All-in-One Shorts: Hiking, Running, Swimming, etc

This is my day i guess as everyone is asking questions i have answers for.
Anyhow, I have used surplus Army PT (Physical Training) shorts for all three of my Long Distance hikes.
They are cheap, about 6 bucks at the army surplus store.
They are light, and dry very quickly. In fact i simply took a shower in them while in town and walked them dry on the way to breakfast.
They have their own "underwear" liner built right in and i get about 1,000 miles on a pair before the liner begins to wear out.
They only have a small pocket on the right leg used to hold Army I.D.
The pocket is not very useful I am afraid.
They have a simple drawcord at the waist and i like the fact that they are so simply constructed there is nothing to chafe me under my pack hip belt.
Here is a picture of Army PT shorts:

Patagonia Ultra have worked well for me.

Brad

Matt,
What shirt are you wearing in that picture?

Brad

The shirt is a Columbia Silver ridge titanium.
I used the Columbia Omni-shade shirts for the PCT and CDT and this Omni-dry shirt foor the A.T.
Mosquitos were un-able to bite me through this shirt!
Highly recommend these Columbia shirts.. just wish they were made in USA.

Patagonia Baggies! It's my all in one short when I know there will be a swimhole on the trail

They have a pocket, they have dwr and dry quickly.

They are "sturdy" when wet. For instance, when I go swimming in my running shorts they tend to collapse around my "junk" which isn't the most modest display you can give off in public. The patagonia baggies are more resistant to that.

Get the shorter length baggies…everyone hated the longer ones.

+1 for Patagonia Baggies in the short inseam length.

I can't thing of a better short for everything outdoors. If you aren't comfortable showing some leg, don't get the short inseam version, they're not for the shy.

Thanks guys.

I'll check out the PT shorts and those from Patagonia. This is a big help.

On the PT side, before I knew what that meant (like 2 weeks ago :) I was jogging down the road in an army green T-shirt (from an Army/Navy store) and black shorts.

As I approached an officer doing traffic duty he kind of nodded approvingly and said, "Looks like the standard PT uniform" and smiled. Took me a bit to figure that one out, because until that time I hadn't really seen one. Always been kind of a Navy Seal "wanna-be" anyway though :)

"Made in America". Always nice. I've been more thought to this kind of thing lately.

Thanks.

I like these pants. They are convertible pants with a liner. For backpacking they pull triple duty; underwear (of sorts), shorts and pants.

Hi Al,

I could be wrong but I think those are convertibles and not really meant for swimming.

They look nice though.

PT shorts are very similar to what I have been trying recently. I got a lightweight pair of Champion running shorts with liner at Target for around $10. They dry quick, are comfortable to hike in, and would seem to work well for swimming too. I find they are great for sleeping (compared to my dirty sweaty hiking pants that scum up the bag) and general spare shorts/underwear to keep in the pack. Lighter and cheaper than the Patagonia ones but they lack pockets.

I discovered these last year while reading a trail journal of someone who did the PCT. He wore them the entire way. I bought a pair after his recommendation and they are the most comfortable shorts I have ever worn. The liner is extremely comfortable, they weigh 6.5 oz which is relatively light considering how tough they are, they dry very quickly,and they have four zipped pockets.

I picked these up on clearance at a local shop:

http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/mens-pants-shorts-filter-category-shorts
/men-39-s-voracious-2-in-1-short.html

They are very light ( I don't have the exact weight), very quick drying, and have a liner. I recently did 7 days on the AT with them, and they did great.

I also use these shorts (have been using them for years).

Simple, inexpensive and practical.

Great advice guys. I am picking up a pair.