Oni Denim
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I know this thread isn't active, but just wanted to post my comparison of Samurai, Oni and IH. Left is Samurai 710s at 25 months (65 repairs by my wife between 10 and 23-ish months, at which point she gave up on them), middle is Oni 527 21 oz (i think those numbers are right) secret denim at 13 months (jeans were tearing at only 2-3 months), and right is IH-555-02 18 oz at 14 months, taken about a month ago. The Samurais were reasonably durable, but nothing like the IH, which still have no repairs at 15 months, and the first pair of jeans to make it a year for me without repair. The quality of the Onis was, in a word, awful. I think the average $30 department store jeans would have been more durable. If you're impatient and want fades quickly, the Onis might be the right call, but I would personally never consider buying them again. They rip very easily, apparently have very little indigo in them (I had almost none after 9 months and maybe 3 washes), and the cost/wear ratio is very high compared to anything comparable. IH FTW.
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@cander49 they are very interesting comparisons. I've often thought I should branch out and try other brand's denim, but whenever I've tried them on (maybe with the exception of Stevenson's Overalls) they have fallen so short of IH that I've just not bothered.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
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I'm nowhere near as hard on jeans as you are cander, but I've had boo such problems with Oni. I've owned two pairs and both lasted through at least as many wearings as yours and I didn't make a single repair on either.
The one pair of Samurai I owned, on the other hand…
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@Chris, which Onis did you have? I suspect the secret denim is particularly bad due to the slubby nature leading to increased ability to tear. Maybe the other denims aren't as awful. Still, the IHs have now gone 50% longer than my next longest lasting pair of jeans without repair, and this isn't even a very thick pair of IH. At this point, my day-to-day casual wear purchases from brands other than Iron Heart in the last year and a half has consisted of two shirts and a pair of chinos. I just don't see a reason to buy much, if anything, from other Japanese denim-focused brands anymore.
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The 20oz green cast that I have seem to be holding up ok. They definitely don’t feel durable. In my opinion the overly low tension weave leads to sweat pant level comfort but they feel almost stretchy and lightweight. The fit on mine is more fitted than any IH I own which doesn’t help with durability.
I don’t consider them fragile, but they aren’t Iron heart tough.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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@cander49 You should post this on Reddit, they love their Oni jeans over there
Yes, in terms of durability IH is second to none -
I've long admired Oni's slubbier offerings from afar, so that's disappointing.
The one time that I tried a low-tension slubby jean was The Strike Gold 5105. Great texture and comfort, fades were showing early promise, but disintegration set in so early that I put them in storage. My other ones (3105s) fell apart too, but in an appropriate wabi sabi style and timeframe (I still wear them). I've come to realize that since IH still has character, and has cuts I like, why wouldn't I opt for the more durable product?
If I were to try a crazy slub jean again, I'd want it to be yenim or some other fabric to offset the weakness of the weave.
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@cander49 You should post this on Reddit, they love their Oni jeans over there
Yes, in terms of durability IH is second to noneHaha. Good call. Posted em in /rawdenim. I was semi nice about it. Telling everyone their favorite brand straight-up sucks isn't a good way to bring them to the light.
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…they can always fall back to the wabi sabi argument.
To me wabi sabi is best (aesthetically and philosophically) when it is earned, and that requires durable gear. Making something designed to evo quickly is just a step before pre-distressing a garment in my mind.
I say this as someone who is fundamentally impatient too. Perhaps IH is therapeutic in making me wait for results
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@Chris, which Onis did you have? I suspect the secret denim is particularly bad due to the slubby nature leading to increased ability to tear. Maybe the other denims aren't as awful.
Sorry it took me a while to get back to you on this- I wanted to be accurate about model numbers and I only found my current pair this weekend. They're the 299-KHN, and according to what I wrote on the pocket bag, I bought them a bit over two years ago and have washed them 5 times, which probably means 6-8 months of actual wear. At this point, they're showing no significant damage, not even fraying at the hems.
As for my first pair, they're long gone, but here are some old pics. I'm pretty sure they were model 277, and I put about a year of wear into them, with 9 washes.
Both pairs have impressive texture, with a loose weave and uneven yarn thickness. If I recall correctly, one pair was 16 oz and the other 18 oz, but both were/are really breatheable and feel lighter. -
I have just picked up the 902ZR "relaxed taper" in the Oni 20oz secret denim… amazing fabric, loose weave, slubby, with an organic handmade feel... very impressive. I must say I am a bit worried about how much these will stretch out; they are not hard to break in like IHs, and I am wondering if I should have dropped another size!
Bought these from Denimio, great experience!
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very rare ONI (BS XX Awa Shoai)
BS XX Awa Shoa & ONI 277-XX
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Just picked up a pair of 922S-DGY "Deep Grey Overdye" 15oz Stretch High Tapered jeans from Oni. Seeing as I've entered my "stretch denim period" I saw them and thought they'd work for a darker pair. Happy with them so far, I think I sized right. Unfortunately the place I got them from (Redcast Heritage) didn't appear to do hemming so I'll need to get that sorted myself.
First impressions:
Pretty sure the overdye process got all the shrink out; patch looks positively boiled. Unsure if there's another color under there but the selvedge line appears gray. I like the black/charcoal herringbone pocket bags, although the pockets are a tad shallow for my liking. Oni also makes just a "tapered" version of these with a lower rise, very glad I trusted the measurements and got this one as this is NOT a high rise in my opinion (lower than the 888 of the same waist). Snug on the thighs and fitted in the waist at this moment but the stretch makes this comfortable, and I can do a full squat without issue. Happy with the purchase, they're comfortable which means they'll get wear, we'll see how they evolve.
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ONI-277XX 16.5OZ XX DENIM REGULAR STRAIGHT
(1/2 size down)
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Oni Kiwami Type 3 ( first batch not the remake) 1 year / 2 months ( 1 wash / 1 soak)
I haven't seen another faded example of this jacket, I've definitely seen them on the internet though.
The fabric is super cool close up a lot of attention to detail. I haven't worn this in ages though and sadly it's been on the back burner and I don't even think I'll touch any of my oni when I get my OD jacket. Just thought y'all would wanna see it.
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XX denim. 2 months wear 2 washes
