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Let’s get into the world’s heaviest denim weights! Specifically, one super cool pair. There is exactly one pair of these jeans on Earth, and I was lucky enough to try them on for this article.
These jeans use the thickest, heaviest denim in the entire world. The leather patch on the back is 1/2 inch thick and sewn onto the jeans using deer tendons, AKA sinew. Today, we will be climbing a ladder – that ladder starts at some of the lightest weight jeans in the world and goes all the way to undoubtedly the heaviest.
What’s up, everyone? It’s Big Mike back with another article, and I hope you’re doing well. Let me just cut to the chase here – I have five pairs of jeans, each one heavier, thicker, and rougher than the last until we get basically to the highest level. You can’t get any heavier, thicker, whatever it may be, and the 40 oz jeans…
The History of Heavy Denim: From Levi’s to Today
Okay, so let me catch up to speed with the race to a heavier denim weight because it didn’t exist, and then it became an all-out war about who could make the heaviest denim weighted jeans. Originally, Levi’s denim started off with a 9-ounce fabric because that was one of the limits of technology.
Technology got better, and Levi’s kind of continuously upped the weight of their jeans. They stopped at around 12 oz, which is the standard. Wrangler, of course, acting as the industry disruptor, changed two things: the twill type, which we won’t get into today at all – but I did write an article comparing Levi’s and Wranglers.
The other thing they changed is that instead of 12 oz fabric, they used 14.75 oz fabric.
When we’re talking about the weight of the fabric, we’re talking about how much a square yard of that fabric weighs.
So a square yard of blue jean fabric from Naked and Famous weighs 8.25 oz, and a square yard of 40 oz jeans weighs 40 oz. Then I believe, if the history I have is correct, Edwin made 16 oz jeans, heavier weight jeans, and some Japanese mills were making crazy 21 oz fabric. 21 oz fabric is considered unbelievably heavy.
Full disclosure: Naked and Famous did send me some of these jeans for free. I have to send them back, but I could not write this article if it wasn’t for Naked and Famous and Redcast Heritage.
The Great Denim Arms Race
Naked and Famous had a huge hand in popularizing very, very heavyweight denim. A race began where 21 oz was the heaviest, then there was 22, then there was 25, then one day there was the heaviest denim in the world – 32 oz denim, and now we have 40.
Okay, anyway, now that that is all out of the way, we will be going through the jeans using the Strike Gold SG 9903 as the fulcrum. This is where things begin to get crazy.
Quick Comparison: From Lightweight to Legendary
| Product | Weight | Features | Break-In Period | Unique Traits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Naked and Famous (8.25 oz) | 8.25 oz | Lightweight, ideal for hot climates | Minimal break-in | Similar feel to shirt fabric; easy to wear |
| Wrangler (14.75 oz) | 14.75 oz | Classic weight; durable | Mild break-in | “Standard jeans” feel |
| Unbranded 321 (21 oz) | 21 oz | Heavyweight; fades dramatically | Manageable break-in | Feels like heavy sweatpants |
| Strike Gold SG 9903 | 24.8 oz | Rough, textured, ultra-heavy | Extremely tough; shrinks 10% when rinsed | “Not for the faint-hearted”; gets heavier over time |
| Naked and Famous (32 oz) | 32 oz | Luxuriously heavy, softer texture | Months to break-in | Final production run; mill refuses to produce more |
| Naked and Famous (40 oz) | 40 oz | Thickest, heaviest denim | Breaks in over months; becomes soft | Screw button, double leather patches, “pleasurable” fit |
Starting Light: The Baby Steps (8.25 oz)
Okie dokie, so keep in mind that these were obviously sent to me. I have to send them back, so they may not all fit me perfectly, but I have Naked and Famous’s Blue Jay denim, 8.25 oz denim. If you live in a very hot climate, this is probably going to be what you’d want because it’s very, very lightweight.
You’re probably more familiar with fabric like this in shirts – like this wouldn’t feel that obnoxiously light; you would just think that it’s built for shirts. There’s not a lot of breaking in, really virtually no breaking in, even though they do feel a little starchy, nothing that crazy.
The Standard: Wrangler Territory (14.75 oz)
Big jump here because we’re almost doubling the weight – this is 14.75 oz denim. This is just Wrangler denim, but these are the jeans that you know you love. This is just, dare I say, this is how pants feel. That is how I would best define these.
Getting Serious: The 21 oz Challenge
And now we find ourselves at the cusp of war – 21 oz. Actually, although they’re 21, like I said, they’re not the craziest thing. I would actually say Unbranded 321s; one, they’re famous for a very specific reason, but two, I would probably categorize them as a mild 21 oz because although the fabric is heavy, it is not incredibly rough.
There’s not a ton of really intense texture that you feel when you walk around; it just feels like a heavy pair of regular flat jeans. The kind of analogy people always use is that they feel like heavyweight sweatpants. They’re famous because these jeans fade incredibly fast and dramatically.
