Any solutions to prevent snow pants from getting scratched so esasily?

[zyzgerry]

Because I'm still practicing the heel side carves, I fall a lot. After a few days on the snow, I noticed my newly bought Gore-Tex snow pants started showing signs of damage (see the white section below).

My previous snow pants had the exact same problem, and eventually lost its waterproof-ness. I thought Gore-Tex will slow down this from happening, but I guess not really. 

So I wonder if anyone has found some solution to this? Anything on the market I can buy to mitigate this? Or if I take it to a tailer to sew a extra layer of something on top, what materials I should ask for - or is that gonna help?

[st_lupo]

That doesn’t look too bad, but this now a part of your life. Welcome!

Spend money on cordura fabrics instead of gortex.  Gortex is just a plastic membrane and will get eaten up in null.nix seconds after the fabric wears through.  I ate through a pair of Burton AK pants with goretex in two years.  Flylow Chemical pants are the only pants that have been significantly more durable than most for me.  Highly recommended!

[philw]

After a while you stop falling over. I can't think of a different answer.

[Corey]

I use plastidip spray on the knee of my pants and the hip of my jacket. Works well for this and if you take the time to carefully mask the border it looks decent. 

[Odd Job]

Nothing in the market will last you over 100 days if you drag. Afaik.

Just don't drag. Really hard.

[Corey]

1 hour ago, Odd Job said:

Nothing in the market will last you over 100 days if you drag.

Probably true. Have 30 minutes to reapply sometime in that 100 days? 

Shoe Goo seems to last indefinitely on snow if you can keep the edges stuck and don't mind how rigid it is and how it looks. 

Then again, 100 riding days for me is multiple years. 

[lafcadio]

I've found that 1000 denier Cordura reinforcements lasted about 100 days (spread over 4 years) before it finally wore through. The trick is finding someone skilled enough to perform the alterations. Many small local tailors are not skilled with performance fabrics. And those that are (e.g., https://bouldermtnrepair.com but looks like they're not longer doing repairs) charge high fees which may not make it worth the cost. 

If you know someone who can do the work or you can do it yourself, it might be worth it. The fabric can be purchased for a reasonable price online, but the labor can be very expensive. Shoe-Goo, Plastidip or other products that can be reapplied are definitely more cost effective, but they typically don't look as nice.

5 hours ago, Corey said:

I use plastidip spray on the knee of my pants and the hip of my jacket. Works well for this and if you take the time to carefully mask the border it looks decent. 

Corey, about how many days do you get with Plastidip before it needs to be re-applied? 

Edited March 12, 2023 by lafcadio
typo

[Odd Job]

Shoe goo will ruin fabric.

I buy gear that has free repairs. So I just have backup pants while I wait for the stuff to be repaired (for free). 

Edited March 12, 2023 by Odd Job

[Corey]

3 hours ago, lafcadio said:

Corey, about how many days do you get with Plastidip before it needs to be re-applied?

I haven't tracked. Probably 30+ days? My hip and knee don't have much pressure on them except for hero snow days, which is less abrasive than -30 cord. It lasts long enough that I don't really think about it.

I did clear on my previous pants, but just went with black on these orange pants as the clear looked a little funny. 

The EC guys were using some urethane casting stuff that sounded awesome but I ran out of desire to source it and this seems good enough. 

[west carven]

howdy

don't sit down you lazy bastard... just kidding... here in whitefish there is alot of oldtime skiers that wear butt flaps... here is a double butt flap... 

[Eastsiiiide]

Easy Peasy

Edited March 12, 2023 by Eastsiiiide

[st_lupo]

11 hours ago, Corey said:

I use plastidip spray on the knee of my pants and the hip of my jacket. Works well for this and if you take the time to carefully mask the border it looks decent. 

Is that spray-on Plastidip different than the other spray-on rubber paints?  It is a bit harder for me to get a hold of Plastidip but I tried a similar looking spray-on rubber paint that I could get locally on my mittens.  It probably lasted half a run before it turned into black ribbons. 

[Corey]

4 hours ago, st_lupo said:

Is that spray-on Plastidip different than the other spray-on rubber paints?  It is a bit harder for me to get a hold of Plastidip but I tried a similar looking spray-on rubber paint that I could get locally on my mittens.  It probably lasted half a run before it turned into black ribbons. 

That sounds less good.  Sorry, I'm no chemologist. Though I didn't like Plastidip for gloves either. They contact more often and with more pressure than knees and hips for me. 

Here are two notes I saved from the old Bomberonline forum on reinforcing clothes - I believe from European people: (anyone clever enough to be able to dig those out of some archive?)

1. Biresin U1303A resin from Sika mixed with their U1402B hardner. Without any pigment, this will leave a milky white finish. Honestly, it looks like a white goo was spilled over you. Another alternative is Biresin U1406A + U1406B as it is more clear with an amber tint. I recommend just buying a few grams of paint pigment that match whatever you want to protect. If you are buying PU the seller should be able to recommend what pigment would work the best. Issue #1 with PU is with the minimum order. We had to buy a couple of kilos and split it up between us.

2. Maybe a US equivalent?  http://www.smooth-on.com/Urethane-Rubber-an/c6_1117_1148/index.html
 Full thread: http://forums.bomberonline.com/index.php?/topic/42738-beef-up-your-gloves-polyurethane-how-to/#entry434918

Plastidip is relatively cheap and available easily in Canada in spray or brush form.  About looks: I only use Shoe Goo for gloves/mitts. My non-alpine friends comment on how hideous the Shoe Goo is any time they see my mitts, but have never commented on the Plastidip on a jacket or pants. 

[SunSurfer]

Or you could buy a big pair of Cordura (or other tough material) shorts and wear them over your trousers. Think of the shorts as disposable. I often see ski racers with shorts over their race suits while training.

