Bramble proof (and barbed wire too!)

[k9wazere]

Hey there,

Google brought me to a thread on this very topic from 2009, but it's a tad out of date now Back then, Cactus Supertrousers could be bought for £86, today it's more like £186, which is out of my price range (£86 would have hurt!).

As with many people I suspect, I started off with Craghoppers Kiwis. The old version was actually a really nice casual outdoor trouser, but when I started doing off-trail exploration, the brambles made a mockery of my legs (tho the trousers themselves miraculously avoided too much damage).

After a bit of research, my next purchase was some 5.11 Taclites. They were a total waste of money, as far as brambles go anyhow. No doubt they are nice trousers, and the pockets are great, but the brambles shredded them the very first day I wore them outside. A couple months later some barb wire completed the task, and they are now torn up pretty bad (as my botched stitching job will attest to ).

The 5.11 Taclites were £50 ish, and I'm guessing I'll need to spend more than that to get something truly "bombproof". Up to £100 would make me wince but I'll take the pain if they'll last forever. Over £100 and I'd seriously question my sanity if I bought them Legs heal, after all, for free

PS The new Craghopper Kiwis are just bad So sad that they ruined a good product to save a few pence.

Cheers folks.

 

[bambodoggy]

Welcome to the forum friend

I have to say, you must walk in some pretty rough areas lol I wear shorts a lot of the time and don't seem to have too much trouble and we have some serious gorse around here (enough to slow the roman army down as they passed by here). Have you thought outside the box a little....maybe a pair of thick canvas gaiters, or even a thick pair of leather chaps (trying not to think YMCA here) failing that, if it's really as bad as you say, maybe invest in a petrol strimmer or brushcutter! Lol

Hope that helps,

Bam.

 

[sunndog]

Stick some wax cotton chaps in your bag for when the going gets tough.....bugger spending big money on trousers

 

[British Red]

You need to wear heavyweight trousers for rough work. Why buy 5.11 Taclites when you could have bought their ripstop TDUs? I wear 5.11 TDUs for putting up barbed wire, hedging, bramble bashing, cutting down 20' blackthorns, gardening, feeding stock etc. Each pair averages 250 hard days work or more and I have never paid over £40.

If you need tougher than their TDUs, buy chain mail.

 

[k9wazere]

You need to wear heavyweight trousers for rough work. Why buy 5.11 Taclites when you could have bought their ripstop TDUs? I wear 5.11 TDUs for putting up barbed wire, hedging, bramble bashing, cutting down 20' blackthorns, gardening, feeding stock etc. Each pair averages 250 hard days work or more and I have never paid over £40.

If you need tougher than their TDUs, buy chain mail.

The Tac Lites are ripstop too :/

http://www.511tactical.com/taclite-pro-pants.html

The brambles tore a 5" parallel rip in the butt area, the barbed wire cut two clean 3" holes in the knees. I'm not sure what ripstop is supposed to do, whether it did in fact stop the rip from being worse, but it wasn't tough enough to resist the brambles or barbed wire (wasn't really expecting them to reists barbed wire tbh).

My main beef with them was that they let the bramble barbs through and my legs continued to look like I'd been flogged.

As to why I bought the Taclite Pros... they came highly recommended for their anti-bramble properties

 

[k9wazere]

Welcome to the forum friend

I have to say, you must walk in some pretty rough areas lol I wear shorts a lot of the time and don't seem to have too much trouble and we have some serious gorse around here (enough to slow the roman army down as they passed by here). Have you thought outside the box a little....maybe a pair of thick canvas gaiters, or even a thick pair of leather chaps (trying not to think YMCA here) failing that, if it's really as bad as you say, maybe invest in a petrol strimmer or brushcutter! Lol

Hope that helps,

Bam.

Fiskars Brush Hook... check (not used in anger yet, just got it )
Canvas gaiters... check. These are great, do the job perfectly, but my thighs still get torn open.

