Does anyone know of a very good, tough, waterproof winter pant?

Question

I am a guide for dogsled trips and the North Face Hyvent (men's Freedom, I believe) pants I bought a year ago are nearly comlpetely in shreds. Where my boots slide by each other as I walk, the reinforced cuffs are worn through. From climbing in and out of sleds and kneeling to care for the dogs the crotch has split. The knees are worn thin from being dragged along hard packed (icy) trail when I've had to dive for participant's loose sleds. And then there was that incident with a snow hook...

Am I stuck with buying new pants each guiding season, or does anyone have a good suggestion? (By the way, my North Face jacket has been working out just great!)

Answer 1

I would go with a high quality snowmobiling pant. I have a pair of Slednecks pants and they are great. They are very durable and should not wear out on you. Here is the link to their website.

http://shop.slednecks.com/

Answer 2

Force nine work pants from Duluth Trading Co might do it. If you don't need the water proof (or don't mind doing your own), they have great Firehose fabric pants that are very tough

http://www.duluthtrading.com/search/sear...

http://www.duluthtrading.com/search/sear...

Answer 3

North Face is a very good brand and I'm surprised you have worn out your pants like that.  You are one tough girl.......are you single? LOL  j/k  I personally have the Freedom pants and I love them, but I only snowboard, so it works very well for that, so I don't know.  If North Face can't handle the demand, I don't know what other pants can.

Answer 4

I have a pair of snow pants i bought from ski doo. The kind that have straps over the shoulders meant for a coat to be worn over. They cost me $200 but, they have lasted 5 years. I go snowmobiling almost every weekend of the winter season, out in the snow all day. They have kept me dry even through the wettest conditions. I can sit in the snow for 8 hours and they still do not get wet inside. The knees are pretty durable.... from years of bending down and kneeling down to unstick snowmobiles they are still doing great. The best investment in snow pants i have ever made.

Answer 5

You'd definetely want snowmobile pants over ski or snowboard pants.  North Face snow pants are excellent pants, but they are more meant for skiing, snowboarding, or regular winter wear.  They just aren't meant for that kind of wear & tear!

There are many great brands of snowmobile pants/bibs to choose from.  Choko, Coldwave, HJC are all really great brands.  The brand I'd recommend you look into is Klim.  Klim isn't your ordinary brand of snowmobile clothing, their apparel is designed for the most hardcore snowmobiler.  Klim jackets and pants are most rugged winter apparel you can buy.

Here are some links for Klim, Choko, HJC, and Coldwave.  

(Klim homepage)

http://www.klimusa.com/index.php?ctrl=sn...

(Klim retailer)

http://www.buyklim.com/

(Klim retailer)

http://www.helmetoutletusa.com/index.cgi...

(Choko homepage)

http://www.chokodesign.com/en/whatweare....

(Choko retailer)

http://www.chokoclothing.com/default.asp

Coldwave homepage)

http://www.coldwavesnowwear.com/

(Retailer for HJC & Coldwave apparel)

http://www.extragear1.com/get_dept_179.h...

Hope this helps.  There is also one more garment worth mentioning, I don't know if this might interest you, but it is designed for dog sledding in mind.  Its the Cabela's Trans-Alaska Suit.  

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templa...

Best of luck!!