advice, patterns on converting rain pants to chaps?

Eric, my chaps have a cord attached to the outer seem edge at the top, allowing attachment to my belt loops. I would not keep the crotch intact, it will probably bunch up too much and be uncomfortable.

You might have better luck making a rain skirt out of the pants. The skirt might end up lighter, and it would be easier to put on and will stay in place better.
Just a thought.

thanks ted!

i've tried skirts and it bugs me when raining really hard and the cuffs of my pants get saturated along with my socks. the chaps i was hoping would prevent this along with my gaitors. although i guess the gaitors would partially prevent my socks from getting soaked.

ted, if you have chaps any reason to suggest a kilt/skirt?

Eric, I don't own a skirt, but I think just looking at them they look more comfortable, but I really don't know this from experience. Chaps just kind of hang there and can twist around a little.
I try to not wear the chaps and I've been lucky for the last few years so I've kind of forgotten if I like the chaps or not.
More or less I was just putting other options out there.

Hey Eric I have the same thought the crotch of my Dry ducks are ripped anyway and I am going back to my urethane poncho It may be 12 oz but the heavier material stays put in the wind better than sil nylon and its still lighter than most rain suits . I kinda thought Id try to beef up the attachment point of the tie straps with some duck tape and try to put the pull on a larger area or I could see the ties ripping of easily

thanks Mark. good point.

originally i was just going to cut a long tab at the top of the outside of the leg, fold it over and sew it to form a loop. but w/ regard to your point, maybe i'll fold it over twice or stick some duct tape on it first.

through this loop i was going to run a loop of paracord i could attach to my belt loops. if i get advanced i'd like to put a lineloc on there. anyone have a source for a lineloc with a hook on the other side rather than a webbing loop?

i haven't decided if i want two tie-up points per leg or just one… one, on the outside seems like it'll let the inside of the leg sag. i don't want to buy a whole other set of dri-ducks if i mess these up. i don't think anyone sells just the pants…

I have some chaps and basically what you would do is cut a v-shape, cutting out the crotch and leaving the sides of the legs high at the hips. The sides can either have belt loops so you can wear a belt with your pants and thread it through the chaps or else, as with my commercial chaps, thread some elastic cord through the loops.

thanks piper. so you just have the one attachment point at your hip?

i guess i'll go this route. i don't need them to come all the way up to my belt so i'll probably cut them lower and use a loop of cord.

either one is probably the same weight, but perhaps the smaller the loop height on the leg of the chap the smaller the packing size…