Outdoor clothing is intended to be worn out of doors, or so I always thought. Unfortunately, almost every pair of outdoor pants I try on features flared legs. Once the domain of the hippy, today outdoorsmen everywhere are forced to wear these damnable contraptions. What’s that you might ask? At one time, they were called bell bottoms but I loathe that word worse than “flare”. You see, when the bottom hem on a pant is wider than the knee, that constitutes flare.
I realize that many who design outdoor clothing weren’t even alive during the heyday of the bell bottom, but having spent a good portion of my youth in the 70s I can assure you that, despite any romantic notions of nostalgia, flares weren’t cool then either. Even at the tender age of nine I can recall my mother purchasing a pair of flares for me and recoiling in horror when she took them from the shopping bag. The knees were ripped of those post haste and off to the rag bin they went.
Now, as an adult, and a guy who spends a fair amount of time in the outdoors, I would like to be able to purchase pants that make me look like a man and also fit and perform well. I don’t want the creepy crawlies making their way up my calf or the cold edging its way around my ankle simply so some dude in the city can look hip.
Virtually every popular brand is guilty of this affront to good taste and performance. So please make us some pants with straight legs or at least boot cuts and no, I don’t wear Moon Boots so I don’t need a wide leg all the way up to my knee. Just make outdoor clothing for people who wear it in the outdoors and leave the fashion to the runway.
-EG
Here, here! I’ve started to notice that too! Good ol’ fashioned “straight cut” would be nice for me.
501 Levis.
A good boot cut won’t have a flare (straight leg that widens evenly from hip to hem instead of widening at the knee)). A lot of these pants say they have a boot cut when it’s some sort of flare. I hate it. I like getting a good boot cut to fit over my boots for work, but if it looks like I’m wearing pants off of a hippie rack, I’ll put em back. Wrangler is even guilty of the flare “boot cut” in their jeans on some makes… Sad.
(FIY: I need big boots for work and pants that go over them, so a proper boot cut is as much of a work tool to me as safety glasses)
5.11 series, full stop. Big boy pants that work at keeping you warm, have the pockets for your stuff and are kryptonite to hipsters.
Yes indeed. And death to hip-slung trousers too – let us have a proper rise and a waistband that comes up to the navel so that your shirt doesn’t come out when you bend over. Low slung items are another dreadful legacy of a bygone age.
I’m thinking the idea is to let us put ’em on with our boots already on our feet…if that’s the case, a zipper up the outside of the ankle would work…NO Gussets though…those are as bad as flares.
AMEN!
Death to bell-bottoms!
Death to flares!
Death to hipsters!
Death to hippies!
It’s much much worse than that. The people skilled in clothing design are schooled by fashion and short term longevity. Make something practical that transcends generations and becomes a no-profit staple? Jeans didn’t really do that, my Dad’s 1930’s dungarees were horribly old in many unpractical ways. Just the legend of the Levi’s crotch rivet should give us a clue.
Modern designers might make something that looks durable to buyers, but application has a major impact. Right now, softshells are mostly have a velcro’d cuff to close out the cold, which is neither tight enough to really hold in heat, or loose enough to remove the jacket easily – and get trapped in a hood latch. OK, ask how I know. Now I understand why pilots have knit cuffs. These little details really do help.
The wrong people design clothes – they aren’t tactically or technically competent like the targeted wearer, and won’t take direction because they think they are the subject matter expert. Their supervisor is likely to agree because it’s a bottom line enviroment, make sales to purchasers, not make customers happy. The purchasers know it won’t make any difference anyway, the customer is mostly an ignorant boob who’s clueless about clothing and think’s he’s the dummy if stuff doesn’t work right for him. Besides, it’s about appearances, not performance. You own the right look, you must be the right guy.
