We dragged the new casual A5 bouldering kit down to swinging London to see just how cool it really was...
TNF A5 Clothing Tested (sort of...)
Price:£40 (pants), £32 (shirt)
Weight: Don't get silly with us...
Features: Crag Pants: 10 oz canvas cotton, constructed waistband with Velcro front fly, snap closure and double D-ring belt, articulated knees, crotch gusset, jean-style front pockets, Vlecro-fastened seam pockets, triple-needle top stitching and bar tacks throughout. Piton Shirt: 100 per-cent cotton, camp-style collar, left chest patch pocket, bottom hem side vents with button closure.
Nice and casual at a good price. About as technical as Geri Halliwell.
The reality is that, like most surf gear, this is cool casual clothing that you can buy in specialist outdoor shops, but probably won't wear on the crag. So, given that Glossop has all the chic cool allure of a damp lettuce, we headed down to London - that's it above - to test the A5 Crag Pants and Piton Shirt in a proper urban environment.
In the office no-one batted an eyelid, though flashing the Never Stop Exploring logo on the inside of the fly raised a few eyebrows - perhaps it would be better on the outside, though we guess it might be open to misinterpretation, but in a nice way - in short then it simply it blended nicely into the casual London office scene.
Things were similar in the pub. No-one gave the clothes a second glance, not until we found ourselves in the gents and the simple act of unfastening the flies generated an ear-splitting Velcro sonic rasp that turned heads for miles around. Oooops. Hard to look cool when everyone's clearly wondering what on earth you have in your pants, but then maybe that's the point. Same scenario that evening, though more alcohol lessens the embarassment. Drinking pants?
Could you boulder in them? Yeah sure, the cut is loose and comfortable and mobility is good. We couldn't say for sure as the most extreme thing we did on A5 Day was wheelie a buggy with half a set of 15-month old twins up Parliament Hill. Curiously people were staring at us, but probably not because of the A5... Good and comfy for chilling though and the lass with short red hair seemed quite interested in something, though it transpired it was more to do with identical twins than chic pants or looking like an off duty, hard core climber... Ahem.
Verdict
the North Face web site
Pushed for time: Looks good, feels good and reasonably priced too. The Velcro flies are a surefire attention grabber in public facilities...
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Posted: 10/04/2003 at 17:00
Posted: 10/04/2003 at 17:06
Posted: 10/04/2003 at 17:11
