At midnight tonight it will have been 365 days that the same pair of hemp pants have adorned my blessed lower half. (Heroic music begins as OTP montage rolls.) We’ve had some great times together, and nothing less than the glory of the afterlife will be able to fill the drafty emptiness OTP will leave behind (in all our hearts). But the pants are truly spent.

Through summer heat, winter chill, dirty diapers, spit-up, diarrhea, dog bite, roofing, demolition, wine, chocolate, chili and BBQ, dancing, laughing, crying, two weddings and a funeral, my one true pants have been my rod and my comforter (wait, that sounds familiar).

Why, you may ask, would a well known nut job (aka the RedneckGranola) embrace a monogamous relationship (in this day an age) with a single pair of pants for an entire year? It’s true, despite our Honey Bucket economy, we live in a throw-away culture where jeans come in three packs at the corner store (discount with a magnum of your choice).

But rather than sit on my front porch and throw my crappy jeans at meddling kids while in a drunken stupor, I decided to take my wife’s hard-earned money and have a real pair of pants crafted straight from the fiber of heaven’s loins. To prove their divine status, a test. Yes, a test–365 days of continuous wear with weekly washings to demonstrate that sober-britches monogamy is a more sustainable option than drunken-blue-jean belligerence.

And now the answer is clear as day. Craftsmanship isn’t dead in the United States. (Well maybe it is, but the values behind it still stand true). A well-made article of clothing utilizing the finest of sustainable materials and produced via fair wage can economically compete with a blue-light, shrunk-wrapped, six-pack of genuine regurgitated roll-back. (As long as you’re a tree-hugging nut job who doesn’t care about variety, or at least a dude who prefers simplicity and routine over matching suits.)

Perhaps I’ve broken some unwritten universal law by having a single garment caress my nethers for such an unearthly expanse of time. Or maybe, just maybe, I’ve created a new world order. One were man and britches live in harmonious relationship.

God’s speed, OneTruePants. God’s speed.

Day 300 of wearing the same pair of hemp pants and spots on the thighs and above the knees are beginning to thin. The spots right above the knees are due to an odd fold that was in the fabric from the beginning. I’m convinced they wouldn’t be giving out now if it not for that. But the right thigh area is just from wear and tear. Plus a mongrel hound attacked me a few days ago and left a tooth puncture above the cell phone pocket. (A pox on thee, Cerberus, you hound of hell!)

Anywho. A few people have asked me over the last 300 days about having their own pair of OneTruePants. Tis an intriguing idea, and thus I am intrigued by it, intriguingly. Of courses I will continue to see if the Day 365 marker is still attainable. That has been my original goal. At that point I’ll have to consider more seriously if creating a sweatshop of lawn gnomes in the basement of my new house in Nampa, Idaho would be worth it.

Of course I’ll need at least one new pair of OTP for my own personal use (even if I don’t wear them everyday). So making a few others might not be too much of a stretch. If you stumble upon the OTP experiment here at this mostly static blog please check us out at on Twitter and Facebook. Just look for Onetruepants.

cat in clothes dryer

It has been almost 75 days of continuous wear for the onetruepants.  More importantly they have endured 11 machine washings.  I personally have only endured two, but that was enough for me.  Well, maybe one more… but I usually take the OTP off before washing them.

After just shy of a dozen washings I feel that the hemp has reached its prime.  Soft and comfortable the fabric drapes well yet with enough form to function for a wide variety of duties.  OTP have worked on top of roofs, recreated in parks, attended a wedding, changed poopy diapers, snuggled in the dark and spent long days on the road.

The first most surprising element of the pants has been their dirt and stain resistance.  Now I have not tried wine or mustard yet, and don’t plan on putting the pants through intentional distress, but I have encountered, pine pitch, snot, salsa, manure, fresh grass clippings, soot, dirt, grease and more.  I have not applied any stain remover or even treated the pants.  Just worn them until wash day and thrown them in.

The pitch was still visible until the second wash when it finally dissolved completely.  Most invading elements have been able to be simply brushed off.  No scientific study has been conducted as of yet, but my initial theory is that the weave and texture of the hemp is resistant to absorption and adhesion of foreign objects.  Anyway, it has been a pleasure up to this point to live in the OTP.  Let’s hope it remains so.

There simply isn’t much hemp fabric being made worldwide and almost all of it comes from either China or Eastern Europe.  Prices vary from $5 a yard to $12 a yard for lighter summer fabrics while heavier twills and canvases range from $13 to $30 a yard.  Some suppliers have better selection, better customer service and or a better website.  If you are looking to make a large order or start a business it is suggested you make an early effort to get to know these companies and give them advanced notice of what your needs may be.  Here is a short rundown.

Eco Vigor is the American wholesaler of Dong Ping Hemp in China.  Apparel Solutions is their attempt at a friendly interface.  While the webpage is clunky to say the least Eco Vigor does have a lot of fabrics available and their customer service is good.  Calling them directly will save time over trying to navigate their confusing nested websites.

