Men's Stealth Spring Chino Pants vs Men's Sprag 5-Pocket Pants: which is safer?
Columbia Men's Stealth Spring Chino Pants is our pick, better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
Our pick
Columbia
Men's Stealth Spring Chino Pants
PFAS grade
Good 65/100
Overall grade
Good 59/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 1
Material
cotton-blend chino twill (no water-repellent treatment noted)
Confidence
72%
PossibleAzo dyes (synthetic colorants)
The North Face
Men's Sprag 5-Pocket Pants
PFAS grade
Bad 20/100
Overall grade
Bad 12/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 2
Material
Cotton/nylon blend with water-repellent coating finish (likely fluorocarbon-based)
Confidence
45%
PossiblePFAS in water-repellent coating finish (separate grade)
PossibleCoating degradation and microparticle shedding
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Azo dyes (synthetic colorants) on the Columbia and not on the The North Face.
- We flag PFAS in DWR finish (separate grade) and Coating degradation and microparticle shedding on the The North Face and not on the Columbia.
- The Columbia is cotton-blend chino twill (no water-repellent treatment noted) where the The North Face is Cotton/nylon blend with DWR finish (likely fluorocarbon-based), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Columbia is the one to buy.
- We are less certain about the The North Face grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.
Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
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