I purchased a number of different quick dry pants for the June 28th, 2013 GORUCK Heavy event. I ended up returning all but the Triple Aught Design FORCE 10 AC pants which I ended up using for Heavy. I’ve never been so satisfied with a pair of pants in my life… and I truly wish they were appropriate attire for my day job. That’s right… if I could I’d wear these ALL THE TIME.
General Info
The motto of these pants is “Conquer land and water with our lightweight, quick-drying cargo pant.” To accomplish this Triple Aught Design has implemented the following features:
- Unrestricted Movement: A gusseted crotch provides freedom of motion.
- Ruggedness: Triple needle stitching on the in- and outseam and reinforced pockets and seat enhance durability.
- Accessibility: Eight pockets provide ample storage, including two hidden Passport Pockets on the rear interior to hold your personal documents discretely.
- Easy Repairs: The buttons are secured on nylon webbing with bartacks for greater staying power and include a slotted button that slides onto the webbing for quick repair in the field.
- Added Protection: Inserts at the knees accommodate T-Pro Armor Pads for increased protection and less strain on your body.
- Versatility: Drawstrings at the hem afford the operator enhanced flexibility by adjusting the pant length to their needs and environment, while the grommets in the cargo pockets enable drainage.
After owning these pants for a little over two weeks I can say that all of these features are present. The unrestricted movement is my favorite as it is truly unrestricted. I practiced Muay Thai for over a year and have a pretty high teep (front push kick.) In these pants I feel like I get the same movement as if I were wearing Muay Thai shorts… which is quite impressive. If you’ve practice Muay Thai you know that this is awesome.
Fit
The pants fit true to size. There are two things you need to know when sizing these. First, you’re buying tactical pants. You’re not buying weekend jeans or casual shorts so actually measure your waist and don’t get two sizes up because you like to wear pants low. That being said the waist on these pants does shrink a little after the first wash. I originally read that on Military Morons and it’s true. Size up if necessary but remember they’re tactical pants. I’ve worn these through a number of events now and washed them multiple times after each and they haven’t shrank any more than they did after the first wash.
Feel
When I purchased these I expected them to feel like someone cut up a rain jacket and made them into pants. This is not the case at all. These things are damn comfortable and don’t have the “swooshing” sound that you would expect from something that is 100% nylon. They feel more like sweatpants than jeans… and I’m glad of that. I really would not mind wearing these every day of my life I am that impressed with them.
Durability
These things are durable. I gave them a test run two week before the event by taking them to the beach. There I did tons of PT in the water, swam in the water, and lots of crawling in the sand. The pants drained water like a dream and sand was incredibly easy to get out of the pockets upon standing up. Overall I couldn’t have been happier. These pants continue to be great through every event I’ve taken them through. They don’t have any holes or tears and I have given them QUITE the beating. Since the update I’ve used them in 3+ Challenges, 1 Heavy, and 4+ Lights. There’s just no stopping them.
Washing
Washing these can be a little tricky so make sure to read all the info here. There are drawstrings on the pants that you can tie to adjust the pant length. Make sure to tie these in a nice knot so that they won’t come undone in the wash. If they do come undone then there’s a great chance they’ll be ripped out and you’ll need to rethread them. This happened to me and I’ll eventually make a post on how to fix that. Besides that just put them in the wash and run on cold. The tag says that you can tumble dry low but I chose to hang dry them and that worked great.
Overall
Overall if you’re looking for a pair of pants for a GORUCK event then I cannot recommend these enough. They are light, durable, drain well, and overall awesome. Given the choice I’d buy them again in a heartbeat.
Events
GORUCK Heavy 009
I wore these pants during the Seattle GORUCK Heavy event. They were an absolute godsend for that. They dried quickly, expelled sand pretty well (better than most other pants people had), and didn’t tear or rip at all. It was a 90 degree day in Seattle and I did not overheat at all in these pants. I am so glad I purchased these and will recommend them to anyone looking for a pair of waterproof pants.