EnviroTextiles was started by Barbara Filippone, a long time player in improving the accessibility and quality of Hemp fabrics.  After working with Ecolutions in Europe and with Dong Ping Hemp in China she started EnviroTextiles and runs the business with the help of her daughter, Summer.  Their website is clear and friendly, but requires users to call for pricing and ordering.  This fact is made less inconvenient by the fact that their customer service is wonderful and they do their best to get back to you immediately.  Using EnviroTextiles makes it easy to find a high quality fabric.

Hemp Basics has a long standing history and track record.  They have an excellent website that provides full-service from a good search feature to a shopping cart.  They have good quality, consistent photos of their fabrics along with good descriptions.  Hemp Basics sells a vast selection of both Romanian and Chinese hemp, including several specialty weaves.  The only downside is that their prices can get pretty spendy.

Hemp Traders has also been in the business for over 15 years, which is ancient in hemp wholesaling.  While Hemp Traders started out with hemp fibers they have expanded quickly to include rope, oil, clothing, body products and raw hemp materials.  Their website is good and includes a shopping cart, but service beyond the website may be hard to come by.

Pickering International runs their Pickhemp website in order to market several natural fibers including organic cotton, soybean and bamboo along with hemp.  They sell several blends and prints along with a limited selection of hemp fabrics.  While their selection is limited their prices tend to be good.  Pickering also provides production services to those interested.  Like EnviroTextiles pricing must be requested.

While Ecolution and Rawganique are first and foremost clothiers and retailers both also sell bulk hemp fabrics.    Prices tend to run high, but quality fabrics can be found.  Ecolution’s selection is of basic hemp canvases while Rawganique sells more of their specialty and died fabrics.  Rawganique also ships their fabrics from Canada which can cause problems with returns. Hopefully this will help in the search for quality hemp clothes and fabrics.  Good hemping!

~ two week trial period for testing the fit and the fabric for possible needed adjustments is coming to an end. The days worn (12) and the number of washings (2) during this time will be recorded.

~ one true pants will remain on my body at all times with the following exceptions: sleeping, laundering, swimming, and any other activity requiring nudity.  This means that I will not wear the pants during anytime a normal person would never consider wearing pants of any kind (like showering or lying on the beach).

~ Laundering for OTP will go as follows: wash on warm/cold with regular spin in a washing machine and then dried on medium low heat for 35 min. and low heat for another 35 min.  OTP may be allowed to finish air drying over night. OTP will be washed once a week at a regular time (usually Saturday or Sunday).  The total number of washings will be tracked for final data.

~ while one true pants are being laundered I will wear one of two alternative pants: hemp pants from Orvis or my pajama bottoms that my wife made. (of course nakedness is not against OTP saga rules.)

~ One true pants will be rendered untenable as pants when they are considered “worn out.”  This condition will be defined by the inability to simply fix the pants with routine maintenance such as: sowing on a button, letting out a hem, or stitching up a sudden tear.  A sudden tear will be defined as damage occurred at no fault of the fabric, but by its user.  All routine repairs will be well documented.  My wife will be the final judge as to when an untenable state is reached (trust me, she is the most qualified to assert this).

~ one being deemed “worn out” by my wife a “death day” will be recorded on-line and the time of death will be documented and celebrated accordingly.  I will remain pants-less for the next 24 hours in remembrance and consolidation with OTP fans around the world.

The saga has begun.  Day 12 and counting.

Other than a few notable exceptions such as Woody Harrelson and Willie Nelson, hemp has kept a much lower profile and tends to like it that way.  But when it comes to budging the position of the DEA and federal government on their stance of considering hemp as a category one controlled substance, the same as marijuana, many advocates are now wishing they could make a lot more noise.

Since the 1970 Controlled Substance Act hemp has been an illegal drug despite the fact that it has such little THC that it has no psychoactive or hallucinogenic effect.  Starting in 1995 Colorado got the ball rolling with their Hemp Initiative calling for the legalization of low THC hemp.  The bill failed three years in a row, but helped encourage other states to follow suit.

By 1999 legislation had been introduced in 14 states: Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.  Only half of these passed and only Hawaii, North Dakota and Minnesota mentioned actually planting hemp.  Many of the bills asked for feasibility studies and some challenged the federal government to repeal their ban on hemp as an agricultural crop.

By 2010 the number of states wanting the federal government to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp has grown to 17, adding the agricultural states of Texas and Kentucky.  Despite state governments distributing permits to grow the crop, few farmers are willing to risk loosing the crop if the DEA decides to stage a raid.  While medicinal marijuana growers have received some assurances that this will not happen, no such assurances have been extended to hemp farmers.

The largest legislative efforts at the federal level have been spearheaded by the diametrically opposed Representatives Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts).  Together they have introduced the Industrial Hemp Farm Act every year from 2006 to 2010.  To date the bill has never reached the floor for a vote, and the 2010 version is held up in the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security.  At the center of the issue the DEA silently stands as the sentinel ensuring that hemp not find sympathy, but instead remain categorized as a dangerous controlled substance.  Until this changes the hemp industry in the United States has one arm and two legs tied behind its back.

