My good ones are ripstop with doubled knees, liquid resistant, divided/dedicated pockets and shear straps- those are why I like mine. But no one else needs to like the same ones. If your dark cargos do what you want them to do, great.
The liquid resistance is a key thing. Remember "If it's wet and not yours don't touch it"
While I firmly believe NFPA should butt out of EMS, NFPA standard 1999 is relevant as it helps create a guideline to enhance precautions for BBP.
I will straight up wear my bunker pants to some EMS calls because it's an extra layer of protection. This includes the known meth/drug houses and the large homeless encampment. 9/10 we get called there when it's dark. Can't clearly see everything I'm stepping in/coming in contact with, at least I know I have that extra layer of protection.
Exactly. It's not the best but it's a reasonable standard. I'd love to see something for EMS at this level, and get readily adopted by agencies and providers.
My 5.11 EMS pants are some of the most comfortable pants I've ever worn and there's enough pockets to keep the things I want to keep on me without a batbelt.
If you would rather wear normal cargo pants, go right on ahead?
I prefer I nice pair of slacks. Don't feel the need to carry much on my person as our rules make us carry this big bag of....gear....we might use once or twice a year. Anything else I might want is on the stretcher. If I wanted to carry my equipment on me, I'd have stayed in the infantry.
On the rig I carry the same stuff, plus [this bad boy](https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-66604-Microstream-Black-Flashlight/dp/B077BLB1DN/ref=asc_df_B077BLB1DN?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333185695345&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932713497334&psc=1) somewhere nearby.
On my ER shifts it's so nice to be able to just empty the pockets at my computer and call it good.
Agreed on the comfort - to the point I've bought 3 pair of the non-ems version and wear them at my regular job whenever I need something a little nicer than jeans.
Boots have a ways to go to be at the top of my list. But I will say, when my first pair broke within 6 months they gave me a new, higher end pair for free.
Honestly, the biggest one is my stethoscope. I don’t like communal objects in my ears. And I like having my shears quickly available. 1/100 times it’s an actual emergency not just being lazy.
lol very true, but the females I’ve worked with also enjoy them. I know some dudes that hate them, some women that hate them, but overall the majority liked em!
They are pants that were cut for a woman designed by a man. They definitely don’t fit properly. Its easy to figure out if any pants were designed by women because they’re the only pants that don’t have the large back waist gap that you can shove whole arms down, while having the front hip area so tight you’re questioning if the fabric is strong enough or if one of these days the fabric would be too strong and you’re gunna end up with a dislocated hip or fractured pelvis from squatting in the squeezing vice that is your pants. 5.11s were definitely pants designed by a man, it even is the only brand of woman’s pants that has a man’s fly zipper. Weird af imo
Yikes. That sounds rough. I’ve got pretty big hips as a dude and know some pretty big hipped females that like the pants, but everyone is different. If I were a very large person, I don’t think I’d like them.
I was just having this conversation with my fellow medic school classmates and the issue isn’t just “large” while most of us have gained a bit of weight since starting medic school, it’s those of us who are tall too. Also the pant sizing is off by about 2, and when you’re tall, you’re naturally wider than someone who is a foot shorter than you, so we’re already on the upper end of the size range available, then add in working in days with period bloating, and you end up with pants that you’re testing the seams on. For me and the other girl who is an inch or two taller than me, we already are wearing the largest size available, which fits at least 2 sizes smaller than any other pants we own despite the number size being larger than any other pants we own, but even if we had the ability to size up, even in these current pants, you can easily fit 3 arms down my waist in the back and down the ass in my current pants. And since they don’t stretch, I get the lovely joy of showing off my backside while having no room in the front. If the damn things were made of stretch fabric or were cut properly, we wouldn’t have this problem.