The ultimate cure is to improve/perfect your heelside turns. Wear pattern on the trou suggests "sitting on the toilet" on heelside. Look at the videos put up by @crackaddictfor an example of good carving technique in softboots at lowish binding angles.

https://www.youtube.com/@jamescherry6616

 

Edited March 12, 2023 by SunSurfer

[nextcarve]

Me and my carver friends use neoprene glue. The products are either SeamGrip or Aquasure/Aquaseal available in 8 oz tubes. Both are polyurethane based, flexible and yet very durable. It's transparent and glossy, so it gives your clothes sort of a BDSM look , while keeping the original color.

I use tape to mark out the ares I want to coat with it. It's easy to apply on clothes/gloves with a silicone spatula. After applying, let it dry a bit and take the tape away. Avoid contact with other surfaces and let it dry completely for about 2 days in a well ventilated room (has a strong, unhealty chemical smeel, till it's dry).

[Wolf]

There are those neoprene butt pads for sitting on wet chairs that strap around the legs as well as the waist.  Hot Buns and Dry Cheeks are brands I've seen.  They might protect the pants but will probably wear through even quicker than the pants.

[kitejumping]

Not at all an easy solution, but I made my own snowpants using 8oz DYN500 Dyneema fabric reinforcements for the higher wear areas (cant find it available for sale anywhere anymore), I expect them to last many seasons as that material is crazy strong (if you precut it, you can't even rip it by hand).  Neoshell with fleece for the rest as it is the most breathable best fabric for snowsports imho.  With that being said, I think it's common to trash a pair of pants when you are learning extra low or laydown heelsides with all the washouts that can happen as you learn the edge control and body positioning, but once you have them down trashing pants shouldn't happen that frequently.  I made these a year ago and they still look new after many knee brushes and butt skims on snow (although I already knew how to laydown heelsides with no butt skimming before using them and trashed another pair of pants learning those in the past). 

Edited March 13, 2023 by kitejumping

[zyzgerry]

9 hours ago, kitejumping said:

Not at all an easy solution, but I made my own snowpants using 8oz DYN500 Dyneema fabric reinforcements for the higher wear areas (cant find it available for sale anywhere anymore), I expect them to last many seasons as that material is crazy strong (if you precut it, you can't even rip it by hand).  Neoshell with fleece for the rest as it is the most breathable best fabric for snowsports imho.  With that being said, I think it's common to trash a pair of pants when you are learning extra low or laydown heelsides with all the washouts that can happen as you learn the edge control and body positioning, but once you have them down trashing pants shouldn't happen that frequently.  I made these a year ago and they still look new after many knee brushes and butt skims on snow (although I already knew how to laydown heelsides with no butt skimming before using them and trashed another pair of pants learning those in the past). 

Wow these look really awesome! Did you buy the fabric yourself online and asked a tailor to sew them onto the pants? Or did you DIY entirely?

I found something like this on Amazon, is this similar to what you used? I know almost nothing about fabric. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093Y3ZTGD/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by zyzgerry

[kitejumping]

I did it completely DIY, including making the pants, but I have experience making other gear and have an industrial sewing machine.  Cordura or nylon 1000 would probably work well too but might tear easier.  

[zyzgerry]

26 minutes ago, kitejumping said:

Cordura or nylon 1000 would probably work well too but might tear easier.  

Fancy! So is Cordura 500 or 600 Denier a slightly better choice? Not sure how the number going up/down affect the fabric's ability to endure abrasion.

[kitejumping]

Generally the higher the number the stronger and more durable the fabric will be, although that can change with fabrics that include things like dyneema or kevlar woven in.  

[Aracan]

If you can find Keprotec fabric anywhere, have someone who is good at it sew patches on the affected area. Keprotec wears very, very hard.

[philw]

10 hours ago, kitejumping said:

I did it completely DIY, including making the pants, but I have experience making other gear and have an industrial sewing machine.  Cordura or nylon 1000 would probably work well too but might tear easier.  

I still think dragging on the snow looks daft, but if people are going to do it, then maybe there's an opportunity for a custom clothing business...

[Corey]

11 hours ago, philw said:

opportunity for a custom clothing business...

See Pureboarding for some burly stuff if that's your bag. 

[John Gilmour]

I shoe goo  my gloves. If I use clear I tell the children on the lift that they are frozen boogers. If I use black, I put that on black gloves. 
 

 I’ve got this ancient jacket that I got for 100 bucks that has all these Capel girls on it. I didn’t think it would last me 20 days but so far it has survived since 2010 and for the last two or three years it’s been used almost every single day and it’s really thin fabric but it’s slippery. Just this year the feathers started coming out of it so I found some patching material and it’s still going strong. 
 

your cheap and dirty solution is to keep a roll of helicopter, tape, and some shoe goo. You can put the helicopter tape on when the pants are dry. It’s the same stuff they used to protect the carbon fiber helicopter blades on Apache helicopters during the gulf war conflict. Then I put a little bit of sugar around the edges of the helicopter tape it’s pretty durable. 
 

I had two Teslas both suffered a lot of rock scratches in high wear areas on the paint just above the lower body, cladding, and where the car flares in the rear. As well as the falcon wing doors. Paint protection film for my car would’ve run $5000 and at least $1000 if I want to do it myself but a roll of helicopter tape was only $60. It’s great stuff at the end of the season I just peel off the helicopter tape and throw it away, which is a lot cheaper than redoing your entire car in paint protection film.

 

, which is a lot cheaper than redoing your entire car in paint protection film

 

So I had a little bit of this left so I patched up some insulated snow pants with some severe damage - it even survive a few wash cycles ( no dryer).  Good luck .