Wow, I was hoping these might be a nice replacement for my old Sears Roebuck work pants ($18 and discontinued, sadly, in 2005). But for $60 I think I'll pass!

I still can't believe that Sears quit making their work pants. What a shame. I've tried moving on to Dickies but they aren't as comfortable by a long shot... and they look like work pants, where the Sears pants looked more like nice slacks.

The reviewer on Amazon flamed these pants for being "poorly constructed," and said that the company had poor service. That makes me balk even more at the $60 price tag.

I have never tried their pants, but I've been wearing one of their jackets for about 2 years. I have never come close to filling it, but its comfortable, warm, and I can fit a 12" laptop in one of the pockets. They spread the weight of carrying a lot of gear very nicely.

I have been using the SCOTTEVEST Ultimate Cargo Pants as my only pairs of pants for about 4 years now. My only major complaint would be that the pants could be more durable. My only minor complaint would be that the magnets used to secure some of the pockets could be stronger. The only reason I have to replace the pants are because of holes that develop; sometimes in the seast, sometimes around pockets that have items in them. The pants are lightweight and Teflon coated, which is great, but having reinforcing the seat and the pockets would probably go a long way to making these pants last forever. That said, I only have to replace about two pants per year, so that's not too exorbitant a cost to always have all the stuff I want with me at all times. As far as I know, these are the only pants currently available that can hold all the stuff that I want to carry with me at all times, without resorting to a man bag/murse/whatever.

In case you were curious, here's what I carry in my pants at all times: A Rite in the Rain all-weather notebook, SureFire E2D LED flashlight, two extra CR123A batteries for the flashlight, a SureFire EWP-01 pen, Verizon MiFi, iPhone 3G, Palm Pre, wallet, car key, house keys and peanut lighter on a mechanic's cable key ring, Leatherman Surge multitool, Kershaw Leek folding knife, Panasonic DMC-TS1 camera, Corsair Survivor flash drive.

Probably not in the same league as far as capacity, but, REI Adventure Pants has zippered on-seam pocket, below the normal trouser pockets. It has cargo pants utility, but, look like conventional pants. Great for traveling. They retail for $47.

I hate to be a negative nancy, but a magnetic closure on an opening through which I'll be repeatedly shoving train cards, credit cards, and ID cards is a *poor* idea. The payment cards for the BART train in the Bay Area (CA, USA) get demagged just by sitting next a phone for a minute or two (because of the magnet in the phone's speaker, I've been told).

Perhaps they should consider Velcro, or a nice easy pair of snaps.

@6: George, I've not tried the cargo pants yet, but I've been wearing the SEV vest and jacket combo for a couple of years now.. I've not had any failures due to the magnetic closures, including some really lightweight hotel keycards. In the breast pockets, especially, everything passes next to the magnets several times a day, and sits in proximity the rest of the time. Maybe I'm just lucky, but after the first month of worrying about it it's been a non-issue.

So how do these compare to 5.11's Covert Khaki Pants?

You got more stuff in your pants than I have in my car!

William: did you forget the Red Rider BB gun?

I own these pants, and I've been really pleased with them. They are available in longer inseams than many other brands, which is nice but adds $10 to the cost.

There are some minor issues but nothing deal breaking. - the drawstring waist cord disintegrated after two trips through the washer. It is a fairly thick string but must have been made out of a really cheap cotton, had a tensile strength of maybe 5 lbs. I braided some paracord and pulled it through and it's worked very well since.

The only other issue I notice with these pants is that the finish is not what I would expect. I continue to find little strings and ends hanging off the stiching, even after wearing them for months. I don't mind, since the stiches are very solid and it is a cosmetic rather than structural issue. Besides, it allows me a chance to use some of the multi-tools I carry around to cut the threads.

I have never had a problem with the pocket magnets and magstripe cards, but don't expect to be able to use ALL the pockets - the zippered inside pocket is hard to access since the zipper pull is tiny. The main pockets (the long one) have a divider at the bottom which sort of splits it into to seperate pockets - so they count those two as being four. Depending on what is in the smaller standard pockets, the deep pockets can be hard to access, so don't keep anything you'd need in a hurry in them.

So my question is this: are the pockets stitched into the legs?

I suppose it's easier to describe the reason for this question if it's not clear what I'm asking. Normal jeans or shorts have basically "bags" sewn into them, which function as pockets. These "bags" swing freely versus the fabric of the leg areas. Often I have heavy things in the pockets of my regular shorts or jeans. When I sit down, these "bags" of stuff slide to the outside of my thighs, and eventually end up wedged between my leg and the chair. This is infuriating. I have some army pants, which instead of having "bags" sewn in, they create pockets by sewing a patch of fabric on TOP of the leg area, meaning that the pocket is immobile as compared to the rest of the pant. Perfect! but kind of ugly.

So, do these pants have pockets that can move around by themselves, or are they affixed to the pant fabric?

After reading this review, I order both a pair of the hidden cargo pants (cotton, in black) and the travel pants (supplex, in olive). They arrived a few days before an October trip to Japan and Korea. The hidden cargo pants rocked. I wore them every day for two weeks, and always had my iphone, passport, local money, credit cards, bandanna, phrasebook, and packet of tissues on me. They looked better than any other pair of pants I could have brought. They didn't look or feel baggy, but all the stuff in my pockets didn't ever bulge out or swing uncomfortably when I walked. I washed them once before the trip, and kept them clean using a small nail brush when I need to remove spots of food or dust. I wish I had brought a lint brush though, as the black cotton picks up, and holds, lint and cat hair. On the whole, I unreservedly recommend these pants for travel, at least when in warm fall temperatures. I don't know how they would handle hot, muggy weather.

The travel pants, on the other hand, I left at home. The main problem is that fabric. Nylon supplex is usually soft and a bit like cotton. Scottevest chose a version of it for these pants that has a slick, plasticky feel. The odd cut of the rear of these pants also looks odd, as if you are wearing some sort of diaper, at least when I try to look at them in a mirror. I'm going to get a second opinion before I decide whether to send them back.

jtodd-
In answer to your question: The Scottevest pockets are, as you describe, "bags" that hang inside the pants. However, they are very well-anchored to the seams at the waist band and the fly and do not move around. They stay put when you sit down. The deepest inner pocket is quite wide, so that it wraps around the side of your thigh. It has a bit of vertical stitching in it that divides the bottom of the pocket into two separate sections, a narrow one on the side of your thigh that is sized for a wallet or cell phone, and a wider one at the front of you thigh. This design works well when you sit, because it puts the bulkier items at the side, where there is plenty of loose fabric, rather than the top where the fabric tightens when you sit down. In some cases, you may find the items at the side press into your thigh a bit, but I took a ten-hour plane flight with my iphone in the side section of the deep pocket without any discomfort.

I forgot to mention two things about the hidden cargo pants. One is that the waste seems to be designed to be higher than other pants, particularly jeans, so I had to pull them up a bit to avoid feeling like the crotch was too low. The other is that they come only in black and "stone", a color that seems way too light for extended travel. They really need to add, at least, a medium gray color.

I have found the zippers to be really difficult.