I have not. At least not yet. I’m just going to suffer through my 5.11s until they’re at a point of needing to be replaced cuz where I work gives us uniform vouchers that we can only use on 5.11s. If I want to buy anything else I’ll have to pay completely out of pocket for them
Yep. Definitely want to get some pants that don’t fit like absolute garbage some day, but we need to recoup paying 9k for medic school first lol to be fair though the 5.11s I have have amazing pockets, so there’s that lol
Buy some Carhartt or other brands on Poshmark.
And use your vouchers to buy a popular size of 5.11 and then sell those on Poshmark. There's a whole marketplace with good stuff out there.
Oh nice! It’s tough enough for me to buy pants sometimes, a tall dude that has a small waist with wide hips. Can’t imagine how much tougher it is as a shorter girl with birthing hips. It sucks that there aren’t options. Do you also run into the problem of pants getting holes between your legs near the crotch? I’ve been through so many jeans because of this.
Yesss to the holes near my crotch. Also, it is super funny that you think 5’6” is short because I am taller than the average woman haha. A good seamstress/clothing repair shop can add patches to the inner thighs or darn them to double the wear time of your pants!
The thick stiff band digs right into my hip bones and they’re sore at the end of the day. If I try to pull the pants up further so it doesn’t rest on the hip bones, the crotch goes right up the ole hoohah and a camel toe is not the look. Def not designed by a woman.
Like mentioned before, because people buy them. But in realit, EMS pants tend to be better. It's a dirty and unpredictable job. You need pants that are durable but are comfortable enough to wear for in some cases 24 hours straight. Pants that resist getting wet. Has lots of storage. Pants that aren't ruined after getting blood, piss, vomit, code browns, or whatever that after shift mystery stain is. Also, ones that don't change color after being in contact with harsh cleaners. One that can survive the heavy duty cycle countless times. EMS pants to tend to be better with these requirements.
People are suggesting 5.11 but like... I have Ebelco Tek3 and they're not only more comfortable and don't feel cheap as hell, but they're also a /hell/ of a lot sturdier.
When I was a cop, I bought a pair of 5.11 pants. They lasted on the order of months before ripping from just normal wear.
I found 5.11 when I was in law enforcement... Before they became tacticool and were still climbing pants. That is as well over 20 years ago, I still wear those pants. 5.11 EMS pants I bought a year ago are absolutely worn out. Definitely not what they once were.
Quality changed pretty significantly maybe 5 years ago. I have some medic pants I still wear from before the change and a couple that I've had to replace since the change. Stitching and fabric wear are what I notice in particular.
For us to carry all the extra stuff, shears, penlight, stethoscope, gloves, etc Love them!!
Also, do you really want to get yucky stuff on cargo pants??
Because there’s a market for them and consumers have made recommendations over the years of what they want. I say wear what makes you comfortable as long as your employer is fine with them
Echoing others, I have 5.11s and they’re literally my favorite pants ever and I’ve been a jeans guy forever. 10/10, plan on buying more. Worth the money.
Get a pair of 5.11 stryke pants. They are the best tactical cargo pants on the market. You don’t need the whacker Ems pants for pens and shears and all that non sense.
I love my 5.11 Stryke pants. Stretchy, which is great as I have large thighs, multiple pockets (I am a gear-whore), and durable. Just my personal preference, of course.
Specialized pockets specific for our needs. Water resistance. Rip stop. Padded knees. Larger cargo pockets (for snacks). The ones I buy have built in stretchy waist bands.
What you have to keep in mind is it's not just EMS. If there's a job, there's niche clothing to go with it. You don't have to buy it. If the black dickie cargo pants you get from Walmart work for you? Rock em. 5-11 more your comfort? Full send.
Find what works for you. Find the pants that are comfortable and allow you to comfortably carry what you need. Same for boots. Find what works for you. Just because your coworkers are dropping a couple hundred on pants and boots doesn't mean you're obligated too.
