RWT
WKR
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- Jul 4, 2022
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KUIU Pro Brush Pant Review
I believe you get what you pay for most of the time. This is a short review of the KUIU Pro Brush pant. I’ll provide Pro’s & Con’s with 1-5 rating system, with 5 being the best, and a use case for the item.
When this product was released, I lusted after them for a few months, but refused to pay the absurd price tag of $250 for a pair of pants that I would only wear 10 days of the year. That being said they were on sale this summer for $140 and I convinced the wife I needed a pair for my birthday.
Initial thoughts:
Upon receipt in late August, they looked awesome with a number of great features. More cool zipper pull’s than I knew what to do with. The fit was great – I am 6’0” 190lbs, 34” waist. I ordered the 34’s and they hung well on the back and hips. There was just enough room and stretch in the crotch to be comfortable and not skinny jeanish. As the pant styles changed over the years, I have noticed either the groin areas have reduced in size or as I get older everything else grew. There are numerous shorts and pants I just can’t wear as the term “Free Willie” is important to me. The Kuiu fit just well enough to not be a problem in this area. The thighs had enough room to slide and not be binding, the knees articulated well and the taper was just tight enough to avoid being swishy when you walk. The pockets are deep and you won’t lose any items from them. They are a little tight in the front pockets in that if you have to dig down for a set of foam ear pro, you can easily pull your knife out if it is on a pocket clip. The hip and crotch vents are well placed with good zippers considering how small they are. The pants came with suspenders and I wonder if these would work well with a pack. Let me see if they work for their intended Purpose first.
First Test:
I had a dove hunt coming up 10/1-3 and wanted to test them prior to the hunt, then spray them with permethrin to reduce the expected chigger invasion in the tall grass. I wore them to my place to check cows and want to see how they did with green briar. The result was not great, but not bad. I could tell I had thorns on my shins; however, they did not penetrate the material. The pants did not snag or fray and I consider that a middle of the road success. I had no red marks or indications on my skin that I walked thorough thorny brush. Truthfully the only pants I’ve ever had that you could walk through green briar and not notice it were the Wrangler Cordura fronts. Those are awesome brush pants, but very heavy and hot. I wish I still had a pair, but during a move the Goodwill goblin grabbed them. Besides they were just too hot and heavy for Texas bird hunts. My initial impression after a short first use is Durability= 5 the fabric did not shred or snag, Fit & Finish= 5 my ass looked great in them per the girl at the gas station and Intended Purpose=3. I could feel the green briar thorns, they didn’t tear into my skin, but I knew I had walked through them as the “feelings” of thorns were still there 15 mins later.
INSERT GREEN BRIAR
Real Test:
Dove hunting South Texas where EVERYTHING stings, sticks or bites you is where these pant should shine. See Kuiu marketing from their website:
Best Use: Extreme Terrain
Built for extreme terrain and thorny situations, the PRO Brush Pant is spec’d with puncture- and wear-resistant paneling for unmatched durability and protection. Features include hip and inner-thigh vents, removable suspenders, and concealed cargo pockets.
The weather was above average hot in the high 90’s. Thursday when I wore these pants during a high of 97 degrees, I though this is a perfect test for the vent zips. I can state the vents worked amazingly well. These pants were awesome with heat control. They were comfortable sitting with plenty of room to shoot sitting down. They slide well on the chair with enough stretch to not bind when getting up to shoot. I was very impressed with the heat control and stretch.
Now for the real test. After the green briar experiment I knew these pants would not protect me from mesquite, cat claw or guallio brush, but certainly they should be able to withstand sunflower and cockleburs as those thorns are tiny and not very long. Well, to put this into as few words as possible. MASSIVE FAILURE. These pants are absolutely terrible at protecting you from any type of tiny thorns. In fact, I found my $20 COSTCO pants much better at avoiding picking up thorns and providing a slightly better layer of protection. The Kuiu’s left my shins covered with red dots and scrapes from the tiny thorns. The pants held onto the thorns so as you walked you got to poke yourself again and again with them. On top of this, they held the thorns when you sat back down and you would miss opportunities on bird as you were busy pulling thorns out to avoid a repoking…….. I could not be more disappointed in these pants as “Pro Brush” is misleading. I’ve hunted in Wyoming and the Gila and the pucker brush would shred these pants IMO. There is NO WAY I am walking through mesquite fields or cactus flats with these pants.
Now I get to see if I remove all the thorns successfully before these go in the wash. Hopefully the blood stains will remove with a single wash and the thorns don’t become lose in the machine and end up in someones underwear as that would really upset the Mrs.
INSERT SUNFLOWER
INSERT PICS OF PANTS
Overall:
Pro’s:
Good fit – my ass looks better in these than in jeans
Do not Snag or fray easily
Very Comfortable
Great Heat control – no sweat dripping on the legs – excellent location of vents
Cool kid factor is very high, quite fashionable with great zippers and logo –
Well thought out pockets with great zippers
Con’s:
Do not perform as expected with brush or thorns
Value to Dollar ratio is very low- Costco pants performed as well for Intended Purpose of brush control. Costco sucked at heat control – legs looked like NFL linemen in August practices
Final ratings
Fit & Finish = 5 – One hard day of use and they did not stretch our or sag in any way
Durability = 5 for now. We will see if the wife can get the blood stains out of them with one wash – Material did not snag or fray at all
Intended Purpose = 1 – Seriously, these pants failed miserably at the intended purpose. Brush or thorn resistance fails in these pants
IMO these are awesome hot weather backpacking or hiking pants. They provide just enough protection to walk though NON thorny brush. The Costco $20 pants performed just as well and I could have purchased 8 pair for the price of these at the non-sale price point.
I could not recommend these pants for their intended purpose. I can recommend them if you want to impress your friends with how much you spent on a logo.
