Kit Review – Dickies Eisenhower Trousers

I was contacted by the Dickies Store guys recently and asked if I’d like to review some outdoors trousers. Dickies is well known for workwear, starting in the USA almost a hundred years ago (they also have a bit of cult status and links into the skater  community I believe). And they also offer outdoors clothing which I wasn’t actually aware until I was contacted.

I opted for some Eisenhower multi-pocket trousers. As the website says, the trousers incorporate something called Cordura – it’s a new nylon-based fabric that’s found in military clothing e.g it’s tough.  I must have a bit of a military / nostalgia thing happening as I remember wearing combat trousers on some youthful hikes with the old man, so these appealed for that reason.

And they also have loads of pockets which I thought would suit me for the phone, dog treats, map or map extract, tissues, jelly babies (afraid so) etc I always have with me even on shorter hikes with the hound.

Dark Grey Dickies Eisenhower Multi-Pocket Trousers hiking Hike

And the final thing that caught my eye was the reinforced knee area.
I’ve actually worn a hole in the knee of one of my existing hiking trousers because I take lots of photos when I’m out – and the millstone / sandstone in these here hills and moors isn’t too forgiving when you kneel on one knee to get a great shot of the dog next to a cairn etc! (You can actually get optional knee pads to insert in the Eisenhowers (for workwear usage) but I didn’t need those.)

I’ve worn them on three trips out now and yes one was taking a few shots on millstone edge, so some kneeling down on the stones and not a scuff in sight.

I couldn’t see a full spec on the website and I was curious about weight – so I weighed them as a comparison against  my Craghopper trousers. The Craghoppers weigh in at 580 grammes but the Dickies, for all their chunkier look and the Cordura fabric; are only 800 grammes. Which isn’t a massive difference in my mind. Maybe I’d notice that more on a hot day of course but the Cordura tag on the trousers stating ‘lightweight strength’ is a fair claim I think.

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