Just read that the oldest known pair of pants, found in China, is over 3,000 years old and had woven-in kneepads for horse riding.

3 comments

3 Comments

Wait, wait, hold on. So we're saying these pants had actual kneepads woven right in from the start? That's wild, I always figured people just patched stuff later. @the_seth I get your point about farming wear, but I've ridden horses and the wear pattern is totally different than kneeling. Riding grinds the inside of the knee, not the front. I really can't see a farmer or weaver wearing out that exact spot from kneeling unless they were doing some weird sideways crouch all day. My gut tells me the horse riding explanation has more to it than we're giving it credit for.

the_seth1mo ago

Okay but woven-in kneepads for riding? That feels like a modern idea we're putting on old stuff. Look at old saddles and stirrups, they changed how you rode. Those pants might just be reinforced from lots of kneeling on the ground, like for farming or weaving. We always want the cool explanation to be true, but sometimes it's just about hard daily work.

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the_linda1mo ago

Totally get that, I used to assume old leather patches were for riding until I spent a summer helping on a farm. Wore out my own knees just from kneeling in the dirt all day.