The Beast: Strike Gold SG 9903 (24.8 oz)
We are officially in the war zone territory of jeans. These are the peaceful pacifist jeans that are not fighting for anything, and these are our soldiers. These, my indigo-covered friends, are Strike Gold SG 9903. The machine that is used to make them exploded while making them.
These jeans were sent to me by Redcast Heritage, who is one of my favorite retailers of denim because of their insanely long and detailed descriptions. Of course, this one opens with this: “Please note that these jeans are not for the faint-hearted. If you’re not confident in your ability to handle the weight and hardness of this ultra-heavy denim, we recommend refraining from purchasing.” These are a mistake to buy for most people.
Oh, and these have a trick up their sleeve because they come in at 24.8 oz, but that is not their final weight – they get heavier the more you wear them. Oh boy, even though they’re not the heaviest jeans on this list, they are unbelievably rough, even compared to the heavier-weight jeans.
There are lumps in the yarn, and it is heavy. I can grate my fingers across it. Oh, absolutely brutal on the lower male section. When I say, though, what these jeans have for them is that they are by far the most beautiful textured heavyweight jeans that I’ve ever seen. That’s kind of Redcast’s specialty.
Redcast has a ton of things besides denim, but really, they go the craziest route with denim. Let me tell you, there was a lot of grunting and groaning getting these suckers on.
On lighter-weight jeans, usually, the pocket holes are rather stiff, so it’s hard to button. On heavyweight jeans, it’s literally impossible.
The craziest thing is, actually, I said these jeans get heavier when you wear them, technically not when you wear them, but the first rinse.
These jeans will shrink up to 10%, so that adds an extra 2 ounces to the weight of the jeans and makes them much heavier and tighter.
I’ll be completely honest. I had to stick a screwdriver into the buttonhole to get them on. How manly is that? Okay, alright, so amazingly, we have some functionality with these jeans, even though I can barely bend over to cuff them. These jeans are still built very well.
They still have hidden rivets in the back pockets, which I think is amazing because in order to make this denim work when you’re sewing and everything, you are hammering it, pushing it, and sweating over it.
Side note: As I was writing this and trying on these jeans, my girlfriend, Taylor, hugged me goodbye on her way out to get a coffee, and she said, “Oh my God, why are you so covered in sweat?”
The Almost Final Boss: 32 oz Denim
Naked and Famous’s 32 oz denim – this denim is so notoriously difficult to build and produce that the mill refuses to produce another batch, which is why this is the final run. Okay, here we go. They’re a little tighter than I’d probably normally wear, but it’s a pretty good fit.
While these are heavier and thicker than Strike Golds, they’re noticeably softer. That’s what’s crazy about Strike Gold. These feel like a very luxurious carpet, kind of. And bonus points for not having to use a screwdriver to get them on.
If I were adding no extra effort to how I walk to make me not look stupid wearing these jeans, well, I would look stupid. It’s flinging my legs back and forth like rag dolls. It feels like there’s a possession in my pants. I’m not kidding – I’m trying to describe this in ways that we can understand across word barriers.
All in all, though, I would say if you got these sized correctly, they would be wearable. And Garrett from Naked and Famous, the beast that has been wearing the 40 oz jeans for a long time – the reason there are fades – has said these break-in in a few months, and they’re like soft sweatpants, which is really an incredible thing to say. He’s very manly.
The Final Boss: 40 oz Legend
And now the heaviest jeans on planet Earth – 40 oz jeans. The 32 oz jeans have an unbelievably heavy leather patch, and the 40 oz jeans have two of those unbelievably heavy leather patches.
The last thing I will say is you’ll notice the main button is not what you typically see – it is a screw, it is screwed into these jeans, and then you have a giant number 10 YKK zipper, I think. I don’t know what brand. They’re shockingly nice and roomy! These are not bad!
Here’s a conversation I had with Taylor while wearing these beasts:
“Hey, babe!”
“Hi, check these out. These are the heaviest jeans on planet Earth!”
“What’s the point of them? Oh my God, why is this so thick?”
“You’ve never said that to me before!”
These jeans are actually, dare I say, pleasurable compared to the 32 oz and the 26 oz, depending on whether they’re washed or not. They’re pleasurable to wear.
That’ll do – the mecca of fashion! 40 oz denim jeans made exclusively by Naked and Famous. I can hang out in these all day and not be fatigued.
Anyways, that is about it. Taylor has taken a very strange liking to these 40 oz jeans that we have to send back, so it’s time to try them off her legs! Thanks again for reading! See you all soon!
Watch This Review
This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.
The Iron Snail is a men’s fashion vlog (and now article series!) starring a young man named Michael and featuring a snail no bigger than a quarter. The two are set on taking over the world of fashion by creating a clothing line to end all clothing lines. Until then, we’re here to tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about the best clothing out there, from the highest quality raw denim jeans to the warmest jackets to the sturdiest boots…the Iron Snail has got you covered.