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OK, so they were not the Steins, they were the Stretch Air chainsaw trousers. So ya CAN'T get the Euro gear in the US after all.
I sure wish we had as many options as they do 'cross the pond.
-Tom
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Tom I believe they were still called Gladiators but not the ones with the built in gaitors, I can check the label for details. those are the ones I bought. they had the new steins there that were coming out soon and they were very nice. I believe Luke at Treestuff.com is carrying the newest gladiators, he has been a tremendous help with everything so far, reach out to him for the gladiators, he has my business and loyalty. as far as the Stihl Hi-flex I heard they burn easily from your saw. Would love to check out a pair for comparison.
I was wearing sip freedom (c) in the winter and liked them until it got warmer out. Been wearing the stein revolution (a) for a couple weeks and they are much better for warm temps. I would say they are not much different than AW tech pants so far, supposed to reach 90 F tomorrow but I'm confident they will be tolerable. I've grown to love that extra padding when bumping into stubs and wearing hooks, not to mention handsaw follow through to the shin. Would like to try out the gladiator cool pants someday.
I'm disappointed in my Pfanners. The material on the both knees both split, the hook at the waist fell off and stitching is failing on the inner ankle patches. I bought them at the TCI show. Hmmm, that gave me approx. 4 mths of use for $225. Not worth it. I've got to call them to see what the warranty is.
Good luck with pfanner, I've never even had them reply to me. I've since switched to stihl Hi-flex pants from Honey Bros, except for the cheap plastic zipper they are way better than the pfanners cheaper too.
I'm really disappointed with the new Pfanner Gladiators I bought a month ago.
I bought a pair of the original Pfanner pants back in 08/09 and I found those pants to be near bombproof. These new gen Gladiators are made with a cheaper fabric that's far from ripstop and the knee and ankle pads are cheaper as well. Like treehumper the stitching is coming undone on the ankle padding. Not the quality I remember nor was expecting for the price.
The Hi-Flex look really nice but they need to improve their waist to leg ratio for us tall skinny guys.
I also picked up a pair of the pfanners from stein at tci last november. it was my first pair of gladiators so I didn't have anything to compare to but I noticed right away that there were a little things about the craftsmanship that was lacking, even the islets for the suspenders and belt loops were falling off and were not centered. I then asked a friend who had a pair that he got overseas and they were a way better build they had vents and gaitors that weren't even in mine. the people at stein told me that their relationship with pfanner wasn't going well so perhaps that had something to do with it the poor craftsmanship. I guess for $225 I really can't complain I know that others have paid a lot more. although mine are still holding up pretty well I would like to get a pair of the "real" ones although I'm starting to think I would have to get them from austria. Can anyone speak to the quality of the ones that treestuff sells?
I also have a pair of the Stihl X-fit from the honey brothers. I actually found them to be a lot less durable. I ripped them on a little stub the second day I had them and since then I've had to have them stitched and fixed a half dozen times. the crotch tore open the first time I wore them with spikes on so I had a patch sewn in to open the crotch up a few inches. they are a little more comfy and definitely breath better than gladiators but they just don't seem durable enough.
I am hoping to try the stein revolution next. if their chainsaw pants are anywhere near as good as all the other products they make they will be awesome.
oh and as far as fit, the gladiators I have are a small long but the stihl's I have are a large I know they say that the waist on a large is some huge thing but there is so much elastic in the waist that they fit me I have a 32 -33 inch waist. I do wear them with suspenders but it's not like there's a ton of extra material just bunching up around my waist.
Glad I never pulled the trigger on the glads. Was looking at them but went with the SIP's instead which have been totally awesome for the second year now. Not chainsaw protective but a very well made pair of comfortable pants. I will look now at the Steins or the Stihl for protection. Maybe for Xmas, how about it guys?
Bill N thanks for the input on the Stihl X-fit. The Gladiators I have are from Treestuff. They're the same Pfanner pants that Stein was selling I'm fairly sure.
I also have 2 pairs of the original gladiators with the gaitors. One pair held up reasonably well while the others had stitching fail all over them. I'm of the mind that their is a quality control issue. I'm thinking SIPS are my next trial.
