Charcoal Grey Pants Recommendations
 

Any recommendations for charcoal grey pants. I'm looking for pleated pants, with an adjustable waist. I would rather fork out the cash for high quality pants. Thanks.

With an adjustable waist, the only ones you should consider are Honig's Ultimate pants. They have tuxedo buckles on the sides so that you can adjust them to your exact size and lock them into place. They also have that manufactured crease like the polywools. The rest of the adjustables are sucking Honig's wind.

Personally, I'd pass on the adjustable waist and get the Honig's Poly-Wools.

JM

I have a fluctuating waste line so I like the adjustables...I can't believe they didn't make those sooner. The poly-wools are the best IMO, but the ultimates will be good too...it does seem like you made you decision before you asked the question though if you're going w/ the poly wools...no?

Colors and fabrics vary, so you should buy what others in your area are wearing (or what comes close to matching).

I've had good luck with the Smitty's brand (despite the name) and the Gerry Davis.

I can also vouch for Smitty - they actually make very good stuff.

My first two pairs of Smitty's just arrived in the mail yesterday. I chose this brand based on favorable reviews in this, and other, forums. They look good and I like the fit. Of course, being a "cold climate" guy, these won't get field tested for another couple of months.

But my order was not without problems- which is one thing I don't like about mail ordering gear. The problem was something that many of the folks here won't be concerned about, unless they also happen to work softball.

The charcoal grey pants were fine and as advertised. I also ordered a pair of navy blue pants, which were advertised as also having the expansion waistband. Much to my dismay, upon receipt I found that they did not!

A call to the supplier prompted them to call the manufacturer. Come to find out that there was a last-minute production change on their navy pants. The explanation I got was that the navy pants were changed to a "western cut" pocket (prefered for ASA and NCAA softball) and that change prevented the maker from producing these pants with the expansion waistband- despite this feature being advertised in their 2010 product literature.

So, I wound up with one pair of grey pants that I'm really happy with and one pair of navy pants that I'm not quite as happy about.

FYI, the honigs Poly wools are dry clean only

That's why we wear the back-up ultimates or the GDs when we work in exceedingly hot or dusty conditions. ;)

I have heard that they can be washed, as long as they are not over-dried.

You spot wash them literally by hand, then hang them to dry and press them. If there's no dirt involved (just perspiration), then I steam them with one of those hand-held steamers and they come out nice and rosy. If there's a cold-weather game, in which there is very little perspiration (especially base games), I just do nothing, give the inside a light spritz of febreze and/or give them a touch-up pressing.

I actually drop them off at my dry cleaner only once or twice a year.

I wash the poly-wools and hang them to dry. Iron them on one of the lowest settings and they're good to go. Mine get waaaay too wet and dirty in the summer from sweat and dirt to just spot clean them like Finnerty does, and I'm not taking them to the dry cleaners every week.

I'm going to buy another set of plate and base pants. They'll be either the Smitty or Honigs Ultimate pants. The Smittys I had last year (The non-adjustable waist) were just okay. The waist bunched up on them. Has anyone worn the Honigs Ultimates and the newer Smitty pants?

Gerry Davis pants have an adjustable waist - most folk I know that have them don't know why they didn't get them sooner.

Because they only match a few partners. That's one of my reasons for having/wearing them. I wear the ultimates otherwise. Or, if it's a polywool game, I wear the polywools, which are a good match for several other brands, but decidedly not GD.

I swear by Honigs poly-wools. I wash 'em in the machine on "Permanent Press" and dry them in the dryer on low heat, but take them out before they are completely dry. No problem. I'm on the same two pair (plate and base) for the 3rd season.

JJ