I’ve been a JLC devotee for most of my career. As a stroke of luck, I got invited into the club as an editor and I learned how the sausage was made. I was a semi-directionless guy trying to pay the bills with the wisp of skills I had, plowing through JLC’s grainy photos and learning about what we now call a drainage plane while discovering that a 22-foot roof requires a 28-foot extension ladder means you could get up–but not down–without near death. (I’ll get to the reliable work pants, but there’s a reason for this set-up. Give me a minute to explain.)
My primary influence was the tectonic Don Dunkley, author of many articles like Day One Framing and a progenitor of JLCLive!, where I was eventually a presenter.
If there is one word to say about Dunk–and there isn’t–it’s efficiency. In the article he wrote for me, one thing stood out above all others: A framer, he was ruthless in rooting out wasted motion or time. That stuck with me.
The notion is brilliant. I’d like to say it’s easy; it’s anything but. We all waste tons of time all the time.
Now let’s talk reliable work pants
That all brings me to the Brunt Workwear Martin pants I really like. They embody Dunk.
- There are no flaps, velcro, cargo, loops, pen holders, or a lick of wasted motion.
- All storage points are easily accessible, front and back.
- The belt loops make sense.
- Then thigh pockets are awesome for wallet, keys, phone.
- I didn’t know there is a hidden double knee layer, but there is.
- They fit and move when I move in all kinds of weather.
What I did during the testing period of these work pants
During the test period, I worked on a variety of projects.
Bathroom demo, decks, a dry stack stone wall, and snow removal, not to mention the many hours of windshield time I spend each week.
On one particularly low deck that had what I call “critter counter-measures,” I spent several days on my knees trenching around the bases of two 16×18-foot platforms integrating chicken wire with the deck structure, folding the wire such that sharps pointed out and a vertical leg shot up to the deck boards I wrapped the posts with “critter wall.”
The Martins, double knee or not, show no signs of wear. I also used them (with a base layer) doing snow removal on my tractor in 20-degree weather. In both cases, the Durable Water Repellent (DWR) finish provided a layer between me and being soaked. I didn’t know they had the DWR when I was wearing them, but, yeah. It’s noticeable.
For everything from crouching to shove snow off a stoop or pick up another scoop of shattered tile from a bathroom floor or sit in the truck running from home center to meeting back to current job, they’re comfortable. They bend, they flex. They breathe. And they aren’t a million dollars.
No motion wasted in delivering maximum motion. Dunk approved.
Get the Martin pants at Brunt Workwear. And tell them we sent you.