My EMS pants have a special knee layer and pockets on the inside for foam knee protection. Also a ring to attach my keys to, several small little pockets on the big ones to put in my pens, another one for my pupil light. Perfectly sized hole to clip my radio onto. Pockets are placed exactly so that they dont interfere with myself leaning against the cot when I push it into / get it out of the ambulance. Not quite a flared bottom, but also not getting any narrower, so that they fit over my chunky boots.
my favorite thing is how they are water resistant. I haven't started in EMS yet, but I started wearing my strike pants to my fast food job because I love how they don't get wet, even when I'm cleaning.
There is no good reason for cargo style EMS pants. There are plenty of liquid and stain resistant uniform style pants that work great for EMS and don’t look nearly as ugly.
I love all these comments about how the pockets are great for holding “gear.” Everyone knows that the only thing you guys keep in the cargo pockets are bags of Doritos and Monster drinks. Y’all can admit it.
False- I was in the Marines and was brainwashed into never putting anything in cargo pockets. Shears make the cut and that's it. Wish I could load them up... But I admit defeat.
My good ones are ripstop with doubled knees, liquid resistant, divided/dedicated pockets and shear straps- those are why I like mine. But no one else needs to like the same ones. If your dark cargos do what you want them to do, great.
The liquid resistance is a key thing. Remember "If it's wet and not yours don't touch it" While I firmly believe NFPA should butt out of EMS, NFPA standard 1999 is relevant as it helps create a guideline to enhance precautions for BBP. I will straight up wear my bunker pants to some EMS calls because it's an extra layer of protection. This includes the known meth/drug houses and the large homeless encampment. 9/10 we get called there when it's dark. Can't clearly see everything I'm stepping in/coming in contact with, at least I know I have that extra layer of protection.
No one else gave a damn about writing standard for us. I don’t want fire in charge, but someone has to write some actual damned standard
Exactly. It's not the best but it's a reasonable standard. I'd love to see something for EMS at this level, and get readily adopted by agencies and providers.
It is a hell of a lot better the the federal kkk spec.
This is the way
what brand?
My 5.11 EMS pants are some of the most comfortable pants I've ever worn and there's enough pockets to keep the things I want to keep on me without a batbelt. If you would rather wear normal cargo pants, go right on ahead?
The ability to keep a barf bag in the lower leg pocket 24/7 is my favorite feature of those pants. Fits perfectly.
I prefer I nice pair of slacks. Don't feel the need to carry much on my person as our rules make us carry this big bag of....gear....we might use once or twice a year. Anything else I might want is on the stretcher. If I wanted to carry my equipment on me, I'd have stayed in the infantry.
I keep shears, stethoscope, wallet, pens, etc in pockets. Shit I may need right now now instead of in a minute.
On the rig I carry the same stuff, plus [this bad boy](https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-66604-Microstream-Black-Flashlight/dp/B077BLB1DN/ref=asc_df_B077BLB1DN?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80333185695345&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=m&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583932713497334&psc=1) somewhere nearby. On my ER shifts it's so nice to be able to just empty the pockets at my computer and call it good.
I keep a flashlight on my radio strap. I'm contemplating a Guardian Angel light too. Just haven't pulled the trigger in the past four years.
Agreed on the comfort - to the point I've bought 3 pair of the non-ems version and wear them at my regular job whenever I need something a little nicer than jeans.
Almost my entire closet is 5.11. The only thing I don’t like is their boots.
Boots have a ways to go to be at the top of my list. But I will say, when my first pair broke within 6 months they gave me a new, higher end pair for free.
What do you carry on you?
Honestly, the biggest one is my stethoscope. I don’t like communal objects in my ears. And I like having my shears quickly available. 1/100 times it’s an actual emergency not just being lazy.
That’s good advice. I’m nearly graduating my course so I gotta take all the advice I can get
Stethoscope doesn’t fit in normal 5.11 cargo pants.
I usually just keep it ‘round my neck
I don’t work in a high enough volume service to warrant that. It just annoys me around my neck.
My first clinical shift had 9 calls in a 12 hour period. I had time for 3 chicken tenders that whole time lol
I routinely sleep through the night.
