SHTF Clothes

[ABR]

I've looked around the forum but have not found the answers I'm looking for so I figured I'd start a thread about it. I don't know if anyone has noticed but most clothing, including boots and shoes, is not very durable and does not last long these days(especially womens). Obviously when SHTF happens we will all likely have to make whatever clothes we have last for an indeterminate amount of time. Seasonal clothing like coats, long underwear, jackets and sweatshirts typically last longer because they're not worn daily, in most climates anyway.

I'm trying to accumulate some stock of good work/daily clothing that will last for a good amount of time before needing any mending and such. So far I've found Magellan(Academys store brand) fishing shirts and 511 Tactical pants to be both functional and durable. Boots and shoes tend to be incredibly hit or miss though. I am however looking for a few more options. What brands do y'all find to be the most practical and durable for daily wear?

 

[backlash]

There was a thread about this but I'm not sure where.
With all the clothing there is in the world I don't think it will be a problem post EOTW.
In America we throw away 13 million tons of textiles every year.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Wrangler jeans are the best I've found in all my years.
I have worn work boots ever since I got out of the Army 52 years ago. I mean, that's all. I do have one pair of cowboy boots I save for special occasions - they are 50 year old Redwings. And a pair of 60 year old Bass penny loafers. It's getting hard to find cobblers who will re-sole shoes anymore.
I don't even own a pair of sneakers.

Work boots, jeans, and Dickies work shirts are it for me. I do not care to go anywhere this is not "good enough".

As far as work boots, I have tried them all that are priced less than about $150. The longest lasting, most comfortable I've found are Georgia Boot 8" Comfort Core. They are made in the Dominican Republic instead of China.

For women, my wife swears by Arait Terrain boots as the best she's found for horse riding. And i assume they will be excellent for other activities too. I believe I'm going to buy a pair of these and give them a try. I've looked hers over, and they look like a good boot.

 

[Amish Heart]

If you work outside at all, you've probably figured out what works and what doesn't. We use seasonal clothing that makes sense for the job we're doing on the farm. I'm a big fan of muck boots in the winter, and rain jackets. It takes me at least an hour to get the animals taken care of every morning, rain or shine. Usually by the time I come in for lunch, between the animals and the garden, I am a dirtball mess. I go through at least two changes of clothes a day, sometimes three.

 

[Haertig]

Duluth Trading Company "Fire Hose" pants.

Most any jacket/coat that is made by Carhartt.

 

[Cascadian]

I have been wearing Carhartt pants for 6 years now, provided by work. We get new ones every year. I use the old ones at home. I would still go with them even if it was my dime. We live with 50 inches of rain. We have Carhartt storm defender rain jackets. We don't usually need anything heavier. Those have held up for several years of rough farm use. Muck boots are great and last several years of daily use. This year selection was terrible so we both got Dryshod. Again it's cold and wet for 6 months.

 

[Caribou]

Here is an old thread about shoes. You have four pages of wisdom about footwear.
https://www.homesteadingforum.org/threads/shoes.13173/#post-368804

 

[Grimm]

I have an unfair advantage in this area. I am a costume designer and I keep a rather large (enough for a large storage unit) stash of fabrics and notions. Patterns in an array of sizes and season types as well. I can also darn and mend clothing.

As for fast fashion (that is the term for modern clothing because of the turn over of styles and cheap fabrics) I aim for 100% natural fibers. Nothing in the pants department that has stretch or tight fitting.

To be honest good quality clothing will only take you so far. Knowing the proper care and maintenance of your clothing will help them last even longer.

 

[Aerindel]

I use Carhart for everything as it seems to be the mid point of cheap, yet good enough.

IF you have the budget, you can get Kevlar jeans and shirts intended for wild land firefighting that are pretty amazing. But not cheap. Kevlar is not only fireproof, its stain proof, very very tough, and extremely easy to clean, dirt almost won't stick to it.

I was lucky enough to have some, that I foolishly used for work clothes at a steel yard until they where eventually destroyed.

As for boots....I'm still searching. I've gone, high, $400 dollar Redwings, and low, $50 no name chinese tactial boots, and they all last me about the same time...a year. The Redwings die just as fast as the others...but at many times the price. But I use things really hard. Molten metal, sharp steel, rocks, etc. I consider clothes an ablative surface.

