Pants for winter hiking, snowshoeing, XC skiing – under $100

-Patagonia Torrentshell. Anyone use these in the winter?
-Marmot Precip. I tried these on and I felt like I was wearing MC Hammer pants but the price is right.

any weave softshell pants … i use dead bird myself because i can get it at discount prices

patagucci, OR, MH, EB FA, REI, etc … all make em … weave, not membrane unless ur going into very cold temps or have cold legs

should weight around 12-20 oz … and theyll be durable enough to repel rabid polar bears

the light versions are more 3 season though you could use it in mild winter with long johns … the heavier versions work very well for 4 seasons with thermals

OK. So the Patagonia Torrentshell aren't weave softshell BUT the Alpine Guide pants are?

I just want to make sure I am understanding the fabrics. Thanks.

torrentshell is a wpb pants … not needed in winter IMO unless youre going to be doing snow belays, or its constantly raining and slushing … if you get a pair… get full side zips so that you can vent them

a weave softshell is a softshell made of woven fabic that is treated with DWR … it is extremely breathable, and the DWR is enough to deal with snow … for pants anyways … ex include the patagucci guide pants… they dry quicker than membrane softshells

a membrane softshell is one which has a membrane sandwiched in it … less breathable, more weather resistant .. polartec powershield …

in winter you want breathable …

I guess it would depend on the kind of winters you're playing in, but personally I can't imagine snowshoeing, hiking, and skiing in WPB pants like the Precip. Stick with a stretch woven softshell, and bring a pair of DriDucks pants if you end up dealing with liquid water.

I recently got a pair of Arc'teryx Gamma LT pants and have been loving them for hiking and snowshoeing. Over your budget, but I got mine on GearTrade for $40. They're a very light softshell, but have done very well with a pair of long underwear in the temps I've used them, 30F down to 0F. Had a small amount of active use in -10F, wouldn't want to stand around drinking coffee in the Gamma LTs in those temps, to be sure. :)

Never had any moisture come through, even when doing some work out in the snow, kneeling in the stuff for stretches of 10 to 20 minutes between 0F-20F. I wore heavier thermals underneath on the colder days, though.

I don't have experience with them myself, but maybe the Patagonia Simple Guide pants with some long underwear?

Membrane softshell w/ or w/o insulation pants would be A-OK for non-active use, but I think I'd overheat or freeze in them if I were on the move.

REI Be patient…. keep checking the sale rack. I got a pair of OR pants perfect pant for $56. Plus if they dont work out i can return them so long as i own them. I also got a pair of Arcteryx GT bibs for less than half price at $225. I have yet to use or need them but i got me lol, They look sweet in the bottom of my pack!! Really though great to have in an emergency being i hang in the whites by myself.

aaron … the patagucci simple guide pants are basically the gamma lts pata style … for cheaper

i hope not everyone here is becoming a dead birdy … the road to yuppie hell is paved with dead birdy sales !!!

eric – that vision flashed before my eyes when I started wearing the Gamma LTs curling instead of the work pant I usually wear. A teamate spotted the logo and started gushing, venerating the holy bird. :P

I am liking the simple guide pants. I just hope the store I have a gift card to carries them.

this won't quite fit your $100 criteria (there may be similar items for less $???) , but for snowshoeing I prefer using R1 pants- w/ just briefs if it's warmish, thin base layer if not- I team these w/ Montbell stretch wind pants when conditions warrant- they shut the wind down, breathe great, have a great DWR finish, zipped bottoms and they stretch pretty well

~ 15 oz for both pieces and a little more versatile than a single garment

I have a pair of Rab vapour rise pants and I love them. 15 oz for large and $100 at prolite gear.

I use them for hunting in the fall and winter, snowshoeing, shoveling the driveway, jogging when it's really cold. I have not tried alot of different pants but I really really like these.

Montane Featherlites over long undies. Not massively durable, but windproof, breathable, dead light, and a good deal.

I use midweight soft shell pants (pata simple guides) for BC skiing because they're tougher. They might be found on sale in a week or so.

i think rei has a pair that will fit your bill. that, or troll ebay seaching for scholler pants or softshell pants and then do a little reaserch. there's also a mammut softshell that was availabe at climb high before they closed last week and now may be available at sierra trading post. it's pretty amazing what you will find. it took about 3 weeks of watching to find a pair of cloudveil rayzars that i picked up for dirt cheap. you might also take a look on ebay at the military softshell pants that are part of the ecws package. a friend has them and likes them a lot.

Go to an army surplus store and find some green worsted wool Class-A Army-issue trousers. These are not wool field trousers, which tend to be a rather soft and thick wool. Instead, these are smooth and dense, and snow doesn't stick to them so badly. I've skied for thirty years in some.

If you wash them in hot water, they will tend to shrink, so cold water is the choice.

The last time I bought any, I think I had to pay a surplus price of $20.

–B.G.–

^ along those same lines- most army/navy shops also have foreign army gear- there are several countries that featured a light, tight weave wool uniform pant- some of them w/ handy features like zip bottoms, cargo pockets, etc- again very reasonably priced and they do quite well in the snow

if you like the idea of a tight weave wool pant and want to drop some coin :), look at the Filson whipcord pants- those are my go to elk/deer hunting pant- they do very well in the snow as well

I just picked up a pair of pat. rock guide pants, I'll see how they do snowshoeing :)

<— never tried "soft-shelled" pants

Mike …

You need to use em on rocks … Hence the "rock" guide ;)

i hear that patagucci test the durability by putting them on their sponsored climbers, lathering them in honey, and setting bears loose on them ….

^ that would explain those weird calls I was getting this summer :)

Update: I went with the Patagonia Simple Guide pants. I had a $50 gift certificate for a store up in VT so I had them special order them. So I got them for $49.99. I will be testing them hopefully this week or weekend. Thanks you everyone for your help!

For skiing, I love me my wool pants. Under $20, repels snow, warm when damp,breathable yet blocks wind. Throw on some long undies underneath and they work great. I ski in the cold, dry snow of CO…not sure how they work in wetter regions.

Wools pants are the original soft shell pants basically!

A bit different from this website's focus, but this Canadian website is interesting:
http://wintertrekking.com/index.php?action=article_view&a_id=27

Hmm, very interesting. My local surplus store has some really nice looking Norwegian army wool pants that I might have to check out more closely after reading this!