stretchy pants. They make my ass sweat profusely and cramp my sack. I’ve yet to figure out how to work or skate or even function in tight pants. So if you see a pair of old camo BDU pants at a goodwill, grab them.
They size out small, medium, large in a short, regular and tall. So that’s 9 size options in all. I wear med/reg with a belt as a 32/34.


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Nickstulz said:
I wear BDU pants. The older woodland camo style from before the digital pattern that emerged in the early 2000’s. I find them in thrift stores. I wore out all my issued pants with in a few years of separating from the DoD. So I buy used. If I lived near a base, or wanted to shop the bx/px online I could get new but I don’t/won’t. They do last along time, and do work quite well in trees. But they have to be the true mil spec units with the green tag in the ass. Anything else will fall apart as they are knock offs or cheaper versions for non military use. The weak spot in them is the crotch, especially in the non rip stop/winter weight material. All my old cutoff pants have the blown out crotch. I keep only a couple pairs of long pants. And several pairs of cutoff shorts. Despite being baggy they are extremely comfortable in the saddle and the cuff doesn’t get in the way of the foot ascender. I can’t wear tight/skinny/stretchy pants. They make my ass sweat profusely and cramp my sack. I’ve yet to figure out how to work or skate or even function in tight pants. So if you see a pair of old camo BDU pants at a goodwill, grab them.
They size out small, medium, large in a short, regular and tall. So that’s 9 size options in all. I wear med/reg with a belt as a 32/34.


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Click to expand...
Do you cut off the little adjusters on the side? They are uncomfortable even with just a belt, I wouldn't want to have them with a saddle on.
 
You know I don’t cut the adjusters off. Spent too many years forced to deal with them under the belt that was a required part of the uniform so I just don’t notice them very often. Now when I forget the belt I cinch them down. So I’m often glad they are still there and functional. But sometimes they do get ripped off or worn out and those pants feel the same. So in the end I just don’t notice them.


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Before I discovered Arborwear, I wore 5.11 Tactical brand pants, usually Taclite Pros because they were light, relatively durable, and had plenty of pockets in useful locations. The downside is that they stain really easily, despite whatever “stain resistant coating” that is supposed to be on them.
 
Reach said:
Before I discovered Arborwear, I wore 5.11 Tactical brand pants, usually Taclite Pros because they were light, relatively durable, and had plenty of pockets in useful locations. The downside is that they stain really easily, despite whatever “stain resistant coating” that is supposed to be on them.
Click to expand...
The best thing about the Taclite pros is the low cargo pockets, you can access them with any harness. Those are my work pants, because I have to wear tan pants. I wear 5.11s with higher pockets for regular clothes.
 
After Bango Skank suggested the Wrangler Outdoor pants I came across a pair at Tractor Supply for $40. They seem nice and rugged, but not too stiff. I figure I can find them cheaper somewhere else.
 
RBJtree said:
I have found a couple types of wrangler outdoor pants that have great flexibility and breath well.
Click to expand...
Care to share?
I've been wearing Wrangler Ranger Rip Stop cargo pants.
They are durable and comfortable but heavy and bar oil stains the hell out of them.
Would like to find something lighter and more stain resistant.
 
dsptech said:
Care to share?
I've been wearing Wrangler Ranger Rip Stop cargo pants.
They are durable and comfortable but heavy and bar oil stains the hell out of them.
Would like to find something lighter and more stain resistant.
Click to expand...
I don't remember exactly what the names are, but I found two versions that have served me well. I will try to look them up on wranglers site and get more specifics.
 
dsptech said:
Care to share?
I've been wearing Wrangler Ranger Rip Stop cargo pants.
They are durable and comfortable but heavy and bar oil stains the hell out of them.
Would like to find something lighter and more stain resistant.
Click to expand...
Here ya go. I haven't had any problems with staining, but I buy darker colors for work pants for just that reason. I really like both of these pants. The $44 ones are slightly heavier, and neither will resist any kind of cold, but they are pretty good in heat. Found on the wrangler site in the mens outdoor pants section.
Screenshot_20191016-003006.webp
 
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