Gear

I know paramo has been discussed before but I have a specific question:

For autumn / winter use and with a budget or £90-100 would the paramo cascada or a pair of GT over trousers be a better option.

I like the idea of one pair for all day wear but am a bit concerned that the paramo ones may not be as waterproof and therefore require a back up /defeat the object.

The aspira are too expensive and the paramo zip-off ones seem to have been discontinued

Any advice much appreciated

The Paramo stuff is to all inyents and purposes waterproof.  The technical definition of "waterproof" involves hydrostatic head measurements and it is indeed the case that Paramo doesn't pass these, but that's actually not important unless you have a static column of water on top of you, typically not the case even in heavy rain!

So that's not really a worry, but Paramo stuff isn't perfect.  Wearing something the whole time is all very well, but the downside is you have to wear it all the time, while overtrousers are only needed in rain.  If  your usual flavour of walking legwear is lighter and/or stretchier than the Paramo then you may find the Cascadas less comfortable all the time it's not raining.

Pete. 

Hi Rog,

No probs with the cascadas being waterproof - see all the Paramo threads.

The GT overs will do you all year. But, depends on where you are mainly walking.

If it was Scotland I'd suggest you go with the Paramo Cascadas - it will be wet and cold on quite a few autumn/winter days. The cascadas do wet and cold very well IMHO. If you had the cash I'd have said go for Cioch trews - the are like cascada's but less shiny/made to measure/with reinforcement options - cool.

Nodrog  

Thanks, yes it was wet & cold I was thinking of - wet and warm is shorts weather for me.

I'm off to have a look at pair soon and just want to make sure it's worth the journey

Have a look at these Rab Bergen eVent overtrousers too. Light, packable, breathable, uncontentiously waterproof, within your budget,  and since you take them off when the rain stops, and who knows, the sun even comes out, you're at less risk of overheating.

Thanks for the advice.

I was fooled into thinking the paramos would be the same material & thickness as my paramo hat - I didn't realise they were so padded! I've got skiing salopettes that are thinner!

Maybe for winter-only walking but not for me.

I did try the Rabs but the sizing was wrong for me so ended up with the paclites

Berghaus - there's no escape! 

An optical illusion then, but with trousers

Paramo's waterproofs aren't stretchy, so they need to be generously cut to give good freedom of movement.  Since your skull at least should be fairly static relative to a hat that's not really an issue, but legs need a bit more leeway.  Same with other non-stretchy walking trousers, they tend to be cut loose.

Personally I prefer close fitting but stretchy, which is why I've never really felt drawn to Paramo trews.  For cold weather work I find Schoeller Dryskin (or in more serious cold, Powershield) keeps enough clag out to be fine for most of the time and I have a pair of lightweight ME Drilite Plus o-trews with full side zips for the rare occasions I want to keep the clag out.  I find the Dryskin trews more comfortable and give better freedom of movement than Paramo.  My wife has a pair of Cascadas and she more usually wears Patagonia Guide soft-shell trews or Powershield salopettes, but the Cascadas come out for when she's dtanding around fairly static on a cold, wet day (last time was being car-parking chief at an orienteering event.  My impression is she find them a bit too warm for active walking (though she loves her Velez top through much of the year).

Pete.

I'm a confirmed "wear shorts on the hill for as much of the year as possible" type, but if it's into the autumn or later, and the forecast is for persistent rain, I find it much more comfy to wear the Cascadas than a trousers plus paclite waterproof breeks combination. Mike's spot on about the ventilation.

Mind you,

(a) personally I don't think Goretex ever does what it's supposed to, and

(b) I see Rog has bought his Paclites already, 

so it disny much matter what I think.

I don't know how anyone can say Paramo troos are too warm in winter. They have a huge bloody poppered zip right up the outside leg! You can be virtually naked from the waist down.

So you get a choice between too hot, or too cold...

There seems to be some collective hope that opening a vent will create a perfectly even temperature across one's body somewhere between the outside ambient and what it was before you opened the zip.  I really wish it worked like that, but IME it doesn't.

Pete. 

I know Rog has already bought some but just my bit here.

I have the berghaus paclite pants and have used them for about 5 years now.  They keep me dry in all the rain I've encountered throughout all the year.  I combine these with my Montane Terra stretch pants for most of the year and in winter put a pair of Icebreaker leggings on for the extra warmth.  This works for me and gives me options all year round.