For 10+ years, I haven’t worn any jeans. But in autumn 2019 the DUER All-Weather Denim Jeans arrived with me, and in the past two winters they have become my go-to trousers. So much so, that I am wearing it now since four months (and yes, that means it hasn’t been in the wash that long!).
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Since around 2008 I haven’t worn a pair of jeans. My last jeans were from an Italian brand, but even when I still owned them I didn’t wear them much. My trousers, or pants, whatever you like to call them, were made from another fabric than denim. Mostly Polyester, but also linen, cotton and other synthetic fabrics were what I liked to wear, and actually still do for most of the year. But in the autumn of 2019 the ∞ DUER All-Weather Denim Jeans appeared at my porch, and while I was sceptical at first - I love my Houdini pants to bits - I also was curious to try these jeans, as they feature a water repellant and breathable membrane underneath the denim fabric.
The denim fabric is what makes DUER jeans special, as it is not 100% cotton, but the fabric is called L2X Denim and consists of 70% Cotton, 28% Coolmax (that’s made from Polyester) and 2% Lycra. This makes the jeans more stretchy and rather comfortable to wear, especially for cycling. The denim fabric also has a Silvadur treatment, that’s a bacterial inhibition treatment to extend the time you can wear the jeans without washes. Right now, as depicted on the photos in this article, the jeans has been worn daily for four months without that it has been in the washing machine. My regular Houdini trousers I wear anywhere between two and four weeks, then it simply is too obvious that I have been wearing the pants for a long time because you can see dirt on them. These DUER All-Weather Denim Jeans have a quite dark fabric, which “hides” dirt easier, but it probably also helps that I usually wear them when it starts to get around 0°C and so there isn’t too much mud & dirt around - it’s pretty much all frozen when I wear them.
Because these pants have a membrane on the inside underneath the denim fabric - that membrane has a water resistance rating of 18.150 mm and a Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate (MVTR) rating of 13.000 G/M2/M24hrs - these are WARM 🔥 pants. It has to be -5°C or more and really windy for me to put on some ∞ long underwear on underneath them, for temperatures above that the pants are warm enough on their own for me. This makes them really great winter pants in my opinion, as this membrane in combination with the DUER L2X Denim is giving me a pair of trousers which keep wind and snow at bay and me toasty and warm, all while looking like a regular pair of jeans. I can not wear these jeans if it’s above 5°C, as then I simply run to hot, so for me this is a cold weather jeans. However, it is comfortable also when inside - the usual inside temperature in Finland is around 22°C - and if you’re not exercising on a bike indoors with these jeans on, then you should feel just fine - that’s where the breathability of the membrane comes in handy.
Alright, they only almost look like a regular pair of jeans, as they have some smart details which make them stand out a wee bit. One detail is the reflective DU/ER logo font on the inside of the trouser legs (it’s called a cuff, I’m told =), which makes you more visible in traffic in the dark. This is a wonderful detail and really useful in dark Finland & Scandinavia, and once you’d arrive at the office, library or Café you could just roll the trouser leg down to hide the reflective detail again. Me, I keep them up, all the time. The pants are a length of 32” and rolled up it’s the perfect length for me, and stops just around my ankle.
There’s also a reflective logo patch at the waistband, so in case you aren’t wearing a reflector like every smart non-suicidal person in the North should in winter, you also could be seen via it if you have your jacket that high up. I don’t but then I have a reflector or two on my jacket. Other features include triple stitched inseams, gussets and back rises, so during all that cycling nothing rips open, double layered back pockets which should be equally durable and long-lasting, and in case you’re wondering: Yes, this is a five pocket jeans, and I’m wearing mine in the Slim Cut (there’s a ∞ Relaxed Jeans available, too).
These are my go-to pants in winter, usually between late September and around late March, when it starts to get warm again. During these six-ish months I happily put on my DUER All-Weather Denim Jeans every day, and go cycling to the grocery store, walking and sledding with the kids, for a walk in the forest or visit a Café in town for a tasty coffee and some Pulla. They have great freedom of movement - they were made as a cycling jeans, after all - and look rather stylish, but the real selling point for me is that these jeans are made to be outside in cold weather, and that they don’t need to be washed that often. That’s good for the environment in several ways, and as these pants are made to last, I expect them to keep my toasty for another eight or nine winters!
If you’d like to grab a pair for yourself - they are available as a Men’s and ∞ Women’s version - order them either directly from ∞ DUER if you’re in North America, in Europe you can get them from ∞ Bergzeit and in Finland from Varuste.
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