For now I will pilot this pair for a week and see if the consecutive wear marathon will officially begin.  If the stitching seems to be holding then the test will officially begin next week, and these bad boys will be worn day in and day out until they fall off of my granola-saturated body. Stay tuned!

The stalk of the hemp plant consists mainly of two types of fibers, the longer bast fibers and the woody core called hurds.  The hurds can be used for making animal bedding, paper, insulation, etc. but due to their shorter and courser nature they are rarely used for textiles.  The hurds usually comprise anywhere from 60% to 75% of the mass of the stalk.

While hemp does possess great potential as a fiber their are several hurdles in turning a field of hemp into quality clothing, all of them relating to the precious bast fibers.  The first and most basic challenge is genetic.  Hemp breeding for fiber-specific cultivars has been mostly limited to East Asia until just recently.  Much more work needs to be done in order to establish varieties for North America.

Secondly, knowledge on farming hemp as a fiber crop in North America is also very limited.  Some firsthand knowledge still exists from the 40′s and 50′s when hemp experienced a resurgence during the Hemp for Victory campaign of WWII.  But most of this hemp was not grown optimally for fine textiles, and much of what farmers learned was lost.

The best easily available study on this topic, Feasibility of Industrial Hemp Production in the United States Pacific Northwest, comes from Oregon State University.  Common issues in farming, such as nitrogen levels, have not been thoroughly answered when it comes to hemp as a fiber crop.  Too little nitrogen and the hemp may not grow as tall and vigorously as possible.  Too much and the quality of the bast fibers can be compromised.

This leads to the crucial issues of retting and fiber separation.  These two stages of hemp fiber processing are the most difficult in terms of preserving the quality of the fiber.  Limited research and study has been done on compression fracturing of the hemp fibers during these two steps.  The study that has been done demonstrates that hemp’s value as a textile fiber can be almost completely lost from field to mill or in the mill if precautions aren’t taken.

Retting is the process in which the fibers are initially softened through controlled microbial breakdown.  The more control, the more labor and the more cost.  After this the bast fibers must be separated from the hurds.  This can be done by a process called scutching or in a machine called a decorticator.  Both of these stages, retting and fiber separation, are areas that desperately need new technological developments to help preserve the quality of the bast fibers while preparing them for commercial use.

Essentially, hemp will remain a niche textile fiber until more study, labor and money is invested in developing it.  Cotton has quite the head start when it comes to industrialized harvesting and processing, but the potential contained in hemp has made it too great to ignore.

The modern Chinese hemp industry kicked into high gear in the late 1980′s and early 1990′s in the village of Dong Ping in Shangdong Province.  In 1987 a group of locals opened a modern hemp mill in the Tai’an district of Dong Ping.  By 1993 investors from the Netherlands created a joint venture with the Chinese in order to influence the cultivation and processing of the hemp according to Western textile standards.  Soon to follow this effort came the best cultivation equipment the world had to offer, a small handful of visionaries and hemp experts as well as improved hemp varieties and cultivars.

During that same time period scientists working for the Dong Ping Hemp Textile General Factory patented a degumming process involving various acid treatments which allowed hemp fabrics to rival cotton for softness.  Michael Rich, hemp advocate, spotted the opportunity in the mid-1990′s and again brought European dollars to China in order to advance the industry.  An upgraded hemp mill was opened in January of 1997. Today, Dong Ping Hemp boasts being the world’s largest hemp mill with a production capacity of over 3.6 million yards of fabric produced by over 2,600 workers.

Also in 1997, Barbara Filippone left Ecolution in order to help Dong Ping Hemp Textiles create a modern grading system in order to standardize their product for Western consumption.  Much of the system is still in use today.

China’s climate for growing hemp and long standing agricultural tradition combined with Europe’s investment dollars and modern equipment has transformed Dong Ping into the world’s hemp textile capital.  But that still is not saying much.  From 1982 to 1992 Shandong Province production of raw hemp fell from more than 100,000 tons to less than 10,000 tons.  In the last decade this trend has reversed, but is still short of historic benchmarks.  While many boast of the potential for hemp textiles, this potential still lurks in the shadows cast by cotton.

Brigham Young first gave the challenge to the Mormon people in 1847 to spread out through the area and see which key crops the church could maintain and grow in the arid climate.  The Saints tried cotton, flax, corn, wool, hemp and even a brief experiment in silk.  Hemp was reported to have grown best in the southeast and the Wasatch Valley.

It doesn’t appear that the Utah Saints grew great amounts of hemp and the experiment had certainly ended by the time the tax act of 1937 was issued.  None the less it was proven that hemp could compete with most crops in Utah and even succeed above and beyond some staples.  Ironic and sad that the United States eventually outlawed a crop and material that even the Nation of Deseret valued.  One hundred and fifty years later we are finally celebrating Hemp History Week in an effort to bring the crop back.  Visit Vote Hemp for more info.