"These pants are made for working, and that's just what they'll do," it says in the catalog, and that is no shit. These pants are vastly sturdier, longer-lasting, more comfortable and beautiful than jeans. They have pockets below the knee that accommodate their custom-fitted light-weight kneeling pads. Those pads alone are worth the $60 price. I never realized how often around the house, tractor, and woods, I found myself holding my body at an uncomfortable, back-stressing angle until I had these pants that made kneeling easy and restful. They have pull-out pouches for nails or screws that are reverse slashed so you can get into them with either hand. In a marvelous example of intelligent design, these hang outside--unless, if they're not full, you want to tuck them inside the regular front pockets. An array of other pockets can hold everything from a cell phone to a wrench. They're the ultimate cargo pants.

A word of caution: I had to send my first pair back because I was fantasizing about my waist size, using the size from my last pair of jeans. These pants are brutally honest, and they want to fit up around your belly button, which is a problem if you no longer have as much of a waist as you did when you were 23, but like to think you do. So don't suck it in. Stand like you will be when you're holding a chain saw and when in doubt, buy one size larger. You can always burn the tag.

For this and other extraordinarily desirable gear, go to my favorite wish book, the Duluth Trading Co. catalog.

-- Joel Garreau

Skillers Duckweave Pants
$70
Duluth Trading Co.