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The original was posted on /r/linustechtips by /u/dbmeed on 2024-12-12 03:15:37+00:00.
I thought some of you might be interested in my thoughts and experiences. I doubt anyone outside of LTT staff has worn the same pair as much as I have.
As someone who wears cargo pants daily, I was excited when the LTT Cargo Pants were announced. I ordered a pair as soon as they were available. My order arrived Oct. 11, and I have been wearing them every day since - with the exception of perhaps 4-6 days. I am writing this review today because after 2 months of daily use, I am retiring them for the winter in favour of warmer fleeced lined pants during the sub-zero months.
TL;DR: Overpriced for what they offer, in my opinion. Good pants, but not recommended for hard use. Good overall fit, very comfortable, pockets are too small. They would be good pants for light duty, mostly office work.
Here's a photo album of what they look like today, plus a few pic from the past couple months:
A little bit about how I wear/use my pants for reference: I typically wear the same pair of pants every day, wash them when I get home from work, and hang them up to dry overnight, ready for the next morning. This habit has been on-going for the past 4 years; I have a very small apartment, and all I had to wash clothes was a portable washing machine that could only fit a single set of clothing at a time. I recently upgraded to a slightly larger, more modern machine, but my habit remains for now since the new machine can still only handle 2-3 sets of clothing.
I work in facility maintenance; my jobs include a healthy mix of trades - some light carpentry/electrical/plumbing, a fair bit groundskeeping, mechanics, metal fab/machining, pool maintenance, IT support, Audio/Visual, etc. Lots of exposure to grease, oils, and various chemicals; abrasion, hot metal sparks and slag, etc. I’m a fairly large guy - over 6’ pushing 300lbs. I am tough on my clothing - a pair of Dickies cargo pants from Walmart typically lasts less than a month with my habits. I’ve tried a number of different brands - Carhartt, Helly Hanson, Dakota, Timberland - but my favourites so far are Duluth Trading Co Fire Hose pants, so those are what I’ll be comparing the LTT pants to. I have a number of different Duluth pants, but the closest I have to the LTT pants are the DuluthFlex Fire Hose Cargo Pants
Finally, my thoughts: At first, I wasn’t sure if I liked them. They fit well and were very comfortable, with lots of stretch and mobility. The pockets are a different style than I’m used to, and much smaller - my iPhone 14 Pro doesn’t sit nearly as deep as I like and I was worried about it falling out, especially when driving lawn mowers/tractors/backhoe etc. The belt loops seem flimsy - much thinner than I’m used to. I had one break, and others are showing signs of breaking soon. I wouldn’t suggest using the hammer loops for any framing hammers or larger - maybe they would work for some small body work or machinist hammers.
The material otherwise seems nice - it has good flex, reasonably abrasion resistant, though I didn’t test it much against heat - only occasional grinding and a little bit of welding. It is quite a noisy material, which is not normally a problem, but very noticeable out hunting. So far theres only a couple tears - one in the right knee, and another just starting on the rear. The edges of the pockets are starting to fray some, but nothing bad yet. They’ve collected quite a number of stains, despite daily washing. I’ve tried some stain remover, but so far they are quite stubborn. Ive also noticed they seem to have faded quite a bit - I’m not quite sure how much without a new pair to compare against, but there is a noticeable colour difference between the inside of the pockets and outside now.
Despite my reservations about their size, I did really enjoy the pockets. My typical EDC includes: top right hand pocket: earpro, leatherman, pocket knife; front right pockets: LTT screwdriver, knipex cobras; top left pocket: phone, flashlight; left front pocket: pager; left cargo pocket: iso-tunes; right rear pocket: truck key; right cargo zippered pocket: wallet; right belt loop: keys. The abundance of pockets let me keep spots open for other tools as needed. I really enjoyed the front pockets - they are perfect sized for screwdrivers, wrenches, and pliers, without falling down and getting lost. i just with the main top left and right pockets were deeper, and the main compartment of the cargo pockets was larger. For reference, with my Duluth pants, I can fit an iPad in the cargo pockets.
I was initially skeptical about the magnetic pocket closures, but I will admit they are nice - though maybe not for me at work. I like the snap, and I like that I don’t have to peel my socks off the velcro after washing, but for me, they tend to collect a lot of metal shavings. Mine seem to be permanently stained with metal now. That said, it hasn’t had any effect on their function so far.
Overall, I would say they are nice pants, but a tad overpriced and not designed for my use case. I don’t plan on buying another pair. They seem much more targeted to someone in an office job, with not a lot of physical abuse/wear and tear on their clothing. If there was ever a heavy duty version released, I would be very interested in trying those out. Some improvements I would like to see in such a pair: larger pockets, thicker/heavier fabric; built-in kneepad slot, heavily reinforced belt loops, crotch gusset. A fleece lined option might be nice for these Canadian winter months too eh?
Once it warms up again, I plan to continue wearing this pair until they fail completely.