I am not picky when it comes to clothing except for one thing: my pants. The pants that you will see me wear in almost all of my videos is the Lundhags Authentic I Pant. Many of you have asked me about this pant: time for the review!
- Size: Womens 34-46, Mens 46-58, Junior 110/116–158/167
- Weight: 550 grams
- Price: € 189,95
I bought my Lundhags Authentic I Pants at the Lundhags factory shop in Järpen, Sweden. This was about 5 years ago. I bought two pairs: a red one and a forest green one. Next to those I also have one red and one blue Lundhag Authentic I shorts. For those who keep track of me already for some while, you know that I prefer the red pants and the blue shorts. So everything – ok, almost everything – I write about the Lundhags Authentic I Pant applies to the shorts too.
Material
The Lundhags Authentic I Pant main fabric – the red parts – is a mix of 35% organic cotton and 65% polyester. The stretch panels are made of Schoeller Dynamic which is a mix of 89% polyamide and 11% elastan. I should make a note here. The Lundhags Authentic I Pant is replaced with the Lundhags Authentic II Pant.
There is a slight material and design difference to the Mark I. The Mark II is made of Lundhags Polyester Cotton (LPC). This is a mix of 65% recycled Polyester and 35% organic cotton. The stretch parts are still Schoeller Dynamic but it consists of 92% Polyamide and 8% Elastane that is Bluesign approved. On the outside the Mark II has been treated with a 100% fluorocarbon free Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating from Toko. So the pants got more sustainable. More about the design changes later.
Old versus new
It is hard for me to translate my experiences with the Mark I directly to the Mark II. And I am not going to. I talked to Lundhags and in durability the experience should be the same. Designwise a few changes have been made to enhance the comfort but nothing life changing here either. Let’s trust Lundhags on this. Although…
I have tried to get hold of Mark II pants for about a year. Just for the comparison. Since my Mark I’s are still 100% ok I was not planning to buy a new one and I am still not. Lundhags is not the fastest company in answering emails. When they finally decided to send me a pair, they could not send it anymore since production and sending it out to The Netherlands is not possible until somewhere in the first three months of 2022. I don’t know why… The good news is: the Lundhags Authentic I Pant is still for sale in a lot of places.
Why I love the Lundhags Authentic I Pant
The answer to this question is very simple: because it fits me perfectly. It’s just like fitting a new pair of jeans. You know immediately when a jeans has the X-factor. This is what I had with the Authentic I Pant. I am a size 46 and the waist is spot on. No belt needed like with so many other pants that I have. Also the length of the legs is perfect. By now the Authentic II Pant is also available for men and women in different leg lengths and in several widths and there is a Junior version. Just to be accurate. Next to a perfect fit for me as a rather small guy I also liked the features the pant has to offer. Time to continue with my outdoor pants life.
Practical pockets
The Lundhags Authentic I Pant has two jeans-like pockets on the front. They are deep enough to warm my hands and to be a secure place for small change or the car key.
The inside of the pockets have a double stitch and after carrying sharp keys, money and small DIY tools they are still perfect. Most jeans I own…. they get holes in their pockets after a couple of months.
…or a pair of gloves. 
The thigh pockets are large enough for a folded map…
The two other pockets are large ones on the thighs. They are large enough for a folded map, large smartphone or a pair of gloves like the Hestra Ergo Grip or the Crud Gjöra Gloves. When stuff is in them it never gets in the way when putting pressure on the upper legs; for example when sitting down or bending the knees. In the pocket on the right side there is an extra inner pocket made from a flexible mesh. It’s a super pocket to secure a medium sized smartphone. When checking this pocket for this review I discovered that this is the only thing on the Lundhags that is not 100% ok anymore. The top is a bit torn; maybe I pushed my Plus size smartphone with the casing too many times in it.
Both pockets have a lid and velcro ensures that nothing falls out of the pockets. The velcro is after all those years still 98%.
Flexible material on knees and bum
One of the many good features of the Lundhags Authentic I Pant are the large Schoeller Dynamic stretch panels on it. The bum and crotch are made of it and also the – already articulated – knees. This material is so flexible that I am never limited in my movements. The fact that this same material is also found on the inside of the knees prevents material building up here when bending the knees. This Schoeller Dynamic material is also pretty fast drying; handy when I just sat down in wet grass. I don’t remember anymore if there was a time that this material was water repellent. What I do know is that on the Lundhags Authentic II Pant the material is water repellent according to Lundhags.
