I saw some level 5 cut resistant pants on Aliexpress that are supposedly made out of “high strength polyethylene and carbon fiber”. I thought they would be cooling, hydrophobic/very quick drying, and relatively light weight but super tough and durable–thus probably really good for bushwhacking and/or for general longevity.
They were more expensive than I would usually pay for a pair of pants at 60 dollars, and I immediately had buyers remorse after (and canceled the order within about an hour later). Well, its the first time that a seller on there ignored my cancel request, and though I tried canceling again later on, they got shipped anyways (heads up on that–the sellers name on there is “Shop5881529 Store”)
Just received them. I’m a little confused though. They are indeed very cut resistant. I took a pretty new razor blade and tried to slash the pant cuff at the bottom and multiple times. Nothing. So it does at least have a moderate amount of high strength fibers in it. But it was heavier than I expected. PE is pretty low density. Carbon fiber though has greater density than the average materials used for textiles (and almost twice as dense as PE [closer to 1.75x]). But the overall weight makes me wonder if they also have fiberglass and/or steel fibers as well–these are fairly common in lower cost cut resistant fabrics and items. The color of the fibers/yarns look to be about an equal blend of white and black (lol Yin Yang pants!)
I expected them to be quite thermally conductive and indeed they are–they feel close to my all UHWMPE gloves and arm guards. Heat passes right through the material (which is why they would only be good for warmer weather, and maybe cool’ish weather with a baselayer on underneath).
They are quite breathable–little resistance to blowing or sucking air through the fabric.
What I am quite confused about though, is that I thought water was going to bead up on the surface. Not at all, it readily goes into the fabric–maybe it is the looser weave, but even then, I expected some water to bead up because all the above materials are extremely low moisture regain and very hydrophobic in nature? I mean, that’s ok if they are quick drying. I’d rather have a warmer weather material absorb and spread water than just bead it overall, except in rain.
Anyways, anyone here ever try cut resistant pants for bushwhacking? Or just try cut resistant pants in general for backpacking? I expect the material to last a really long time, but might depend? If anyone is interested in looking at the pair I bought, here is a link: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255801006086508.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.4baf29d5MX2iCu&algo_pvid=96b8d8d7-8883-4215-bfff-cbfda4a29174&algo_exp_id=96b8d8d7-8883-4215-bfff-cbfda4a29174-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2210000015258224658%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21USD%2170.0%2159.5%21%21%21%21%21%40211bf14716732098430797634d06c8%2110000015258224658%21sea&curPageLogUid=lL6eb0L51E7e
