3Sixteen Cargo Pant

The M-51 is the cargo pant everything else is a copy of, and most copies keep the pockets and lose the proportions. 3Sixteen has done it the other way round. The rise is high and the leg is wide and straight through to a generous opening, which is how the original was cut and why it reads as a trouser rather than as sportswear. The cargo pockets sit where they can be reached rather than where they photograph well.

The one modern addition is the pair of elastic inserts at the sides of the waistband. They give the waist about an inch of movement in either direction, which sounds minor and is not: it is the difference between a military-cut trouser you wear on a specific day and one you wear on any of them. Everything else is period-correct and deliberately so.

Why we selected it

We are wary of cargo pants, because most of them are a costume. This one survives because the drafting is right and the fabric is honest, and because it does the thing our customers actually want from a trouser that is not denim: it is easy, it is roomy, and it does not look like an outdoor product.

Military patterns are 3Sixteen’s second language after denim, and the cargo is the most direct of them.

Materials and construction

One hundred percent cotton in stonewashed olive, made in India. Cargo pockets, elasticated side inserts at the waist, wide straight leg.

Fit notes

High rise, roomy through the seat and thigh, wide to the hem. It sits at the natural waist rather than on the hip, and the elastic inserts mean it accommodates a size in either direction more forgivingly than a rigid waistband. Stonewashed cotton arrives soft and will not shrink appreciably. If you are between sizes, the smaller will still be comfortable because of the inserts.

Styling

Olive is the easiest colour in this trouser and the reason to start here. With a white tee and a work jacket it is the plainest good outfit in the store. Under the BDU Jacket the two military patterns agree without matching. Boots or a low canvas shoe.

Care

Machine wash cool and hang to dry. Cotton of this weight will fade slowly and evenly with washing, which is the intended behaviour, so let it. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The same pattern in herringbone twill is the Cargo Pant in Charcoal HBT. Cut on the same military drafting are the Fatigue Pant and the Service Pant, and the jacket that belongs with them is the BDU Jacket. Everything we currently hold from 3Sixteen is listed together.