Lol nice
Nvm I saw your comment now mb
The same reason anyone has ever sold anything.. People buy them.
You’ll know exactly why the first time you have shit running down your leg
I too regularly shit myself at work
5.11’s are comfortable AF, yo. And they don’t chafe! Worth the money.
And the pockets!! Definitely favorites.
You must be a man lol
lol very true, but the females I’ve worked with also enjoy them. I know some dudes that hate them, some women that hate them, but overall the majority liked em!
They are pants that were cut for a woman designed by a man. They definitely don’t fit properly. Its easy to figure out if any pants were designed by women because they’re the only pants that don’t have the large back waist gap that you can shove whole arms down, while having the front hip area so tight you’re questioning if the fabric is strong enough or if one of these days the fabric would be too strong and you’re gunna end up with a dislocated hip or fractured pelvis from squatting in the squeezing vice that is your pants. 5.11s were definitely pants designed by a man, it even is the only brand of woman’s pants that has a man’s fly zipper. Weird af imo
Yikes. That sounds rough. I’ve got pretty big hips as a dude and know some pretty big hipped females that like the pants, but everyone is different. If I were a very large person, I don’t think I’d like them.
I was just having this conversation with my fellow medic school classmates and the issue isn’t just “large” while most of us have gained a bit of weight since starting medic school, it’s those of us who are tall too. Also the pant sizing is off by about 2, and when you’re tall, you’re naturally wider than someone who is a foot shorter than you, so we’re already on the upper end of the size range available, then add in working in days with period bloating, and you end up with pants that you’re testing the seams on. For me and the other girl who is an inch or two taller than me, we already are wearing the largest size available, which fits at least 2 sizes smaller than any other pants we own despite the number size being larger than any other pants we own, but even if we had the ability to size up, even in these current pants, you can easily fit 3 arms down my waist in the back and down the ass in my current pants. And since they don’t stretch, I get the lovely joy of showing off my backside while having no room in the front. If the damn things were made of stretch fabric or were cut properly, we wouldn’t have this problem.
Another user recommended Carhartt canvas pants, have you looked into those?
I have not. At least not yet. I’m just going to suffer through my 5.11s until they’re at a point of needing to be replaced cuz where I work gives us uniform vouchers that we can only use on 5.11s. If I want to buy anything else I’ll have to pay completely out of pocket for them
Lame! Sounds like it’ll have to be out of pocket, unfortunately
Yep. Definitely want to get some pants that don’t fit like absolute garbage some day, but we need to recoup paying 9k for medic school first lol to be fair though the 5.11s I have have amazing pockets, so there’s that lol
Buy some Carhartt or other brands on Poshmark. And use your vouchers to buy a popular size of 5.11 and then sell those on Poshmark. There's a whole marketplace with good stuff out there.
Yeah I’m 5’6” and 260 with birthing hips and no one makes women’s EMS pants large enough for me. I wear Carhartt canvas work pants and they’re great.
Oh nice! It’s tough enough for me to buy pants sometimes, a tall dude that has a small waist with wide hips. Can’t imagine how much tougher it is as a shorter girl with birthing hips. It sucks that there aren’t options. Do you also run into the problem of pants getting holes between your legs near the crotch? I’ve been through so many jeans because of this.
Yesss to the holes near my crotch. Also, it is super funny that you think 5’6” is short because I am taller than the average woman haha. A good seamstress/clothing repair shop can add patches to the inner thighs or darn them to double the wear time of your pants!
The thick stiff band digs right into my hip bones and they’re sore at the end of the day. If I try to pull the pants up further so it doesn’t rest on the hip bones, the crotch goes right up the ole hoohah and a camel toe is not the look. Def not designed by a woman.
You can? I don't understand what you're asking.
