Reinforced Knee Hiking Pants

I couldn't find any results searching about hiking pants with reinforced knees. I'm curious about whether people here own or use summer-weight pants with reinforced knees.

I always find after a few days on the trail my pants' knees are dirty as can be, from kneeling for cooking, fire building, or just general wear. Also, with moderate knee problems already, a single thin layer of nylon isn't exactly good protection for my knees.

I find that sometimes I will zipoff the legs when I get into camp (if I'm wearing convertible pants obviously), just to keep the pants cleaner, even though that can end up with bug bites, muddy knees, or whatever.

I have thought about doing it myself. I would sew patches of Cordura onto my knees and probably the rear area. I also thought about doing it on my elbows.

I love my Railrider pants. They are showing little sign of wear after 4 years of use. Nice deep pockets, bombproof fabric, nice features. The fit is loose by design and some people call them "bloomers". But I like the freedom of movement and the ability to layer underneath. They're not zip-offs but I can easily roll them up to my knees if necessary. They have double fabric in several places but they're still thin enough for summer use. They're not cheap but a good bargain if you think long term.

I haven't had any problems with wearing at the knees of my hiking pants. The part that goes first is the cuffs, which fray. I definitely would not want double-knee pants! Back when I was younger, I did the typical cowboy squat instead of sitting or kneeling. That maneuver was developed by cowboys on purpose to keep knees and seat out of the dirt. Of course that maneuver has gone by the board since my knee surgery 20-some years ago! Now I just sit down, usually on a piece of thin foam pad.

“I'm curious about whether people here own or use summer-weight pants with reinforced knees.”

Anytime I kneel or sit, I whip out my 14”x14”x1/4” CCF (0.3oz). It keeps the pants clean. And it minimizes worn pants (no matter the brand). But more importantly it saves my knees from kneeling on hidden rocks. Also, most of the ground I kneel on is soaked. The pad keeps the knees/butt dry.

-Barry

I use Schoeller climbing pants - regular and zip-offs. These are pricy but last a long time and are really tough - essential for off-trail travel. They are heavier, but since they are not in my pack on my back, I do not mind. I just bought some lighter ArcTerex climbing pants at REI sale.

The first place that wears out for me is the seat. When I worked at NOLS, we would sew on an extra seat patch.

Just buy iron on patches from any fabric store. hiking is not meant to be glamorous

Iron-on patches on nylon pants might result in some melting of the latter!

I dont need reinforced kness so I have the Eco-mesh pants. Pair those with my Eco-mesh shirt and I'm happy wherever I go. Their products are top notch. Light, dry fast, and stand up to abuse well.

I can almost guarantee that it will...sabre11004...

I heartily recommend the railriders too. They don't zip off but have deep pockets and good construction plus the extra layer on knees and rear.

Not cheap, but quality turns out to be cheaper over time and nylon pants take so long to wear out that it is just not worth it! Had those silly North Face ones for 5 years and hated them all the way.

Montane Terra pants.
They have Cordura patches in all the right places. With the side hip vents and ankle zip, they are very versatile too.
http://www.prolitegear.com/pl_montane_terra_pant.html


Franco

Best reinforced hiking pants for the money that I've found are "5.11" brand nylon canvas pants. They have a double seat and knees. The knees have inside vertical "pocket" openings to insert 5.11s optional 1/8" thick neoprene knee pads. Great for rock scrambling. The price is about $50. These are TOUGH pants.

The company makes "tactical" clothing for law enforcement agencies but all the stuff I've had from them is top quality.
These particular pants come in 100% nylon or 100% cotton.

Ho-hum, those look like some great pants for the price. I'll be heading to cabella's this weekend to see if I can find a pair of hunting pants that meet my standards, but those might be the fallback.

Enough people here seem to have good things to say about getting reinforced knees (though I'll avoid ironing onto nylon ) that I'll definitely be getting some for this season's major camping.

I've always liked Railriders and they offer a couple of styles with reinforcement. Just had a wonderful customer experience with them that makes me a devoted customer. I wear their Backcountry Khakis as an all around pant and had the button fall off. I contacted them asking if I could get a replacement button so I could repair them and they sent me a new pair of pants. The day those showed up, the button fell off another pair. So there's obviously a button problem going on here. The new pair uses a sewed on button that would have to rip off and can't fall apart. I thanked them for the new pants and let them know about the second pair but told them I wasn't looking for a replacement pair. They still offered, but I declined as it seemed overkill for a button and they had already done it once. Anyway, to me that is some pretty awesome service. Super durable pants -- other than that round of defective buttons.

300mag.
Do you have a source for the 5.11 nylon canvas pants, I thought they stopped making them, my favorite as well.

Best reinforced knee hiking pants I've seen are L.L. Bean Timberledge pants, hands down. The construction and design are worth the money.

Just wanted to report - I decided on a pair of cabella's camo pants. These aren't exactly the model, but it's the closest I could find online. They were $49 on sale this summer, and I can't say enough good things for them.

Extremely light compared to my LLBean convertible pants, dirt resistant, near silent in the woods while hunting/stalking. The permethrin coating was also super effective, once it wears out, no harm, since I didn't buy them for the permethrin. I liked the pocket setup, and the reinforced knees, while not as thick as I would like in colder weather, were exactly right for the month-long wear I gave them.

I also learned something I'm sure most people here already exercise, which is discipline in packing clothes - I brought a pair of LLBean convertibles out for the 30 days in the bush, and found that they were truly extra weight. Lesson learned the hard way. (especially when I considered that I had long johns, and rain pants, and gaiters - don't feel sorry for the extra weight in clothing, I brought it on myself and won't make that mistake again.)