Of course you can wear shorts all year round, if that's your
thing, but most mountain walkers and scramblers will be back to long
trousers non-summer months and strangely, they're hard things to get
right. Here are our tips to help you sort out the pants from the
pantaloons...
First
Principles
Just as with your upper half, you can layer on your legs using
water or windproof overtrousers to cover your basic legwear, however
because your legs are constantly moving, many walkers and climbers
find overtrousers restrictive so are looking for a day-long solution
that combines ease of movement, breathability and basic weather
protection.
Does such a thing exist? The good news is that softshell fabrics
arguably work better for legwear than anywhere else making the 21st
Century the golden age of mountain trousers :-)
Cut
Cut's
always going to be a personal issue, but what you're after is
something that's snug enough not to billow around irritatingly, but
also designed to allow freedom of movement for high steps and those
dramatic bridging moves on easy scrambles.
With a stretch fabric, that's not an issue, but elsewhere look for
articulated knees, perhaps with stretch panels and crotch areas cut
to allow movement. It may look odd, but when buying, try stretching,
moving, lifting your knees high and make sure there's no obstruction
to mobility.
Also make sure the waist is snug enough to stay put - belts or
adjusters can help here - and that there's nothing that's going to
rub unpleasantly under a hip-belt or harness.
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Articulated knees and stretch fabrics are great for
mobility.
Poor cut can rub and impede movement, especially on
scrambles.
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Features
First...
There
are plenty of extras out there in pants land. Some are genuinely
useful, others are really just gimmicks.
Vents can be really good for cooling off and increase the
range of useability. We like easy to use zip vents in the thigh area
which make a real difference to comfort when things get hot.
Fastenings at the waist come in different shapes and sizes.
Press studs sometimes pop open and even rip out, simply buttons work
well, but can also come unstitched, Velcro tends to eat things. All
are viable, but arguably best backed up with a belt.
Ankle adjustment can be handy, particularly if you're
someone who like a snig fit around your boots for minimal flapping
and stone ingress. Drawcords and velcro tab adjustment can both work
fine. Zip-out stone gaiters are a fave with some US brands.
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Vents are great for extending the temperature range of
mountain pants.
More features add weight and complexity.
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Fabric
Choice
A few years back, everyone simply wore Ronhill Tracksters with
overtrousers when things got messy. Fortunately things have moved on
both aesthetically and functionally.
Stretchy
tracksuits Tracksters and similar are still out there, they're
simple and good for mobility but have very limited wind and water
resistance or thermal value and tend to bag badly when wet. A better
cold weather alternative is Powerstretch fleece, but for most things,
there are better options.
Microfibres Classic trekking pants generally made from a
Nylon or similar microfibre, or perhaps polycotton are great in fine
weather. The close weave ups wind resistance, they breathe acceptably
and can be hardwearing. Water resistance isn't great however and many
are cut in a disconcerting 'dad pants' manner.
Stretch Softshell Schoeller-type stretch softshell fabrics
make brilliant all-round mountain pants. Built-in stretch tends to
give good mobility and the closely woven fabric gives good weather
protection, but without spoililng breathability. With a decent DWR
they'll also shrug off anything short of really heavy rain.
Windproof Softshell If you want total windproofing and even
more water resistance, fabrics like Windstopper softshell and eVent
windproof are close to be watertight and should mean you can live
happily without overtrousers virtually all year round - thought the
seams will leak eventually. The downside is reduced breathability.
PowerShield is a good compromise offering 98 per-cent windproofing
but with better breathability than the 100 per-cent windproof
fabrics. Vents make a lot of sense with trousers made from these
fabrics.
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Softshell fabrics have revolutionised legwear.
More protection tends to mean reduced
breathability.
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The Perfect
Pant
Pants, or trousers, call them what you want, but the good news is
that there's now far more choice than ever before. For all-year,
all-round use for an averagely hot sort of mountain walker and
scrambler, we like Schoeller-type fabrics.
The stretch allows a closer cut without compromising mobility,
they offer good weather protection, which means you rarely need
overtrousers, but still breathe really well, so you tend not to
overheat.
Choose cut and features carefully and your legwear dilemmas could
be over, just fit and forget until the end of the day.
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At last, breathability, cut and protection in one.
More expensive than the good old Trackster
days...
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More Help And
Advice
This article should have given you some basic pointers. The good
news is that there's a load more advice on OUTDOORSmagic:
Ask on the gear
forum about general issues or specific items.
Check the member
reviews section for user experiences of kit.
See OM editorial reviews on the front of the site for our
impressions.
Ask
Richard Gear if you have a specific question you need
answering.
Peter Clinch