Small details
Regarding the small details the Lundhags Authentic I Pant is also a well designed pant. On the legs I like the boot-lock construction with a large strap, a bucle and a metal button to secure it. Even in faul weather, cold hands and mud on the boort lock construction the adjustment is still very do-able. I also like the metal hook that secures the legs to the laces of my boots. It’s a bit of a pity that a plastic hook replaced the metal one on the Mark II.
Speaking of metal stuff. The front zipper is an YKK zipper with a metal pulling tap while the zipper teeth are plastic. The front button is metal too.
On the Lundhags Authentic I the hook is made of metal… 
… on the Lundhags Authentic II it is plastic.
Ventilation & breathability
The thing I like best about the Lundhags Authentic I Pant is that for me it is almost a four season pant. When writing this I am aware of the fact that I live in a mild part of Europe; we don’t have the cold from for example the Nordics. Like I wrote before: I spend a lot of my days outdoors. This varies from hot summer +25 ℃ to around -5 ℃. In general I love the ventilation that the cotton/polyester mix has to offer. The Schoeller parts even ventilate a bit better. When I need more ventilation (or a bit more freedom of movement) I just unzip the ventilation openings on the sides of each leg. Behind these ventilation zippers is a fine mesh that prevents insects or branches and grasses getting in.
Lundhags Authentic I Pant Cold weather Tricks and Tips
When I write that I use the Lundhags Authentic I Pant 24/7/52 that is not totally true; also this pant has its limitations. When the temperature rises above 15 ℃ I often change to my Lundhags shorts. If my legs need some sort of protection I prefer the long version. But when it gets colder… It will take a long time before I change into more winter-like pants. The Lundhags work perfectly together with long johns. Mostly I prefer a next to skin layer from merino wool. Depending on temperature I take thinner or thicker ones. I love the thicker ones from Woolpower and the thinner ones from Odlo. The webbing structure of the Aclima is one of my favorite in-between options.
What about rain and snow?
Well, what about it? Since it is a pants that is not waterproof, you will get wet. The amount of water that is absorbed is not that much. The benefit of the poly/cotton mix. Next to that it is also pretty quick drying. Daily practice: wash at the end of the day when dirty, dry the next morning. Outdoors: it will dry pretty fast on the body or when I put it in the sun on the rocks. A wettish Lundhags never bothered me on the trail. With snow… same story except for the fact that with dry cold weather most snow just falls off the pants.
Again: it helps to wear a merino wool base layer underneath. Did you know that wool also isolates when wet?
What about fire?
Well, what about it? To be frank: there is a lot about it. I love making campfires. I do it all the time. In all those years the Lundhags Authentic I Pant has seen sparks flying around and on it. And up to today not one spark led to a dark or black burn spot on or in the pants material. This has – again – got to do with the material that the pants are made from. I am not saying it will never happen, but that my pants are still undamaged in this respect, says a lot.
Lundhags Authentic II Pant
Lundhags Sweden was not able to deliver me a Lundhags Authentic II Pant but suddenly I had a brainwave: maybe one of the Dutch outdoor shops has one. And that was the case. I found a pair at Kathmandu.nl in the right size and I was allowed to borrow them for a few days (THANKS!). The changes that I already wrote about above are only improvements that I get and make the pants better. One that I did not mention yet is the reinforcement at the instep that is now a double layer of fabric. In the Mark I this is just one layer of fabric that on both my pants is still 100% ok.
One improvement I was very anxious about to take a closer look at, are the velcro adjustments on the waist. With them it is not needed to use a belt anymore. The construction might help those who don’t like wearing a belt when wearing a backpack. I am not one of them since on my belt is mostly a knife. On the Lundhags Authentic II Pant it is also possible to use the velcro and a belt because the belt loops are there but… I noticed that when I use the velcro to tighten the waist, there is a slight doubling of layers. To me this felt fine. Even with a backpack but I don’t guarantee that all of you will think likewise. I need to do more testing with the pants that hopefully arrive in the first part of next year.
Verdict
I know: this is not a very fair review to a lot of other brands since there is not one pant that I have so much experience with. I have more outdoor, very similar pants in my closet. Sometimes I take another – a Klattermusen – since it has a waterproof bum, but the rest… The Lundhags are always my pick. Not only because they perform super in comfort, durability and freedom of movement but also because they are red and that simply looks damn good in pics and vids.
The pity is… they don’t make the red men’s one anymore. A red ladies Lundhags Authentic II Pant is available though and I take my changes in a couple of years once my red one is done for. The Lundhags Authentic I Pant is still for sale on some spots and retails from about € 110 and that’s a bargain to be made. The Lundhags Authentic II Pant retails for € 189,95 and either way you go it is definitely worth the money. I rate the Lundhags Authentic I Pant at 9,4 points out of 10 points total.
