Some factors that I can add to the equation:

Washing - As a rule, jeans that have been washed regularly/semi-regularly in a machine with detergent, go longer than their unwashed, rarely washed, or cold-water soaked/hung dry counterparts.  I find it a little bit silly that people are so bent about not "losing too much indigo" that they've got virtually unfaded jeans in need of massive crotch reconstruction.

Cut - Beyond jeans washed frequently the jeans that routinely achieve the most wear prior to needing their first repairs are more relaxed or at least have a top block with enough rise to facilitate a waist that tapers in from relatively roomy seat/thighs.  The means that a good fit is possible without binding at the hips.  The 634s is a good example of the trim side of this equation, whereas more traditional repro cuts are where we see this pattern time and time again.  For example, we've seen lots of Sugar Cane 1947 and Mister Freedom Californians that have been very well worn prior to needing their first repairs (all the more impressive due to 100% cotton stitching…but if the stitching isn't being stressed at every movement....)

Fit - Sizing to hips and ass instead of the smallest waist size you can button up.  Not only is the crotch a 3 dimensional stretch point that also has to contend with abrasion from legs rubbing together, it's the point that naturally takes the brunt of the ability for humans hips to expand when sitting/standing/squatting/running/walking/jumping.  When jeans are sized very tightly across the hips/through the seat and thighs, instead of with room accommodating natural movement, the crotch will break down significantly more quickly than a "natural fit"

Starch/Stiffness/Rigidity - Correlates to the others in different ways, especially washing, but stiff, starchy fabric is more susceptible to abrasion, both external and self-inflicted.  Creasing and pulling on rigid/brittle fabric also creates more extreme damage than a soft highly malleable fabric.

Slub/Weave Irregularity - I'm not going to pretend to be a textile art guru, BUT super slubby, slack woven, and otherwise highly irregular denims tend to break down quicker, and suffer from much more extreme/catastrophic blowouts that tighter, regular weaves.  While this is highly anecdotal, in my experience, it seems that the levis and levis influenced denims from Cone and from japanese mills replicating cone are often very very durable relative to fabrics from brands like PBJ, Strike Gold, Oni Etc.  Similarly, the 21oz sanforized denim from Iron Heart exhibits very strong behavior over the long term and is rarely in my experience the subject of catastrophic textile failure.

You bet we can!  Thanks for grabbing my attention @BloodnThunder

@jdl1279 shoot me an email (tyler@indigoproof.com) if you've got any questions!

@Broark @summ3rhays I guess it's telling that I've not been in this thread for quite some time!  Wanted to thank both of your for the kind words and great photos of Rain's work!  Very excited to tackle whatever you guys have to throw at us next!

I'm just going to assume that you listed "fart muffling" as one of the positive attributes for 21oz denim.

Coming along beautifully!

Living in Los Angeles, and working in the places I did definitely exposed me to a ton of celebrities over the years.  That being said, most of the celebrities I encountered that would have been considered "major" at the time, I either didn't recognize (despite knowing who they were), or had to be told who they were/that I'd just talked to them, after the fact.  As proof that I'm not being coy with my shoulder-shrugging attitude towards celebrity, I once had an espresso sent to the back of the shop where one of my espresso aficionado regulars at the time, Tobey Maguire was pausing, seeming to be trying to determine if he'd be able to wait in the long line at the very busy Saturday afternoon cafe without causing too much of a scene.  While my gesture was well received (I don't know who would be unhappy to have an espresso sent their way helping them avoid a 15-minute plus line), it was complicated by the fact that "Tobey" was actually Elijah Wood.

@Snowy The CDT Grand looks perfect for an office that brews a lot!  Brewing is fun, but sometimes for me it's a whole different arena than "wanting tasty coffee"  Fortunately, 99% of the time, my proximity to great coffee shops means not having to choose.

I’ll add that I managed to write this post twice and delete it before successfully getting it posted.  I guess that’s proof-positive that I’m too long-winded, and punishment for it on the side.

@Snowy +1 on the Kalita Wave Kettle.  It’s a beautiful object in addition to being incredibly well designed for the work at hand.  I’ve poured with a fair share of kettles, including some heavily modified by their owners, and some of the most popular (and most esoteric) Japanese designs, prized by the most detail oriented hand pour devotees I’ve encountered, and for me the Kalita is head and shoulders above the rest.

