A plain old pair of Levi's are quiet, anything cotton is usually quieter than nylons or blended fabrics. Outside of obviously noisy fabrics moving quietly has more to do with how you move and less about what you're wearing.

Soft soled shoes are quieter than hard soled shoes. I suppose it's fair to say some of the quietest people on the planet wear Levi's a flannel shirt and sneakers.

Moving quietly comes naturally to some people, with others it takes practice and discipline. So, less about the clothing and more about the way one moves their body.

 

A plain old pair of Levi's are quiet, anything cotton is usually quieter than nylons or blended fabrics. Outside of obviously noisy fabrics moving quietly has more to do with how you move and less about what you're wearing.

Soft soled shoes are quieter than hard soled shoes. I suppose it's fair to say some of the quietest people on the planet wear Levi's a flannel shirt and sneakers.

Moving quietly comes naturally to some people, with others it takes practice and discipline. So, less about the clothing and more about the way one moves their body.

standard uniform for various sog/seal/sof/lrrp teams in sea...jeans on the bottom, jungle boots, and a tiger stripe fatigue blouse w boonie hat and leather patrol gloves w fingers tips cut off to manipulate fine stuff...

 

If you go to a store that specializes in bow hunting you will find a myriad of clothing that is designed to not make any noise. They also have everything available for hot and humid conditions to freezing and soaking wet.

 

^^^^^^^this ^^^^^

Anything fleece will be technically "quiet".

 

The Fjallraven Vidda Pro 1000 are my go to bushcraft pants. I find myself wearing them every where now. They're not silent, but they're pretty quiet compared to my others; oh yeah, they are pricey. I think I have 5 pair now, wife bought me two for my birthday.

They're also impregnated with wax to make them water repellant, maybe this is where the noise reduction is too? Some folks wash them in real hot water to rid of the wax for more breathability. Fjallraven sells they wax for re-application too. They have vented and non vented versions.

Very rugged pants, I see them lasting me many years. May not be exactly what you're looking for, but a great bushcraft, hunting, general rough use pant for back country and urban use IMO.

 

Depends on how much you are willing to pay.

Definitely not summer wear Unless make vents, but It’s The Quietest, and most durable you’ll ever get. Had wife pull mine out of storage yesterday.

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Other than that, try some of the newer stretch movement pants.
I recently purchased some carhart pants that have a slight bit of stretch. 10% rayon I think.
They look normal, but They are very quiet. Can’t hear any slide of fabric when you raise your leg.
What I don’t like. I use all my pockets. By end of day the carpenter pocket sags a bit until washed.

 

I like Columbia. They are not 100% silent, but better than 5.11.

 

Washed/worn Levis or denim pants.
You could always wear Polar fleece or Wool overpants, but you'll bring all the briars and stickers home with you.

Cotton flannel shirt. Wool Jacket, Filson or Pendleton. Alaskan Shirt-Jackets are great.

Shoes that are broken in, nothing worse than squeaky work boots.

 

Moleskins or chunky corduroy trousers are worth a try.

 

I've purchased over the years multiple different brands of "tactical" cargo pants. From CQB to 5.11. I've found all the pants that I purchase are far from silent, not even close.

I guess I'm looking for recommendations of pants that are virtually silent while moving, just in case the situation arises when stealth is necessary.

Thanks in advance.

Excellent topic, for discussion! Thanks for bringing this up.

 

Am I the only old guy here?

Wool. Silent. Keeps you warm even when soaked.

Old school. But highly effective.

 

Jeans…the worst you can choose.

Swish swish with every step. Try it on.

Wet? Prepare to freeze. Forever.

Easily ripped. And the rip continues…

That said, I wear em all the time. But never, NEVER in the mountains or woods.

Yeah, they’re cool. Look good. Great when the weather is OK.

But they’re the LAST trouser material I’ll grab when it’s time to go to work.

I’ll gladly bring home every cockleburr
west of the Missouri with my wool trousers.

Advantages far outweigh the liabilities.

 

^^it all depends an your AO and the temsp/seasoned expected to operate in...

I never had any issues here in SE while out in the wintertime..

 

As winteh comes around I will soon be shifting to only wool clothing. No brand names. I find them in mil surplus stores. Wool shirts and wool pants, both work well in winteh.

 

Good BDU pants can be pretty darn quiet too, if well washed/broken in and if they are the right fabric, since BDU pants can be had in multiple types of fabric.

 

Obviously you don't want a material that's extremely loud- but once your clothing isn't swishing/zipping up against itself the differences between diff materials is negligible. If the difference in those materials makes the difference in you being detected you're doing alot of things wrong. We like to think of stealth as a skill and it's really more of a condition/opportunity- this skill is recognising and exploiting those opportunities when they come by. Some approaches are impossible regardless of how quiet your clothes are, how perfect your scent control and how cool your camo looks.

Fwiw, I wear alot of nylon and have gotten within 10 yards of pressured animals multiple times without camo, scent control or the latest and greatest stealthy slippers/pajamas.

.02

 

I have mixed feelings. I feel as though stealth is 50/50. The right discipline mixed with the right clothing. I'm talking fast paced movement if needed. I'm not looking for clothes that make absolutely no noise. That's impossible. Just the least amount of noise. So...

Thank you to those who gave legitimate suggestions as to wool or hunting clothing. It's been a couple years since I've gone hunting, so it slipped my mind. I appreciate your input immensely.

For those of you who claim that it's 100% skill, I promise you with my hearing if you're coming into my yard in a shtf situation with canvas pants, you got something coming. However, if you get to me, let me live long enough to applaud you. Not trying to be a jersey, I just have extremely sensitive hearing to some sounds. I find eating noises so offensive, I know when kids are eating on the other end of the house lol. My ears just pick up on certain noises. My fiance thinks I'm on the spectrum because of it lmao... it socks. If I can hear it, I feel like ol great grand dad can hear it. I just want everything to be minimized as much as possible.

 

Wool is what you want as mentioned. Lots of different thicknesses out there from suite pants to heavy cargo style pants

 

I have some 5:11 pants that were 50/50 ripstop. These were not the tacticool with all kinds of pockets and after 3 or 4 washing were really comfy, gusted crotch and of course they dont make them anymore.

I have found that the 50/50 blended ripstop pants really break in well.

I would stay away from the silent weave junk archers use, as they are just not durable. If they were, our military would be issuing them to the Secret Squirrel folks. Many of them roll in blue jeans from time to time.

 

lol Sitka is made to be quiet and probably a bit expensive to fit an army. And a bit more than wool. Not sure what you think archers use

 

Use a natural laundry soap without additives and you can add some Borax or baking soda and cut the amount of soap used which can help a little with stiffness. There are dryer fabric softener sheets that supposedly don't add any scent or mess with the colors but I try to dry my clothes on the line then toss them in the dryer with no heat and a handful of natural wool balls. I have used the unscented dryer sheets before, usually putting two or three in instead of just one, but prefer the wool balls.