True Grit: Getting Social in Your Pants
You can lie to me, but you can't lie to yourself. I know it. You know it. You want in these pants.
I don't know about you, but I've always had a hard time finding a pair of paintball pants that I actually liked. A lot of them are either too baggy and feel too bulky, or a way too tight for my liking. I mean, we're playing paintball, not taking some goth girl to a My Chemical Romance concert. And while many other people love them, I cannot stand joggers. Personal preference for sure, but I also don't like feeling like a low-level Russian mobster running around in glorified track pants. So, about a year and a half ago, I picked up a pair of Social Paintball's Git Pants. Here are my thoughts on them.
What's in the Bag?
When you order your Grit pants, you have a lot of options. They have several different designs and styles, including the option to design your own. That's what my team and I did, although you can get pants that look like jeans, that fit themes like superhero, camo, or skeleton, or are in popular colors including black. There are a lot of different ways to go, depending on your price range. When they show up, they come in a nice cloth bag.
What's in the Bag?
When you order your Grit pants, you have a lot of options. They have several different designs and styles, including the option to design your own. That's what my team and I did, although you can get pants that look like jeans, that fit themes like superhero, camo, or skeleton, or are in popular colors including black. There are a lot of different ways to go, depending on your price range. When they show up, they come in a nice cloth bag.
Our team Grit Pants, like a navy Darth Maul pattern
While the bag is very nice, and great for carrying your pants and other gear, it's not why you're here. Inside are your brand new pants. So what are they packin'?
Features o' Thine Pants
The pants themselves are made of a few different materials. The majority of the pants are made with a tough but light weight cloth that should be familiar to anyone who has worn paintball pants in the past. It's a tough material, and covers most of your upper thigh. This material isn't flexible, but is very durable. To allow for stretching and movement, they do have a highly flexible, stretchy cloth material that's a couple inches above your knee and around the ever-important crotch area. Below the knee there is a lightly padded shin area.
The back of the lower legs, basically from behind the knee on down, are a mesh that allows for your legs to breathe, which is definitely appreciated on hot and/or humid days running around in these things. The pants do breathe extremely well if that is a concern.
There are also several pockets on the pants for you to hold your stuffs. They have what I consider a must for any pair of paintball pants, which are inexplicably not on several of them---zip down pockets. How anyone can make pants for playing in that don't have them at this point in beyond me. These pants have waterproof pockets that zip down and away from your junk, which makes them much less likely to be unzipped while running around (because gravity), likely won't be pulled open while going through brush and catching on this (since you move forward, the zipper will go with the snag and stay closed) and are deep enough to hold your barrel condom and/or a microfiber for mask cleaning.
You also have a pair of zip up pockets on your touchus, in case you would rather keep something closer to your butt. They're a bit smaller, but not small by any means. These pockets can definitely keep a handful of stuff safe. And again, they zip close, because Social Paintball apparently isn't run by godless heathens.
The pants also have a pair of squeegee pockets that are deeper but open-ended near the back of the knees. While I appreciate the thought here, for me and with my dimensions, I had the squeegees actually hitting the back of my calf while running with them. That has lead to the squeegee making a mad dash for freedom (aka: fell out), and now it's somewhere unknown living it's best life.
Rounding things out, the pants have the ever-popular ankle drawstrings to tighten around your boots or cleats. There is a heavily padded codpiece to protect the family for generations, with a zipper, velcro, and double-snap enclosure, which I've appreciated. If you manage to have them pop or come loose during play, something seriously wrong has happened here, and I am 100% willing to put that on user error.
The pants are also secured around your waist with built in belt straps on each side of the pants going through belt loops (meaning you can also add a belt if you are playing magfed or AT, or are just weird) that velcro down with nice, 2" wide velcro straps that lock things down on your hips. There's a loop to let you hang your pants. And to finish them off, you can add a team tramp stamp or there is sometimes a logo on the padded lower back protection around the tailbone to make a statement with your sweet, sweet ass.
