Country of Manufacture: England
Material: 50/50 Nylon/Cotton blend, no melt no drip, hydrophobic treatment.
Cost shipped: USD 240
Shipping method and time: DHL Express, 2 days.
Fit: Slim, true to measure, not true to size. I have a 34" waist but I'm a size 32/33 or M/L, so go with your actual waist measurement and then get a little extra inseam length so that these don't ride up when you kneel or sit. I ordered 34/33 and that seems to fit the same way a pair of 32L cryes would.
If I had to choose one phrase to encapsulate my impression of these pants, it would be jungleweight cryes. Every design decision seems to have been made with the purpose of making these as lightweight, breathable, and moisture wicking as possible. Think of them as a British adaptation of a hit American concept.
For starters, there's the fabric. The alleged proprietary 50/50 blend of nylon and cotton is known for being very good at shedding moisture, up to seven times faster than 65/35, at the expense of some durability. (Although this stitching and construction shows that they weren't slouching in the durability department either) One of the most noticeable places where choices have been made for the purposes of breathability and water drainage are the kneepad slots. A cynical shopper might call the decision to do away with the slot cover flap a cost cutting measure, but when you consider the decision to include what I can only describe as ruggedized laundry bag material for water drainage at the bottom of the slots, I'd say that was more to cut back on material that would hinder the flow of water, and that would retain moisture and restrict airflow. (Edit: it's poly-cotton, not NyCo.)
At the expense of comfort, they did away with the padded waistband that's common on other modern combat pants, which aids with the moisture wicking and material weight. Individual user experience will probably decide if this is a pro or con.
The stitching, as mentioned above, is very good, with great caution taken to reinforce crucial stress points, like the double layer Cordura hip pocket gusset, the triple row high density stitching around the crotch gusset, or the bar-tack stitching on the corners of all the pockets and kneepad slots. Back to the kneepad slots for a second, they feature the capability to accept airflex kneepads, be they AC, G3, or G4 style, as well as D3O Trust HP kneepads, which use the corner button holes, and offer more secure mounting at the expense of some mobility and breathability. Early C222 examples did not accept Crye pads, and only took the proprietary airflex ripoffs that Arktis made, but this has thankfully changed as of 2017. The kneepad slots lack the cover flaps, and only have velcro on the left and right of the slot, as opposed to on three sides like Cryes, which doesn't seem to affect airflex pad retention.
The included kneepads are not the Arktis kneepads, but seem to just be placeholders. Throw those things away, they're useless. All the pockets are where you'd expect them to be, and have the same utility as Cryes, including the magazine loops inside the thigh pockets, the dip pockets, and the calf pockets. On the butt pockets, they opted for open-top jetted pockets, rather than zippers or flap pockets, which is a plus in terms of seated comfort, but a downside in terms of item retention. One of the gripes I have, especially with all the decisions that seem to move this garment in the direction of use in or around water is the choice of velcro rather than the large and famously durable "Canadian buttons" that previous incarnations of these used. The other major gripe that I have is that these are not a significantly greater value than Crye G3s in Multicam, and so as an American, they're probably not the best choice, but between my desire to have multicam combat pants and my desire to finally get some content out there about these things, they're here.
Thankfully Arktis also offers (cheaper) wildcard camo offerings like M81, DCU, Daguet, CCE, M90, M90K, Flecktarn, DPM, Belgian Jigsaw, CADPAT TW, OCP, and MTP, as well as a range of proprietary "comb" patterns, solid colors and their tundra camo. Those are absolutely a better value, look insanely cool, and the construction quality is the same.
What these are: quality combat pants that prioritize use in hot and/or wet environments.
What these are not: fake cryes, or a good value if purchased in multicam.
I'm gonna do a full comparison between these and some Multicam G3s here soon, as well as a verdict on whether or not these are worth it as a design.
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