 

[Tommyice]

To be honest good quality clothing will only take you so far. Knowing the proper care and maintenance of your clothing will help them last even longer.

This is the most important. Most people just dispose of something when it can be repaired or altered to their needs.

 

[elkhound]

I use Carhart for everything as it seems to be the mid point of cheap, yet good enough.

IF you have the budget, you can get Kevlar jeans and shirts intended for wild land firefighting that are pretty amazing. But not cheap. Kevlar is not only fireproof, its stain proof, very very tough, and extremely easy to clean, dirt almost won't stick to it.

I was lucky enough to have some, that I foolishly used for work clothes at a steel yard until they where eventually destroyed.

As for boots....I'm still searching. I've gone, high, $400 dollar Redwings, and low, $50 no name chinese tactial boots, and they all last me about the same time...a year. The Redwings die just as fast as the others...but at many times the price. But I use things really hard. Molten metal, sharp steel, rocks, etc. I consider clothes an ablative surface.

boots...get a pair of westcoast they can be had production line or custom made...or try a pair of whites. both were expensive back in the day but worth it. my vibram from westcoast made to fit in early 90's was $300. also hoffman boot in idaho use to have a huge line of boots. had a great pair of pack type with corked bottoms with leathers to knee from them that was great in snow.


https://builder.wescoboots.com/

 

[BBLife]

My wife has enough clothing to last about 200 years. I'll just wear animal hides and moccasins if my stuff wears out.

 

[Zaydruiz196]

I've noticed the same thing, especially with shoes and boots. For workwear, I've had good luck with Carhartt for durability—they seem to hold up longer than most, especially their jackets and pants. For boots, Red Wing has been solid, though they can be hit or miss depending on the model.Funny enough, when I needed something more formal, like groomsmen's tuxedos for a wedding, I used Gentleman's Guru https://www.gentlemansguru.com/product-category/wedding-tuxedos/. They aren't daily wear obviously, but the quality was surprisingly good, especially for something that doesn't get heavy use.

 

[Tim Horton]

At one time I kept a ..stash.. at my big brothers.. I used a 30 gallon plastic garbage can on wheels.. It would hold plenty of stuff and being a garbage can rather than a toto brother couldn't bury it as deep in his garage..

Now I'm a big guy... So with that in mind I found I could roll up a set of clothes in a pillow case that only took up half a cubic foot.. That is 12x12x6" deep.. A pair of jeans, long sleeve shirt, 2 sets of underwear.. Two pair sox, 2 T shirts, 2 shorts, a bandana.. All of this from a thrift store with little expense involved per set.. With a couple zip ties on the lid the garbage can was rodent, bug, kid proof.. I would go through it once a year usually to check contents, change sizes if needed and the like.. This worked well for me..

Big brother would never set up a kit to keep at my place as his girl friend at the time could not fathom the thought of being away from home and not having white to ware during summer..

 

[lonewolf]

same clothes I'm wearing now.

 

[Morgan101]

Clothing is something we have in significant quantities, Seems like we haven't thrown anything out in 40 years. It is one area where I don't mind that my wife is a hoarder. I am reasonably certain that we have enough clothes, shoes, and boots to outlast us by a wide margin. I think we still have a stash of baby clothes in the basement.

Now that I am retired I have a wardrobe or work clothes that I never wear, but I keep them anyway. I have enough Golf shirts and T shirts for the Chinese army. You don't use them enough to wear them out, and every occasion (birthdays, Fathers' Day, Christmas, etc.) I get more.

Shoes are not as bad, but even I have several pairs that will outlast me. The brand of shoe I would recommend is Rockport. The are comfortable right out of the box. They wear like iron, and are reasonably priced. If you spend a lot of time on your feet every day you should try a pair.

Two things I would mention about clothing. I now save everything to use as a barter item. If SHTF does happen and the supply is significantly reduced, you will be sitting on a gold mine. Second, I would save at least one size smaller than what you are now. Most of us gain weight over time, so we buy larger clothes that fit. Keep the old stuff. If times are tough, and food is limited you may need and fit into those old sizes.