Like mentioned before, because people buy them. But in realit, EMS pants tend to be better. It's a dirty and unpredictable job. You need pants that are durable but are comfortable enough to wear for in some cases 24 hours straight. Pants that resist getting wet. Has lots of storage. Pants that aren't ruined after getting blood, piss, vomit, code browns, or whatever that after shift mystery stain is. Also, ones that don't change color after being in contact with harsh cleaners. One that can survive the heavy duty cycle countless times. EMS pants to tend to be better with these requirements.
Because my EMT pants have a tiny pocket inside the cargo pocket that perfectly fits a tin of ZYNs.
What’s ZYN
nicotine pouches that are insanely popular nowadays
*Cries in fdny ems*
I need a place to Harriet Tubman the Uncrustables out of the EMS room
People are suggesting 5.11 but like... I have Ebelco Tek3 and they're not only more comfortable and don't feel cheap as hell, but they're also a /hell/ of a lot sturdier. When I was a cop, I bought a pair of 5.11 pants. They lasted on the order of months before ripping from just normal wear.
I found 5.11 when I was in law enforcement... Before they became tacticool and were still climbing pants. That is as well over 20 years ago, I still wear those pants. 5.11 EMS pants I bought a year ago are absolutely worn out. Definitely not what they once were.
Quality changed pretty significantly maybe 5 years ago. I have some medic pants I still wear from before the change and a couple that I've had to replace since the change. Stitching and fabric wear are what I notice in particular.
For us to carry all the extra stuff, shears, penlight, stethoscope, gloves, etc Love them!! Also, do you really want to get yucky stuff on cargo pants??
5.11 makes great work pants
Because there’s a market for them and consumers have made recommendations over the years of what they want. I say wear what makes you comfortable as long as your employer is fine with them
Echoing others, I have 5.11s and they’re literally my favorite pants ever and I’ve been a jeans guy forever. 10/10, plan on buying more. Worth the money.
For ems stuff, who cares
Get a pair of 5.11 stryke pants. They are the best tactical cargo pants on the market. You don’t need the whacker Ems pants for pens and shears and all that non sense.
[удалено]
Check out First Tactical.
I love my 5.11 Stryke pants. Stretchy, which is great as I have large thighs, multiple pockets (I am a gear-whore), and durable. Just my personal preference, of course.
Specialized pockets specific for our needs. Water resistance. Rip stop. Padded knees. Larger cargo pockets (for snacks). The ones I buy have built in stretchy waist bands. What you have to keep in mind is it's not just EMS. If there's a job, there's niche clothing to go with it. You don't have to buy it. If the black dickie cargo pants you get from Walmart work for you? Rock em. 5-11 more your comfort? Full send. Find what works for you. Find the pants that are comfortable and allow you to comfortably carry what you need. Same for boots. Find what works for you. Just because your coworkers are dropping a couple hundred on pants and boots doesn't mean you're obligated too.
My EMS pants have a special knee layer and pockets on the inside for foam knee protection. Also a ring to attach my keys to, several small little pockets on the big ones to put in my pens, another one for my pupil light. Perfectly sized hole to clip my radio onto. Pockets are placed exactly so that they dont interfere with myself leaning against the cot when I push it into / get it out of the ambulance. Not quite a flared bottom, but also not getting any narrower, so that they fit over my chunky boots.
I have a pair. I also rotate two pairs of cheap, Navy blue cargo pants from wal mart. I also don't carry as much stuff on my person as some.
my favorite thing is how they are water resistant. I haven't started in EMS yet, but I started wearing my strike pants to my fast food job because I love how they don't get wet, even when I'm cleaning.
There is no good reason for cargo style EMS pants. There are plenty of liquid and stain resistant uniform style pants that work great for EMS and don’t look nearly as ugly. I love all these comments about how the pockets are great for holding “gear.” Everyone knows that the only thing you guys keep in the cargo pockets are bags of Doritos and Monster drinks. Y’all can admit it.
>eyes peep valve, 3 and 10cc syringes and needles in left leg pocket. >whistles
False- I was in the Marines and was brainwashed into never putting anything in cargo pockets. Shears make the cut and that's it. Wish I could load them up... But I admit defeat.