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Berghaus Stretch Equilibrium
Pants Tested
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Price: £75.00
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Weight: 361 grammes (men's 30"
regular)
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Features: Pertex
Stretch Equilibrium fabric, elasticated waist with integral
belt and two button fastening, twin large front pockets with
mesh inserts, zipped upper leg side vents with mesh insert,
reinforced knees, concealed shock-cord hem adjustment,
zipped security pocket. Mens' and women's
versions.
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Highly wind and water-resistant lightweight fabric, nice
cut, handy vents keep you cool.
Closer lower leg cut might be better with
crampons.
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The Concept Multi-function mountain pants with a 'soft shell
label', the aim is a lightweight pair of kecks that offer good enough
weather protection to delay the donning of overtrousers till it's
really sheeting down and are stretchy enough not to limit movement
during those high-stepping rock and ice moves.
Features The key to the Stretch Equilibrium Pants is Pertex's
fabric of the same name. Don't confused though, it's not like conventional Pertex, this is far more like a stretch Scoeller fabric than the smooth, windproof stuff we're used to. Pertex say that Equilibrium uses a denier
gradient to transmit moisture from the inside of the fabric outwards,
rather like many baselayer fabrics but with high wind and water
resistance. More
information
on the Pertex sites, but the fabric has thicker filament on the
inside and thinner ones on the outer surface and relies on the
tendency of water to move to areas with greater surface area.
The rest of the pant is a neat design quite similar to the Fastrek
Pant which is made from Stretch Cordura. That means handy sipped
vents on the upper thigh, a trouser like cut, though slightly closer
that the flappy Fastrek and double fabric knees. You also get a
shockcorded ankle hem adjustment so you can snug them down over your
boots if you choose to, which the Fastrek doesn't have.
In
Action We absolutely love this fabric. It's significantly lighter
than the Stretch Cordura used by Berghaus for the Fastrek by about
100 grammes per pair, which is a significant saving. They also
breathe and wick brilliantly and have one of the best DWR water
repellant finishes we've encountered on a non-waterproof garment.
That means you can wear the pants in anything up to and including
light to moderate rain without getting wet, which is nice. Wind
resistance is good too, they're not windproof, but offer enough
protection to cope with all but the worst winter hoolies.
We also like the design, which is on close-ish fitting
conventional trouser lines rather than a butt- and thigh-hugging
legging trip. They're slightly less flappy than the Fastrek's but
don't make you look like a refugee from Star Trek 5 . If you're prone
to use crampons without gaiters though, you may want to look
elsewhere.
The stretch in the fabric means that mobility is good too and
reinforced knees cater for those lapses in climbing technique. The
design detail is great too. The upper thigh vents really do work when
you're hammering up some unforgiving grind, it's handy to be able to
adjust the cuffs and the waist felt secure and comfortable with two
buttons and a belt / elastication combo holding everything in
place.
The relative thinness of the fabric means they don't offer a high
level of warmth, but we found a pair of baselayer leggings underneath
works well in colder conditions and the thinner fabric makes them
more adapatable when it's warm, plus of course they're lighter to
cart around.
Excellent mountain pant that's priced at a lower level than
Schoeller but cost around 50 per-cent more than Berghaus's own
Schoeller-like Fastrek Pant. Good design with in-built cooling vents,
excellent weather protection with some of the best DWR we've used on
a softshell garment and no problems with cut or mobility unless
you're a crampon user in which case you may find the lower leg a
little loose.
Breathability and wicking are both good too and teaming them with
baselayer legging makes them an all-year-round option. You pay a 25
per-cent premium over the very decent Berghaus Fastrek, but get a 100
gramme weight saving, better DWR, a slightly closer cut and superior
wicking. You'll still need overtrousers in the worst conditions, but
most of the time, these pants do the job nicely.
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Performance
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Value
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Pushed for time:
Pertex but not as we know it... Excellent all round mountain pant using Pertex's highly
weather-resistant and non-restrictive Stretch Equilibrium
fabric to good effect in a nicely designed and cut garment.
Also sport Bergahus's handy thigh vents for cooling off when
you get a tad hot and sweaty plus one of the best DWR
treatments we've used.
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