I believe you get what you pay for most of the time. This is a short review of the KUIU Pro Brush pant. I’ll provide Pro’s & Con’s with 1-5 rating system, with 5 being the best, and a use case for the item.
When this product was released, I lusted after them for a few months, but refused to pay the absurd price tag of $250 for a pair of pants that I would only wear 10 days of the year. That being said they were on sale this summer for $140 and I convinced the wife I needed a pair for my birthday.
Initial thoughts:
Upon receipt in late August, they looked awesome with a number of great features. More cool zipper pull’s than I knew what to do with. The fit was great – I am 6’0” 190lbs, 34” waist. I ordered the 34’s and they hung well on the back and hips. There was just enough room and stretch in the crotch to be comfortable and not skinny jeanish. As the pant styles changed over the years, I have noticed either the groin areas have reduced in size or as I get older everything else grew. There are numerous shorts and pants I just can’t wear as the term “Free Willie” is important to me. The Kuiu fit just well enough to not be a problem in this area. The thighs had enough room to slide and not be binding, the knees articulated well and the taper was just tight enough to avoid being swishy when you walk. The pockets are deep and you won’t lose any items from them. They are a little tight in the front pockets in that if you have to dig down for a set of foam ear pro, you can easily pull your knife out if it is on a pocket clip. The hip and crotch vents are well placed with good zippers considering how small they are. The pants came with suspenders and I wonder if these would work well with a pack. Let me see if they work for their intended Purpose first.
First Test:
I had a dove hunt coming up 10/1-3 and wanted to test them prior to the hunt, then spray them with permethrin to reduce the expected chigger invasion in the tall grass. I wore them to my place to check cows and want to see how they did with green briar. The result was not great, but not bad. I could tell I had thorns on my shins; however, they did not penetrate the material. The pants did not snag or fray and I consider that a middle of the road success. I had no red marks or indications on my skin that I walked thorough thorny brush. Truthfully the only pants I’ve ever had that you could walk through green briar and not notice it were the Wrangler Cordura fronts. Those are awesome brush pants, but very heavy and hot. I wish I still had a pair, but during a move the Goodwill goblin grabbed them. Besides they were just too hot and heavy for Texas bird hunts. My initial impression after a short first use is Durability= 5 the fabric did not shred or snag, Fit & Finish= 5 my ass looked great in them per the girl at the gas station and Intended Purpose=3. I could feel the green briar thorns, they didn’t tear into my skin, but I knew I had walked through them as the “feelings” of thorns were still there 15 mins later.
INSERT GREEN BRIAR
Real Test:
Dove hunting South Texas where EVERYTHING stings, sticks or bites you is where these pant should shine. See Kuiu marketing from their website:
Best Use: Extreme Terrain
Built for extreme terrain and thorny situations, the PRO Brush Pant is spec’d with puncture- and wear-resistant paneling for unmatched durability and protection. Features include hip and inner-thigh vents, removable suspenders, and concealed cargo pockets.
The weather was above average hot in the high 90’s. Thursday when I wore these pants during a high of 97 degrees, I though this is a perfect test for the vent zips. I can state the vents worked amazingly well. These pants were awesome with heat control. They were comfortable sitting with plenty of room to shoot sitting down. They slide well on the chair with enough stretch to not bind when getting up to shoot. I was very impressed with the heat control and stretch.
Now for the real test. After the green briar experiment I knew these pants would not protect me from mesquite, cat claw or guallio brush, but certainly they should be able to withstand sunflower and cockleburs as those thorns are tiny and not very long. Well, to put this into as few words as possible. MASSIVE FAILURE. These pants are absolutely terrible at protecting you from any type of tiny thorns. In fact, I found my $20 COSTCO pants much better at avoiding picking up thorns and providing a slightly better layer of protection. The Kuiu’s left my shins covered with red dots and scrapes from the tiny thorns. The pants held onto the thorns so as you walked you got to poke yourself again and again with them. On top of this, they held the thorns when you sat back down and you would miss opportunities on bird as you were busy pulling thorns out to avoid a repoking…….. I could not be more disappointed in these pants as “Pro Brush” is misleading. I’ve hunted in Wyoming and the Gila and the pucker brush would shred these pants IMO. There is NO WAY I am walking through mesquite fields or cactus flats with these pants.
Now I get to see if I remove all the thorns successfully before these go in the wash. Hopefully the blood stains will remove with a single wash and the thorns don’t become lose in the machine and end up in someones underwear as that would really upset the Mrs.
INSERT SUNFLOWER
INSERT PICS OF PANTS
Overall:
Pro’s:
Good fit – my ass looks better in these than in jeans
Do not Snag or fray easily
Very Comfortable
Great Heat control – no sweat dripping on the legs – excellent location of vents
Cool kid factor is very high, quite fashionable with great zippers and logo –
Well thought out pockets with great zippers
Con’s:
Do not perform as expected with brush or thorns
Value to Dollar ratio is very low- Costco pants performed as well for Intended Purpose of brush control. Costco sucked at heat control – legs looked like NFL linemen in August practices
Final ratings
Fit & Finish = 5 – One hard day of use and they did not stretch our or sag in any way
Durability = 5 for now. We will see if the wife can get the blood stains out of them with one wash – Material did not snag or fray at all
Intended Purpose = 1 – Seriously, these pants failed miserably at the intended purpose. Brush or thorn resistance fails in these pants
IMO these are awesome hot weather backpacking or hiking pants. They provide just enough protection to walk though NON thorny brush. The Costco $20 pants performed just as well and I could have purchased 8 pair for the price of these at the non-sale price point.
I could not recommend these pants for their intended purpose. I can recommend them if you want to impress your friends with how much you spent on a logo.
