FL’s marketing staff would love that.
“Please buy our backcountry hunting pant*”
*absolutely not designed for backcountry hunting.
When I hear complaints about First Lite, it is almost always about a puffy jacket ripping when busting brush or wool pants not being as durable as nylon pants. Pretty unrealistic expectations, really. Would anyone that complains about wool pants failing faster than nylon pants also complain that a wool blanket isn't as durable as a nylon tarp? When has anyone felt a wool sweater was super durable like a Carhartt jacket?
At the end of the day, product users need to use a product within it intended parameters, especially when buying a special use/purpose built item. Wool pants are NOT thru-hiking pants, wool pants are NOT brush busting pants. What wool pants are intended for is sitting (old heavy Elmer Fudd pants) and for the use where their quiet nature and scent control are advantageous like stalking close in on an animal. How much hiking do people do in the wool suit pants? We shouldn't fault a company just because they didn't dumb down their product description even further. I guess in this age of victim-hood and big government we are getting used to expecting other people to be responsible for our own lack of common sense. I am not bashing anyone specifically but some personal accountability is necessary. Yes sometimes companies come out with a poor execution of a product but all too often it is simply easier, mentally, to blame big brother than take responsibility for lack of critical thinking.
Wool and anything termed "light weigh" such as puffys or ultralight raingear are not intended as an outer layer resistant to snagging and abrasion. If the special features aren't important there are standard options readily available, Heck this abrasion resistance is the very foundation of Levi Strause Co and the popularity of denim pants. But I don't suppose those complaining about wool pants feel denim fits their needs. Nylon is the denim of our time.
As a middle aged guy, we never had any of this great gear when I was a kid. We just were resigned to the fact we would get cold even with a dozen layers on and cold/wet feet were just a certainty of the adventure. I think we should be thankful for the people and companies that are putting out products for our limited segment of use. Realistically, for a clothing company, there are not a lot of people in the world that need to buy a pant that excels at scent control, is ultra quiet and breathable yet warm while using a material that has a shorter life and is more fragile than modern fabrics. 999/1000 will want a more durable pant instead of scent control or ultra quiet. Thankfully companies in the hunting industry, like First Lite, continue to update and improve their products to match the needs of the American hunter.
Clearly, we see changes every year. The First Lite umpronoucable jacket seems to be reinforced this year in an effort to avoid some of the complainers using it as a hard outer layer. This comes at a weight penalty. Reinforcing shins, cuffs and crotches of wool pants will likely increase their noise level on a stalk. Will the increased noise kill the purpose and therefore sales, maybe. General purpose items do a lot of things well but nothing great. Special purpose items do something excellent but most things mediocre/poorly and so should be saved for special use.
