Have recently purchased Berghaus paclite smock as a summer waterproof and am very impressed. Thinking of buying the new Berghaus paclite overtrousers to match but want the trousers to withstand 4 season use. Will the fabric be durable with a lot of winter use or should i maybe consider something heavier like the Berghaus storm trousers. Would I be sacrificing quality just to save weight? I Read the article on the website but wasn't 100% sure.

I hate overtrousers I hate to feel clammy in any clothing , I've had loads over the years but then.............................................I discoverd Golite's Balance pants , these are soft shells but I havn't got wet in 'em yet double knees and seat realy breathable and light , not cheap but IMHO the best foul weather leg wear around.
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I don't have the trousers, but I have used the top and I'd say that I'd go for something a bit thicker for all year round use.

I still have my doubts over the durability of the fabric.

To be honest, if you are using crampons ANY overtrousers can get trashed though...

I agree about the crampons. I use an old, cheap, heavy, non-breathable pair for crampon use that have lots of stuck-on repair patches, and keep my breathable ones for everything else.

Hello

I bought a pair of the Paclite overtrousers earlier this year. They will certainly not stand 4 season use. It just isn't what they designed for. Mine tore at the arse whilst I was sitting on a rock smoking a fag in buttermere.

I don't think that makes them bad trousers, in fact I still love them (duck tape repaired) as they spend 99% of their life in your rucksack, where they perform the function of taking up a tennis ball sized amount of space admirably and only come out of the pack in the direst circumstances. I have worn overtrousers on 4 days this year, 3 scottish winter climbing and the 1 day in a down pour in the lakes. The rest of the time they are just not needed, including 6 days in the alps.

I kind of agree with Alex's and Alison's comments about crampons but I deal with that by buying really tough gaiters (Outdoor design). True I have put crampons through trousers above the knee once whilst climbing, but most of the impact is below the knee where the gaiters will take the strain.

Phil is spot on - my overtrousers spend most of their life either left at home or scrunched up at the bottom of my pack with that squashed Mars Bar and "survival whistle". They're the last thing I'd spend £100ish on.

Mine are <sensitive folk look away now> Regatta's "breathable" (hardly!) model (X-ert or something).

They make my jacket embarrassed but they do the job on the few occasions they're called upon - I try to avoid going out in crap weather!

ps. skin is waterproof and breathable if you don't mind looking like a rambler (or maybe even being one) and wearing shorts (do not attempt in winter conditions)

I use a pair of lowe alpine sallopettes for the winter and paremo windtrousers for wet days at any other time of the year. If it rains for any lenght of time you'll dry faster in the pub.

Conidered a new pair of trousers for trip to india but the lightweight ones just feel to flimsy.

Just to recap on what other people have said, nope, Paclite isn't a great bet for year round use - certainly not above the snow line with crampons.

I'd go for something heavier and with crampon patches on the inside of the ankle if you intend to use them with crampons as it doesn't take much to rip lightweight fabrics.

I'm increasingly using soft shell type pants in winter anyway, they seem to work well for leg wear and unless it's bucketing down with rain, you don't need overtrousers.

Ended up going for the Storm overtrousers as they seemed to be pretty durable and began to realise that its Northern Irelands wet, windy, mostly snowless winters that i'd be using them most.
They'll be getting most of their use in the Mournes where the weathers sometimes more wet than dry so I definitely would not go walking without overtrousers with me as I like to be able to stick two fingers up at the weather and stay dry.
Didn't mind the £80 pounds I spent on them as they replaced a set of cheap Peter Storm ones that leaked after a year.