Cracking all-round mountain legwear from the Swedish outdoors brand.
Haglofs Rabot Fjell Pants Tested
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Price:
£60
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Weight: 516 grammes (men's size 48 /
32" waist)
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Features:
All-round outdoor trousers made from Climatic Mid 133
fabric. Part elastic waist with belt loop and button
closure, wrap around side, wide back waist for better fit,
zip fly, two side hand pockets, zippered back pocket, two
zippered, low-profile, bellowed thigh pockets with inner
mobile phone pocket, articulated, reinforced knees with
lap-feld seams, reinforced lower leg with off-set inner
seams, elastic cord adjustable cuffs, DWR treatment,
available in short length and as the women's specific Rabot
Q Fjell Pant.
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What's It For?
The Rabot Fjell is designed as a tough, all-round mountain pant,
the sort of legwear you can press into service for mountain walking,
backpacking, a bit of scrambling or climbing without fretting. A
water resistant treatment and closely woven polyamide fabric makes
them wind and water resistant too. Use for everything except hot
weather.
The Techy Bits
We've already mentioned the tough, weather-resistant Climatic
fabric, but Haglofs has also thrown in some typically thoughtful
features like reinforced knees and ankle areas with seams placed to
minimise abrasion. The cuffs have built in shock cord adjusters
complete with a hook that you can tension onto the laces and the
waist has been designed for a neat fit thanks to a broad back and
elasticated sides.
There's even a neat little internal phone holder in the lefthand
thigh pocket. Not crucial, of course, but a nice touch.
How It Performs
We've been using the Rabot Fjells for several months now and
they've become our favourite all-round mountain pant. The fabric is
nice, but what makes the Rabots stand out is a really excellent cut
and fit.
Unlike most outdoor legwear, the waist is cut relatively low, like
jeans for example, so you don't end up with the waistband under your
nipples or the crotch hanging around your knees. Then the legs have
enough space for muscular thighs without flapping around like baggy
cargo pants. For us they were simply neat and comfortable, just right
in fact without losing mobility.
Articulated and reinforced knees help with mobility and we like
the attention to detail at the ankles where the inside panels have
been cut to keep vulnerable seams away from nasty abrasive boot rub.
Shock cord allows you to snug them down as well.
The fabric works well too. It's a fairly heavy weight, but seems
extremely durable as a result, plus good wind resistance makes them
versatile in gnarlier conditions. Even the DWR seems to have survived
a lot of wear and washing, still shrugging off light showers with
ease. Wicking and breathing are both good too.
What would we change? Not much to be honest. There's no lack of
pockets, though some will gripe that none of them take a map, and it
would be nice to have some vents for hotter conditions - then again
there's a zip-off version for when the going gets tropical. The icing
on the cake would be a belt to go through the Rabots belt loops,
though the semi-elasticated waist does the job reasonably
well.
Really capable all-round mountain trousers that have an
effective, low-waisted cut that's ahead of anything else we've used.
Too many outdoor trousers are like 'dad pants' with a high waist and
shapeless legs, so it's great to see Haglofs bucking the trend.
Fabric's good too and for anything other than hot weather wear,
these are the best no-nonsense all-rounders we've used. Definitely
recommended.
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Great cut, wind and water resistant fabric, nice
detailing.
A belt and thigh vents would make them even
better.
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Performance
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Value
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