GORUCK Light 067
I wore these pants again in GORUCK Light 067 and they were phenomenal. We spent a ton of time doing PT in the dirt, grass, and asphalt which led to lots of skinned knees. We also spent some good time in water which sharp rocks which led to some nice cuts on knees. I can say that these pants easily saved my knees from all of that madness. This isn’t to say that other pants couldn’t save you as well but these are the pants I own so they’re the ones who saved me.
GORUCK Light 108
GORUCK Light 108 was filled with so much mud and water it almost became comical. Any time we found a water source some of us would have to go through it. We also crawled through a ton of grass and mud during the day. Lots of people who wore shorts ended up with cuts or serious bruises but I fared pretty damn well considering in these pants. I think I had one bruise on each leg but nothing terrible.
GORUCK Light 116
Used these for GORUCK Light 116 as well. Still no holes or issues with the pants at all. The one issue I DID have is that I forgot my belt and my pants started slipping down about halfway through. Gosh that was a serious pain so my advice is to always bring a good belt if you’re going to wear some pants.
Odd question but what do you wear under these (or pants in general) during events? I’ve had some guys say go commando, some people wear gym shorts under their pants, some wear long spandex or something. Just curious what everyone else is working with
I go with some light weight mesh boxers… something loose. I’ve been using the same pair of exofficio boxers since 2011 or so. I hear the quality might not be as good now with them as they were years ago but I don’t have any experience with that. Hope that helps!
Tonight is my first night wearing them. The material bears a striking resemblance to my Army PT Shorts which I am wearing underneath (I was going to run in a bit). Dude, these things are awesome and I bought them solely because of your review. Thank you. Anything to say about their shorts version?
I’ve been meaning to pick up a pair for casual wear. I only wear pants at GORUCK events now but I know some people who wear the shorts version of this during them. If I end up picking some up I’ll make sure to let you know what I think.
Also, I’m glad you like the pants!
i’m on the fence whether to wear shorts or pants for my upcoming GRC. I like what i’m hearing on these pants. My main concern would be sand trapped inside the pants that leads to chafing. Can you comment on whether the pants kept sand out and if not, how easy was it to get out.
Thx
I’ve only done one event that involved a sandy beach and some sand did get into the pockets. It wasn’t too difficult to empty the pockets out while moving so that wasn’t much of an issue. I didn’t have any issues with sand getting trapped between the pants and my legs but we didn’t do more than a hundred meters of crawling on the beach so I can’t say for certain how that would have worked long-term.
Great site and thanks for the review! Bought a pair of them and will test them in Dublin!
Thank you and awesome! Let me know what you think!
Can you tell me how to fix the drawstring?
Yes… I really need to make a post on that. Long story short get a bobby pin or similar thin, long piece of metal and tape the drawstring to it. Then stick it in one of the holes and push the bobby pin through and out the other side. I’ll get pictures posted in the next day or so!
Great site! I am torn between getting the TAD pants or a pair of Crye Precision. I want a pair that will hold up for several GRC and a Heavy. Any input on the Crye vs Tad?
Thanks
-Armandi
I’ve only seen the Crye pants but have never worn them. They seem like great quality and I think they’d hold up very well over multiple GRCs. The TAD pants I used were excellent and held up through a 26 hour GORUCK Heavy without getting a single tear or hole. I’d say they are both great choices but I went with TAD because they’re about 1/2 to 1/3 of the price of Crye which fit better in my budget.
Thanks for the comment and glad you like the site!
I see that the TAD are on sale this weekend. I’ll probably pick up a pair along with the knee pads. I’ve heard about some pretty torn up knees along the way.
Yes I would highly recommend the knee pads. I don’t actually own them but there were many moments when I wished I did. I’ll hopefully get a pair before my next event to see how they are. I emailed TAD about them previously (and how they did with water) and they said that they “…recommend using the standard Knee Pads for best results with the Force 10 AC Cargo Pants. They are constructed with a very dense foam that will not absorb much water yet will provide comfortable protection to your knees.”
Thanks Brian!