Since starting to post in this thread, I’ve taken a good look at my home brewing setup, and it’s definitely started the gears turning:

• I need to upgrade the dual-purpose designed ceramic burrs in my Vario-W for the Ditting manufactured steel burrs that are optimized for brewed coffee.  They produce a more uniform grind particle size with significantly less fines, which is ideal for the way I like to brew.  Hopefully this will stave off my inclination to start looking at actual shop grinders.  Hopefully.
• I would probably have results I liked more if I moved from my Kalita Wave 185 to the much harder to find, more annoying to source filters for Kalita Wave 155.  The smaller brew bed would allow me achieve a much deeper brew bed at the same dose, allowing me to grind coarser, while still achieving longer brew times (and fuller extraction).  I can imagine that paired with the new burrs for my Vario, this could lead to easily and consistently brewing the tastiest coffee I’ve made at home in what is now a 10 year history of manual brewing at home!
• I’m super curious about the Bonavita BV1900TS, and suspect that it may also be a means for more consistently delicious coffee than I’ve been brewing at home.  Even if the result of experimenting with it is to realize that I just enjoy the ritual and feeling of manual brewing at home, I’d like to be better acquainted with an option that is totally viable for consumers that don’t want to get into the rigors of pour over brewing, but do want delicious coffee at home.  It seems like a Baratza Preciso/Jennings CJ-4000 (scale)/and Bonavita BV1900TS could be the ultimate straightforward home brewing rig for +/-$500, which might seem like a lot, but is an insane value if you drink coffee at home regularly (or would if you could easily get great results)
• I don’t travel enough (when I do, it’s invariably to a coffee city, and more often than not, I’m staying with coffee industry people) to justify a nice hand grinder, but you guys have definitely got me sweating a Lido 3 (I’ve always been enthralled by the OE Hand Grinders…very nearly pre-ordered a Pharos when it was announced years ago).  Perhaps my Lido-lust will be justified by my claims that this’ll be the summer that I get serious about 1 overnight bike camping trip per week!

@neph93:

^ when I have less whisky in me I'll write a long, sensible comment to this. In the meantime I'm torn between agreeing with your observations 100% and calling you out for being an enabling mofo of a salesbastard. But fuck me if I don't love reading your posts.

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I'm glad you enjoy reading my posts, I've always considered whiskey my most capable collaborator!  I fear your accusations of being an enabling salesbastard are right, although these days I'm peddling minimalism and that the true path to denim Nirvana is wearing one pair of pants exclusively until it requires repair!  While that is a somewhat cheeky allusion to my own interest in increasing the market for denim repair, I will say that on a purely personal level, I'd be really stoked if I could persuade a few more guys who have 4+ pairs of $300+ pairs of jeans not being worn in their closet, but have never been able to justify buying the $1200-$2000 leather jacket they've always wanted to hold one 1 thing, and take the plunge on another, I'd be happy with that bit of salesbastardry!  If the results are more heavily worn UHRs paired with beautifully evolving leather jackets, all the better!

@zatenm Wow those are beautiful!  Make me miss my UHR that I shrank myself out of!  Can't wait to see those as you wear them more!

@Appfaff Looking sharp man!  I think one of the hardest/most important things about nailing fits/sizes with Iron Heart…especially the heavier weight stuff, is having the mix of foresight/faith/patience to realize that you'll get what you want by virtue of just rolling with something that doesn't look quite right when it's brand new.  For the last year+ of selling jeans at Self Edge, I employed an unorthodox, but effective, and more importantly to me, honest, technique anytime anybody was about to try on straight leg jeans (even 666 is "straight leg" by virtue of not having a radical taper): I'd tell them before they went in the fitting room that they likely wouldn't like how the jeans looked below the knee, but that with the combination of hemming to remove length/cuff bulk, cuffing (using a double cuff to pull the fabric in), and the natural softening of the fabric and attendant normalized relationship with gravity would give them a great look that they liked over time.  If they seemed unsure, I followed up with, "I've never liked how anything I've bought looked when it was new...my ability to buy things I like rests entirely on my ability to imagine the effects of time...now you have to trust me"  I don't know if people actually trusted me, or if they were just afraid enough of how crazy I sounded that they usually ended up buying the jeans, but I do know most of them ended up liking the jeans!