Features o' Thine Pants
The pants themselves are made of a few different materials. The majority of the pants are made with a tough but light weight cloth that should be familiar to anyone who has worn paintball pants in the past. It's a tough material, and covers most of your upper thigh. This material isn't flexible, but is very durable. To allow for stretching and movement, they do have a highly flexible, stretchy cloth material that's a couple inches above your knee and around the ever-important crotch area. Below the knee there is a lightly padded shin area.
The back of the lower legs, basically from behind the knee on down, are a mesh that allows for your legs to breathe, which is definitely appreciated on hot and/or humid days running around in these things. The pants do breathe extremely well if that is a concern.
There are also several pockets on the pants for you to hold your stuffs. They have what I consider a must for any pair of paintball pants, which are inexplicably not on several of them---zip down pockets. How anyone can make pants for playing in that don't have them at this point in beyond me. These pants have waterproof pockets that zip down and away from your junk, which makes them much less likely to be unzipped while running around (because gravity), likely won't be pulled open while going through brush and catching on this (since you move forward, the zipper will go with the snag and stay closed) and are deep enough to hold your barrel condom and/or a microfiber for mask cleaning.
You also have a pair of zip up pockets on your touchus, in case you would rather keep something closer to your butt. They're a bit smaller, but not small by any means. These pockets can definitely keep a handful of stuff safe. And again, they zip close, because Social Paintball apparently isn't run by godless heathens.
The pants also have a pair of squeegee pockets that are deeper but open-ended near the back of the knees. While I appreciate the thought here, for me and with my dimensions, I had the squeegees actually hitting the back of my calf while running with them. That has lead to the squeegee making a mad dash for freedom (aka: fell out), and now it's somewhere unknown living it's best life.
Rounding things out, the pants have the ever-popular ankle drawstrings to tighten around your boots or cleats. There is a heavily padded codpiece to protect the family for generations, with a zipper, velcro, and double-snap enclosure, which I've appreciated. If you manage to have them pop or come loose during play, something seriously wrong has happened here, and I am 100% willing to put that on user error.
The pants are also secured around your waist with built in belt straps on each side of the pants going through belt loops (meaning you can also add a belt if you are playing magfed or AT, or are just weird) that velcro down with nice, 2" wide velcro straps that lock things down on your hips. There's a loop to let you hang your pants. And to finish them off, you can add a team tramp stamp or there is sometimes a logo on the padded lower back protection around the tailbone to make a statement with your sweet, sweet ass.
Team Logo on your bum bum
Fit and Comfort-Level
I personally think that this is where the Grit pants separate themselves from several competitors. I wear 36-38 size pants and am 5'10" or so. These pants, hands-down, fit me better than any pair of pants that I have owned that weren't tailored. There are a few reasons why.
Many pants that come with waist sizes near mine assume that I'm 6'4", and don't just love pizza. Well, I do love pizza. I've been more excited to find Jack's Rising Crust pizza in Colorado then I was to get my last Twister in, and I LOVE that gun. Anyway, that also means that those pants are way, way too long. This also means that the crotch is down by my knees, the knees are mid-shin, and that the lower legs are squished up. Basically, I feel like they're extremely bulky and actually are a hindrance for movement. I've found the GI pants that I've had fell into this category. The cut was just all wrong for me.
These pants are also, as you could tell by the description, a traditional style of paintball pants. I got a pair of Anthrax's custom pants. They were the other company at the time that did custom pants, and we designed the look. I liked that part. I hated the style and hated the fit. The padding on the shin and knee hit somewhere awkward between the knee and thigh at the top point. There weren't useful pockets. They just used elastic and a drawstring to keep them up. The pants were cut a bit different, tighter to the body. And they didn't fit well enough, so I actually noticed them during play. I love Anthrax's jerseys---the short sleeve Messiah is fantastic for hot weather, and kept me alive during OXCC's SuperGame MD (seriously, stop letting Satan schedule the biggest game you host annually for August when it's upper 90's with 87% humidity every year). But I wouldn't recommend the pants.
