Today I went to have look at the trousers from Fjällräven: Barents Pro. I have used Fjällräven's trousers made of the wonderful material Original G-1000 since 1998 and worn up models like Greenland, Iceland, Vidda and Barents. All of them variations on the Greenland model. Barents has become my favorite in recent years. It has a roomy fit. The leg ending is raw length (check it out here). It has double layer on the rear (like Vidda) and the so-called knife pocket (mysteriously placed at the knee joint!) of Greenland and Vidda is left out.
This year Fjällräven came out with a revised model: Barents Pro (they also makes a Vidda Pro)! The main difference being that the reinforcement of the knees is now actually the length it should always have had, so it is also useful when you are kneeling! In addition you can put knee pads in pockets under this reinforcement! Some nerdy people customized the previous models to cater for this but the pads were placed too high. If this was all but no, Fjällräven seems to have wanted to "improve" even more! The fit is changed. The Pro version has narrower legs and a lower waist. Last thing is that the joint down the rear is no longer a simple one stitch that made it really easy to modify the fit!! All in all they are a totally new design and in my opinion they should have come up with another name. They (or Vidda Pro) may become a new favorite like Vidda is for many but to me there are too many steps back.
Luckily, the regular Barents is still available…