 

[montanabill]

Here is a company that started up in my area and since has moved production elseware. https://redantspants.com/

First on my list is socks and gloves....they wear out and are hard to make and have to fit....
We have a used store in town where a interesting guy runs it and gets a lot of estate sales and storage unit sales. He makes his money on line and wholesaling the high value stuff then puts cloths and coats on racks for 2 to 5 dollars. I tend to buy every good large or extra large jacket and bibs I come across (montana can get a little chilly)
I also catch the sales at COSTCO (big box store) when they change seasons. clothes and gloves for a fraction of new price.
Seems like lately every time I stop into harbor freight I throw a pack of cheap gloves in, either the partial leather ones or the knit white cloth ones I call ropers (which work great for glove liners). Having teenagers around we go thru a lot of gloves.
I have the cheap black pull on rubber irrigator boots for everyone and spares. Gardening and tending the chickens they save shoe leather and keep the house cleaner..

 

[Weedygarden]

I have an unfair advantage in this area. I am a costume designer and I keep a rather large (enough for a large storage unit) stash of fabrics and notions. Patterns in an array of sizes and season types as well. I can also darn and mend clothing.

As for fast fashion (that is the term for modern clothing because of the turn over of styles and cheap fabrics) I aim for 100% natural fibers. Nothing in the pants department that has stretch or tight fitting.

To be honest good quality clothing will only take you so far. Knowing the proper care and maintenance of your clothing will help them last even longer.

I agree about natural fibers, however, trying to have wool clothing has been a big fail for me due to wool moths. Even keeping wool sweaters in a cedar chest didn't work for me. I love wool cardigans, for the warmth they provide, but the moths have decimated wool suits, wool pants, wool sweaters, wool coats. I had really tried to have a nice wardrobe for work with wool, silk and cotton. The silk and cotton survived.

Cotton is my go to fabric, but it is not easy to find cotton t-shirts. There is so much synthetic fiber out there, and it is not nearly as comfortable as cotton is.

I used to sew most of my own clothing. I really suggest that everyone get a treadle sewing machine or the ability to convert a machine to non electric. This would be very helpful for repairs, and other clothing needs. I have my grandmothers. Along with any sewing machine, stock up on plenty of needles and thread for sewing. When I was doing lots of sewing, I went through lots of thread.

Fast Fashion: There are people who have organized to oppose it because of all of the clothing that gets thrown out. This is where buying classic styles and fabrics come into play. Several months ago I went to donate some things that were not used for years at a thrift store. A thrift store employee came out with a bin of fabric, maybe clothing, and put it into a feeder that fed it into a shipping container. Fun story: there was a rugby player from East H.S. in Denver, who donated his jersey to Goodwill. His jersey had his name on it the back as well as East High on it, in their red color. He went to Africa later and saw someone wearing it.

 

[Weedygarden]

Back on track. Socks and shoes.

Socks are the one thing that homeless shelters and places that provide clothing for people are always in need of. There are organizations that have sock drives because of this. For me, it is an awareness of the need to have lots of extra socks and good socks, not cheap socks.

My sock styles have changed over the years. I used to wear black socks when I was teaching on the days that I wore slacks. No more! Now I wear ankle length white socks, in the summer or when it is warm out. There are different makers and they are not all equal. In the winter or during cold weather, it is always wool blend socks. I buy new socks to add to my collection every season. I throw out socks that are worn on the bottom, but do mend some that get holes in the toes or heels.

When it comes to clothing, I try to buy something every month, if it is only a shirt, socks, pajamas, underwear. It keeps me on top of being well supplied.

Shoes are a challenge. I have narrow feet, so for most of my life, I have had to buy high end shoes. I certainly couldn't go into Walmart, or other such places and find shoes that fit, but I worked with people who did.

As I've gotten older, my feet have grown a size. The summers that I was living in Washington, DC and doing lots of walking, my foot size had grown by a size at the end of the summer. If we are going to be walking more, this could happen to any of us. I was surprised, because I had worn the same size shoes for decades.

I once bought a pair of hiking boots at a sporting goods store and in my typical fashion, were probably on sale. I have no idea of the name brand now. They were my second pair, and the first pair was long gone from my life. That second pair of boots was the most uncomfortable pair of shoes that I ever wore, after I had them on for a while. It is really important to at least break them in, or to wear them to see how comfortable they are. They fit when I tried them on, but after I wore them for a day, I donated them.