Pete's Jeans - Mens Thermals product reviews

At first, seeing the adverts in prime 'infomercial' timeslots I took the hype to be just that, utterly vapid hype. Full of outrageous claims and unverifiable testimonials. So... I had to check them out for myself. After all, if they turned out to be genuinely as good as claimed, they would be of great help to me (as I have a knee injury from a previous paintball exploit that flares up in the cold causing me great discomfort), and if not, then consumers needed to know. A week later, they arrived and the testing began...

Claim: As soon as you put them on, you'll feel warmer. After unpacking them and running them through a wash cycle in accordance with supplied instructions, I was ready to test the so-called immediate warming effect. It was a freezing cold morning and my knee was screaming alarm bells at me. As I slid my legs into them, I was amazed to find a very pleasant warmth slowly climbing my legs. Unlike normal jeans, where you have the denim against your skin, these jeans are lined with a rather bright red flannelette-like material that immediately starts to trap your body heat, keeping you feeling warm. So, claim validated.

Claim: Wearing these jeans will help your injuries feel better. No real need to go into all the science behind this, but it is well proven that 'warm' signals can move along nerves faster than 'pain' signals and drown them out. Also, cold limbs cause the body to reduce blood flow to avoid heat-loss, and warm limbs allow greater blood flow. If you accept that the blood carries not only nutrients, but also the body's repair agents, it stands to reason that increased blood flow means increased repair. Double-teaming these confirms this claim. Claim validated.

Claim: These jeans are wind-proof and weather-proof. Now this one would be so easy to disprove on any winter morning in NZ. Just step outside before the sun rises and the wind is up, and you'll know. Done in normal jeans, legs go numb within minutes and it gets really unpleasant after that. I stepped out at 6:20am the other day into a frost-coated winter wonderland. I was wearing normal jeans and a weatherproof jacket as my outer layers. Within minutes I was limping back inside as my knee started to remind me of the temperature. A quick change of the lower half into these thermal jeans, and out I went again. An hour later I was far colder in the upper half than the lower, which was still chugging along at a comfortable warmth and my knee was blissfully quiet. Despite the high for the day never going above 6 degrees and wind-chill taking that down to around 4 degrees at times, I was toastie! Claim validated.

Some of the features that really warrant comment from me include:
    •  Some styles of jeans have a cellphone pocket stitched to the outside of the upper-right thigh. Though it is really handy and spacious enough to take even a small brick like my PDA, it can be a little annoying when trying to sit and drive the car. Thankffully, there are a range of jeans that do not have the pocket. However, if it is your thing, you can apparently request a pocket and they will attach one for you before dispatch.
    •  The internal pocket sewn into the lining inside the right-hip of the waistband is simply great for those "I don't want to lose these or have them stolen from me" items. Discrete and comfortable, unless you overload it, it is a great way to carry larger sums of cash without drawing attention to them.

Overall, I would have to say that these jeans, though not manufactured in New Zealand, were designed here and are perfect for any Kiwi who works in near- or sub-zero environments, or weather-exposed industries. Originally produced to be sold as 'gimmicks' with "Hercules" brand tractors, they have found a new and welcome home here in NZ with many an outdoors worker already enjoying a far more comfortable time of things during winter musters. If you have any aches and pains in the lower half, or you work in a place where temperatures are just too low for comfort, or even if you come from a hotter climate and find NZ just too close to penguin territory for your liking, you would be wise to invest in a few pairs of these. You won't regret it, as a wise investment like this will prove itself within a week! And yes, as of writing this review, ladies can enjoy the comfort too, thanks to the new line of women's jeans available!

UPDATE: After 3 years, TO THE DAY, I have just retired my pair of Pete's Thermal Jeans. I wore them daily for over half of each year, and they served me VERY well indeed. When it is possible for me to trash through a pair of $50 regular jeans in under 3 months, this is a great investment. If you live in the colder parts of NZ you probably already know all about these jeans. But if you don't know about them by now, you really should! Wearing these around town, up the mountain in the snow, hiking in the bush and even on long drives when I needed to keep my legs warm in order to maximise blood circulation... they proved unbeatable! Great stuff.

Having heard a lot about these jeans I was very eager to try them out for myself.

Well I have to say these are quite simply the warmest and comfiest jeans I have ever worn. The improvement in lower body temerature was quick and very noticeable. As I live in an area of the country that can be quite cold at times these have proven themselves quite admirably.

I can't really add any more than the reviewer below, except to say that I really like these jeans and I will most likely be looking at getting some more.