Btw we're talking Cornish brambles that are fully established They are fed on mine waste, with arsenic and all sorts of other poisons. This makes them angry. Angry and hard as nails. They grow up with a deep seated hatred of human legs. All they want to do is maim and tear and scratch and trip you up.

Beware the Cornish bramble, my friend.

 

[woof]

Stick some wax cotton chaps in your bag for when the going gets tough.....bugger spending big money on trousers

Yep plenty of these cheapish on ebay its what I use.

Rob

 

[Retired Member southey]

Marks and spencer moleskin teousers. They fit great. Dry well. Look great after a weeks wear, and shrug off thorns, brambles, climbing over barbed wire fences and gates. And best of all about £35 a pair. Currently wearing some nice moss green ones (and suspenders)

 

[British Red]

The Tac Lites are ripstop too :/

http://www.511tactical.com/taclite-pro-pants.html

The brambles tore a 5" parallel rip in the butt area, the barbed wire cut two clean 3" holes in the knees. I'm not sure what ripstop is supposed to do, whether it did in fact stop the rip from being worse, but it wasn't tough enough to resist the brambles or barbed wire (wasn't really expecting them to reists barbed wire tbh).

My main beef with them was that they let the bramble barbs through and my legs continued to look like I'd been flogged.

As to why I bought the Taclite Pros... they came highly recommended for their anti-bramble properties

Rip stop means that it stops a rip continuing. The clue in Taclite is the word Lite. They are a lightweight trouser, wholly unsuitable for working with brambles. I am honestly amazed if you really thought they would be puncture proof. They aren't made of mithril! If you want somthing that stops heavy thorns getting through at all, heavy leather is about it.

 

[British Red]

Marks and spencer moleskin teousers. They fit great. Dry well. Look great after a weeks wear, and shrug off thorns, brambles, climbing over barbed wire fences and gates. And best of all about £35 a pair. Currently wearing some nice moss green ones (and suspenders)

I do hope you mean braces!

 

[Retired Member southey]

Maaaaaaaaybeeeeeeeee.

 

[k9wazere]

Yep plenty of these cheapish on ebay its what I use.

Rob

Do these chaps make one impervious to brambles?

I mean, I'd like to wade through a fully overgrown patch of land (with brush hook), and come out with legs as soft as a baby's bum. Is that too much to ask?

 

[k9wazere]

Marks and spencer moleskin teousers. They fit great. Dry well. Look great after a weeks wear, and shrug off thorns, brambles, climbing over barbed wire fences and gates. And best of all about £35 a pair. Currently wearing some nice moss green ones (and suspenders)

The Blue Harbour ones are on sale atm.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/regu...155518?mfPartNumber=T170403B&carousel=ASPV_RR

Are these the ones then?

 

[Squidders]

chainsaw trousers.

 

[Coldfeet]

OP what size are you? I have some black TDU trousers in XL for sale here: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126740

 

[sunndog]

Do these chaps make one impervious to brambles?

I mean, I'd like to wade through a fully overgrown patch of land (with brush hook), and come out with legs as soft as a baby's bum. Is that too much to ask?

Pretty much yeah, I used to wear the lined ones on shoot days when you just have to push your way through where you need to go...no cutting down or walking around bramble patches

I can't imagine any normal trouser being proof against a big old length of bramble being pulled tight accross it. Heavy weight trousers might not rip
But the thorn is still gonna get through....mind you, a few scratches wont kill ya

 

[British Red]

chainsaw trousers.

Easy enough to rip them. I have.

 

[sunndog]

Easy enough to rip them. I have.

Yep, me too
I put some thin nylon chaps over the top to protect mine.

 

[British Red]

When you think about it, they have to rip to work properly

 

[sunndog]

Aye true, its still bloody annoying when you pay a fortune for a pair of trousers and snag em twice in a week on old barbed wire that some previous git left laying around