Social Paintball's Grit pants are cut much more to the average person's size, and also are neither too baggy nor are they skinny jeans cut. I want something wear I can move well but not be so baggy that I feel them---I shouldn't be thinking about them at all. They aren't cut stove-pipe style, like the JT pants, but are more cut towards what you would normally by a pair of comfortable jeans. Once you add in the velcro belt and flexible stretchy areas, you get a good fit that moves with you.
I personally think that this is where the Grit pants separate themselves from several competitors. I wear 36-38 size pants and am 5'10" or so. These pants, hands-down, fit me better than any pair of pants that I have owned that weren't tailored. There are a few reasons why.
Many pants that come with waist sizes near mine assume that I'm 6'4", and don't just love pizza. Well, I do love pizza. I've been more excited to find Jack's Rising Crust pizza in Colorado then I was to get my last Twister in, and I LOVE that gun. Anyway, that also means that those pants are way, way too long. This also means that the crotch is down by my knees, the knees are mid-shin, and that the lower legs are squished up. Basically, I feel like they're extremely bulky and actually are a hindrance for movement. I've found the GI pants that I've had fell into this category. The cut was just all wrong for me.
These pants are also, as you could tell by the description, a traditional style of paintball pants. I got a pair of Anthrax's custom pants. They were the other company at the time that did custom pants, and we designed the look. I liked that part. I hated the style and hated the fit. The padding on the shin and knee hit somewhere awkward between the knee and thigh at the top point. There weren't useful pockets. They just used elastic and a drawstring to keep them up. The pants were cut a bit different, tighter to the body. And they didn't fit well enough, so I actually noticed them during play. I love Anthrax's jerseys---the short sleeve Messiah is fantastic for hot weather, and kept me alive during OXCC's SuperGame MD (seriously, stop letting Satan schedule the biggest game you host annually for August when it's upper 90's with 87% humidity every year). But I wouldn't recommend the pants.
Social Paintball's Grit pants are cut much more to the average person's size, and also are neither too baggy nor are they skinny jeans cut. I want something wear I can move well but not be so baggy that I feel them---I shouldn't be thinking about them at all. They aren't cut stove-pipe style, like the JT pants, but are more cut towards what you would normally by a pair of comfortable jeans. Once you add in the velcro belt and flexible stretchy areas, you get a good fit that moves with you.
Complete with dong armor
So what do I think?
I would recommend Social Paintball's Grit pants. They cost around $120, which is in the ball park of most paintball pants that aren't joggers. They are cut well. They breathe well. They come in sizes that make sense for most normal people's shapes. The pants can be customized and come in several colors and designs. They are also durable. I've played with mine for about a year and a half now, and they still look new. They can get beat up, and take it. They have usable, zippered pockets. They have shin protection. Social made paintball pants that have everything that I'd look for in pants, and are cut really well for me.
I've worn pants made by WDP, JT, Anthrax, GI Sportz, Empire, BDUs, Invert, and a custom company that tailored them, and the Grit pants are my favorite all-around paintball pants I've owned. They're one of the first pairs that I haven't found something that I wanted to add something too, or change the cut of in some way. I would recommend them to people looking for a nice pair of paintball pants.
I would recommend Social Paintball's Grit pants. They cost around $120, which is in the ball park of most paintball pants that aren't joggers. They are cut well. They breathe well. They come in sizes that make sense for most normal people's shapes. The pants can be customized and come in several colors and designs. They are also durable. I've played with mine for about a year and a half now, and they still look new. They can get beat up, and take it. They have usable, zippered pockets. They have shin protection. Social made paintball pants that have everything that I'd look for in pants, and are cut really well for me.
I've worn pants made by WDP, JT, Anthrax, GI Sportz, Empire, BDUs, Invert, and a custom company that tailored them, and the Grit pants are my favorite all-around paintball pants I've owned. They're one of the first pairs that I haven't found something that I wanted to add something too, or change the cut of in some way. I would recommend them to people looking for a nice pair of paintball pants.
