Carbon Fibre + Dyneema® Pants

To make the Carbon Fibre + Dyneema® Pants we weave thousands of strands of both supermaterials directly into a lightweight base material of nylon and elastane. The Dyneema®, which is up to 15x stronger than steel, is woven horizontally. And the carbon fibre – which is normally used to reinforce components in missiles, jet engines and the world’s fastest cars – is woven vertically. Together they create a high strength, highly elastic ripstop that reinforces every square centimetre of the pants by increasing their tensile strength, abrasion resistance and elasticity.

More than a quarter of the pants are built from elastane, which is incredibly high. The only place you’d normally find this is in high performance compression gear. And it means the pants can stretch in absolutely every direction at the same time. 

The high strength ripstop works with the nylon base material to add high levels of abrasion resistance. The material scores over 100,000 revolutions on the Martindale abrasion resistance test, which is the same as our toughest 100 Year gear. Not only does this protect you and the pants from friction caused by impacts with rocks, trees and dirt, but it also makes them durable against regular wear and tear over time.

Every detail of the pants is designed for comfort. The pants are built with an elasticated waistband that tightens securely with a rubberised, metal tipped rope, and a zipped fly. Articulated construction at the knees will keep you comfortable anywhere, whether you’re running, climbing, or sitting on a long haul flight. We’ve coated the outside of the material with a water repellent treatment so that light rain rolls off its surface. And the pants are fast drying and breathable when you’re working hard.

You’ll find two zipped side pockets that are completely concealed behind the high strength fabric – only the grippy rubber zip pullers are visible. You’ll also find two zipped pockets on the back of the pants protected by storm flaps.

While lots of the technology we use in our clothing is invisible to the naked eye, this time it’s really easy to see. The grid of white Dyneema® strands, and black carbon fibre strands, gives the pants a micro check pattern if you’re up close. From all other distances, they’re a plain grey, making them really easy to wear with a classic black or white t shirt. The grid also rises slightly out of the material, giving the pants a subtle textured feel on the outside.

Dyneema® is the single strongest fibre known to man today. If you’re into chemistry, it’s an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene that combines extreme strength with very low weight. Weight for weight Dyneema® is up to 15x stronger than steel. Which is why it’s used to make bulletproof vests, anti-ballistic vehicle armour for tanks, and the ropes used to tie down giant ships and deep-water oil rigs in violent, icy seas.

A single carbon fibre is a long, super thin strand of material around 0.005mm across and composed almost entirely of carbon atoms. These atoms bond together to form microscopic crystals that line up parallel to the length of the fibre. It makes the atomic structure of carbon fibre similar to graphite and graphene – with sheets of carbon atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern. And it’s the arrangement of the atoms that makes carbon fibre so strong for its size.

The material we know as carbon fibre is made up of thousands of these individual carbon filaments bundled together and protected by a coating. These larger carbon fibres are classified by how much pulling force the fibre can exert without breaking – known as tensile modulus. Whereas steel has a tensile modulus of around 29 million pounds of force per square inch (PSI), carbon fibre ranges from around 30 to 145 million PSI, which is 5x stronger than steel.

Carbon fibres are typically combined with other materials to make a composite. That’s why the classic image of carbon fibre is the black and grey checks on a bike frame or supercar. These are carbon fibres impregnated with a plastic resin and baked to create carbon fibre reinforced polymer. If your pants were made from that it would be completely solid, so we’ve done something different.