Robberfly VENTED Backcountry Pants

// exploring movement-activated venting and clo rendering

Thermoregulating pants designed for rugged warm weather outdoor use with active ventilation on the sides, 3D air-intake pockets, and strategic mesh placement.

While originally their own project, these pants have been adapted for my Tactical Park Ranger project with new material choices that match those used for that project.

INITIAL FEATURE SKETCHES

Of my initial concepts, I decided to move forward with the dynamic side venting, spacer mesh pocket linings, vented crotch gussets, inner-knee vents, and the 3D pocket vents.

fEATURE PROTOTYPING

Small-scale prototyping was key for dialing in the the patterning and materials for the dynamic side vents as well as the structure and patterning for the 3D side pocket venting system. I had to be creative and use folded paper to figure out how to pattern the 3D side pockets as there was no way to drape this feature.

Pattern FLATS

These flats are made up of my rhino patterns combined in a way that shows the features.

HALF PANT PROTOTYPE

The half-pant prototype was a great start to understanding how capable these pants can be when all of their features are put together.

Full Pant Prototype for Tactical Park Ranger

View the full project exploring a creative take on post-abundance tactical uniforms here.

I decided to roll these pants into another project I had where I focused on the upper but not a bottom, as they are the perfect pants for a hot and humid future of tactical jungle protection. I used some of the same technologies on the shirt and finished the pants to go with them. Due to difficulties with the updates fabrics, there were some issues with the bottom vent fit that still needs to be worked out. That being said the pants look great on person and all other features worked really well!

CLO Render and CLO Screenshot

It was challenging to figure out how to translate the way this pattern worked in the real world into CLO, but I was happy with the result. Stiffening some parts of the fabric was key to creating a realistic render the captured the volume created by my fabric choices and patterning.