That’s the problem with the entire tactical market, it’s customers judging by looks, not understanding the purpose. Exactly why it’s so wrong to complain about Brit combat smocks not being compatible with LBE. The smock IS the LBE. It can be used incorrectly with it, but those are mag pouches on it, not pockets. At least the better ones come with knit wrists.
hell yeah! God I hate bell-bottoms.
Eric, I agree with you on this one………to an extent. Something that always drove me nuts on my issue pants was that they were just too damn tight. I don’t know how many pairs I ripped going into a kneeling position during a fight. Now if I went to kneeling slowly, I could get away with it, but when time was of the essence………not so much. Fastforward to present and pants like the Arcteryx Sphinx are exactly what I was looking for. They are wide from knee to ankle and allow me freedom of movement as well as breathability. I realize there are different applications you’re referring to, but I really like the extra space. I guess I don’t really know what kind of flare you’re talking about. Are you talking about pants like the Sphinx or is there something else on the market that is even more pronounced? I wouldn’t mind seeing an example so I can decide on where I stand on this issue.
I don’t know about everyone else, but my legs are shaped the exactly opposite the design of flared legs. That is to say that my legs are bigger where they connect at the hip than where they connect at the feet. I agree that flaired legs are a total abomination and boycotting them would only be doing a service to your fellow man.
Most “outdoor stores” are selling to a lifestyle market, and that market isn’t necessarily actual outdoorsy people.
Huh… I have the opposite problem. Most “tactical” pants have leg openings that are too slim for carrying an ankle rig. Furthermore, I like a slightly wider leg that easily falls down over my shoes when I stand up, and doesn’t bunch up around my anles.
Vertx pants are just right – not bell bottoms, but wide enough for me.
It would also be nice if women’s outdoor clothes wasn’t all made for princesses – ALL women’s shirts have tiny short sleeves that are damn uncomfortable to wear. Even supposedly tactical undershirts still have these stupid short sleeves and narrow shoulders.
All I can say is to each their own. There is nothing that defines clothes as “A Man” or “Not A Man.” Individuality in my opinion. However, I think most outdoor pants should come straight cut. Ever try to snowboard in flares? They catch on your bindings.
A solution for you all. All of Beyond’s Tactical pants, and our snow pants ask for the type of boot to be worn. Then they are custom sized for that type of shoe. Here’s to choice.
YEAH! F***K Flares. I heard they are starting to produce outdoor “carrot” pants. Ya know, the really tight skinny jeans that make you look like a girl. They have cargo pockets, wont be able to fit anything in them, but damn your ass will look good.
Not those damnable skinny jeans that my daughters want to wear? Can’t we find something in between?
My how very French
Yeah flares seriously piss me off. Due to the popularity of flared jeans, there is a reason why i haven’t bought a pair of jeans in five years. Interestingly, Ive gotten more compliments from wearing tactical pants that i ever have with a pair of jeans.
Flares trousers. Youths with their trousers round their hips showing us their underwear and the latest abomination on this side of the pond low slung crutches that look as if the wearer has had an unfortunate accident in their nappy (diaper). Hurrumph!
There is a solution – wear a kilt! I will be Kilted To Kick Cancer in Sep 2012. In the US see: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kilted-to-Kick-Cancer/250538001624324 and in the UK: http://www.facebook.com/groups/302400379774234/
Actually, Beyond is a great solution for just about any clothing need.
I know it’s a bit off-topic, but since Scott chimed in I figured I’d take a minute to point out their business model is based around custom clothing that is nothing short of amazing. Want a combat shirt that fits YOU? Want to choose how many pockets and where they are placed? Velcro or not? Logo or not? You can get a super customized and perfect shirt/jacket/pair of pants, etc. for a similar price to what you’re paying from other high end clothing manufacturers that just give you sizes to choose from. As a tall/long/skinny person I have the problem that if a shirt’s sleeves are long enough than the core is probably too big. If the core fits then I’m probably going to see a whole lot of wrist and forearm. Beyond clothing offers me options that work and saves me the trouble of having to remove a logo to boot!