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Rant: Pants Scuff Guard Shred Rate

green26

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Paid big bucks (for me) for a very highly rated "Gucci" brand of Gortex pants, and the scuff guards are totally shredded after about 50 days skiing. Is this normal? 50 days, $450 pants? What are others experiences? Mine are dead. I know these are good pants, but is this the usual deterioration rate for top line pants? That's really expensive. Are there more bullet-proof brands out there? Am I just dreaming? Hopefully the company will be able to mend them.
 

coskigirl

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I think on some level this has to do with skiing style. If you tend to ski with a very narrow stance you'll end up with more cuts in your pants. I always end up with a few in even the best of pants. However, without know which pants you're referring to it's hard to say whether something is normal. When I think Gucci I think expensive but not necessarily great quality.
 

Monique

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I've always been impressed with Arc'teryx scuff guards. If that's the Gucci brand in question, you should call them. Their support is fantastic.
 
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green26

green26

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Hah! That cracked me up. They're Patagonia Untracked. As it is, they cost $5 per day. And okay I'll spread more.
no wait that's NINE dollars per day. Math is not my strong point.
 

ErikL

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My Marmot pants do well at not getting cut up. Of course, I only tuned my edges about once every ten ski days last season. :daffy:
 

LiquidFeet

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Paid big bucks (for me) for a very highly rated "Gucci" brand of Gortex pants, and the scuff guards are totally shredded after about 50 days skiing. Is this normal? 50 days, $450 pants? What are others experiences? Mine are dead. I know these are good pants, but is this the usual deterioration rate for top line pants? That's really expensive. Are there more bullet-proof brands out there? Am I just dreaming? Hopefully the company will be able to mend them.

Contact the manufacturer. Given who they are and how much you paid, they should stand behind their product.
I'd expect a replacement set of ski pants simply because in one season they are toast.

Do you ski with your feet very close together? Are the surfaces of your bindings cut up as well? If so, you might want to work on controlling your inside foot's behavior a bit more.

In my experience those scuff guards can be bullet-proof, but often they aren't.
 

fatbob

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50 days use if you ski in a style that cuts up pants is fair enough IMV. Bear in mind most ski kit is designed for people who put in 6-20 days a season tops. Within a year you might get warranty on them, and probably will cos they are decent company that cares about retaining rep but I wouldn't regard it as a right - I'd just get handy with the duct tape.
 

cantunamunch

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50 days use if you ski in a style that cuts up pants is fair enough IMV. Bear in mind most ski kit is designed for people who put in 6-20 days a season tops. Within a year you might get warranty on them, and probably will cos they are decent company that cares about retaining rep but I wouldn't regard it as a right - I'd just get handy with the duct tape.

FWIW I just went and looked at the Untracked pant - the scuff guards are barely heavier material than the pant itself. I'm thinking he should get a nice bolt of really heavy duty material and have someone with a sewing machine do 360 guards like on, oh, the Marker Pumphouse pant (to pick one at non random :) )

And, IMO, at least part of this is on the purchaser; the lack of durable scuff guards is pretty obvious even looking at website pictures.
 

cantunamunch

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I. When I think Gucci I think expensive but not necessarily great quality.

I admit I think the opposite - pretty good quality and simple lines styling, priced to be affordable luxury for lower middle class incomes. Which, of course, is exactly how they started (affordable luxury handbags for secretaries).
 

crgildart

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All Gucci is is a fabric pattern and marketing machine. Their various products are made by other contract manufacturing companies. Regardless, the quality is usually decent since they back them against problems short of intentional abuse or major accidents not the fault of the design or materials.

As for the pants.. Best to repair them so your brake doesn't catch on the holes. I use a folded piece of duct tape tucked to slip on the inside, then unfolded to patch inside with a little shoe goo at the seam/actual tear spot. That usually holds them for another season if I get lucky.
 

mdf

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Duct tape doesn't work. Use tent-patching material from REI or similar. Round off the edges before applying. I've lost track of when I did my pants, but it lasted at least 2 years, maybe 3 or even more, including washing them. It does need to be redone now.
 

crgildart

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Duct tape doesn't work. .

It doesn't on the outside, but does on the INSIDE UNDER the material... with shoe goo around where the hole is... practically invisible and no way to knock it off because it's not on the outside.
 

Philpug

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It is a balance of comfort, durability and style. Sharp metal edges versus material, the material will loose almost every time. There was a time when clothing manufacturers used either plastic or a rubber material to protect the cuff but that was also a time as @ScotsSkier skier said, we skied like Stein. But skiing bumps and some terrain does require a narrower stance from time to time and rips happen. I have seen cuts/slashes on some of the most durable pants like Flylow's Chemical Pant.
 
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green26

green26

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Well - guilty. I mostly ski bumps, and my instructors tell me to widen my stance. inside of bindings also scrapped up. I'll send them back to Patagonia for repairs and if they can't do it will get someone to sew on something more bullet proof. Instead of duct tape, I use Gorilla tape on my gloves but even that comes off after a few days.
So I learn something new every day: the purpose of a wider stance is to save your pants! ;-)
 

fatbob

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I admit I think the opposite - pretty good quality and simple lines styling, priced to be affordable luxury for lower middle class incomes. Which, of course, is exactly how they started (affordable luxury handbags for secretaries).

Standard British Military derived slang for any expensive and/or desirable non issue kit e.g. "those (Oakley) desert goggles are pretty Gucci"- I'd kinda assumed that English speaking military has appropriated the term elsewhere.
 

cantunamunch

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Standard British Military derived slang for any expensive and/or desirable non issue kit e.g. "those (Oakley) desert goggles are pretty Gucci"- I'd kinda assumed that English speaking military has appropriated the term elsewhere.

Sure. I'm just pointing out that 'Gucci' as adjective carries a lot more connotation than may be apparent on the surface. Including purchaser class, including styling pretensions, including quality (and lapses thereof) and including notoriety. So, for example, saying 'Gucci' to some consumers does mean 'luxury for someone on a typist's income' without the connotation of 'beyond reasonably expensive' that some USAians like to use the adjective for.

FWIW, quite a few of those connotations are detailed in Sara Forden's book.
 
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Monique

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The only Gucci I know of is PataGucci. Which is what I pictured the moment I saw the OP.
 

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