Houdini wind pants

3.1oz?! Forget the fact that my legs never get cold; I HAVE TO CARRY THESE!!!

I already carry rain pants which are also my wind pants if necessary. I presume you must not carry rain pants?

I'm usually wearing zip offs which are fairly wind resistant and I can sit without too much worry about shredding them.

Indeed, rain pants will shed wind nicely and in my part of the world, if it is cold and windy, chances are it is raining too.

IMHO, wind pants work into an UL clothing system best if you like to wear running style shorts.

My caveats are the fragile nature of wind pants. I like windshirts a great deal, but I don't sit, slide or crawl on my windshirt. I do need to watch for sharp branches and thorns, but trails are usually narrower at the bottom than three feet up, so pant legs are exposed to more brush and thorns as well as rocks, roots and mud.

They should offer some light colors for sun and bug protection in good weather.

"IMHO, wind pants work into an UL clothing system best if you like to wear running style shorts."

+100

WIndpants are awesome. These grabbed my attention, by my montbell dynamo pants are lighter and tried and true. Between 2 pairs of running shorts and my montbell dynamos, I was all set for 21 days on the jmt, where temps were between 30F-90F with rain and hail on certain days. I layer my windpants over my patagonia baggies running shorts (amazing DWR) when expecting rain and have no complaints.

Sounds like we are just using different terminology to mean the same thing. Wind Pants/Rain Pants. They should serve each purpose (shed wind and/or shed rain).

I love my wind pants on trips and around town because I wear shorts or knicker length pants year round and it can get cold and windy sometimes so I just put some wind pants on over them.I do agree with with Dale I would like to see something lighter than black for bug protection.

"Sounds like we are just using different terminology to mean the same thing. Wind Pants/Rain Pants. They should serve each purpose (shed wind and/or shed rain)."

Nope. It's the same theory as a windshirt vs a rain shell, with the same pros and cons. Wind pants are (or should be)windproof and water resistant, yet breathable. If you can put up with the durability issues, you have 3.1oz wind pants vs typical 10oz-12oz zip offs or the like. Storage and use are just like with a windshirt: they take up little space and they are used when slowing down, camp and when the weather turns cold and/or light precip.

If you wear light running shorts with a liner, you have briefs, shorts and long pants for about 8oz. Of course, they could be paired with long johns for colder weather or sleep.

Yeah, definitely not the same thing. Windpants are much more versatile than rainpants IMO. Unless there is a huge deluge, the rainpants are staying home…in which case I'm probably staying home too . The breathability between a wp/b rain pant and a simple windpant is night and day. Dale's got the idea completely on point.

Another factor is just trail comfort. Windpants will slide and move easier than sticky/clammy rain pants on bare skin.

Like Konrad, I carry windpants and no rainpants.

If I get stuck in really bad downpour and getting chilled, I'll wear my groundcloth as a skirt to supplement.

Windpants don't need to be so durable, cuts and wear spots are OK.

They add 4 oz worth of warmth when needed.

They can be worn when you are washing or repairing your hiking pants on busy trails or in town.

There have been many times when they made a big difference for me on the trail.

Choose one: DWR Wind Pants, or Rain Pants. Both just seems like overkill to me.

The only reason I carry rain gear is to prevent hypothermia at higher-than-average altitudes. So, the 6oz Gore-Tex ones I have from GoLite are fine. I'm sure they're warmer than wind pants, if less breathable, and I already own them. No reason to carry anything else but running shorts with the liners cut out…

We had a thread going about wind gear the other week, and I became convinced of the windshirt. However, my initial observation was that if you sell backpackers something in the single-digit ounces, they'll probably buy it even if they got by without it. This seems like a pretty PRIME example of that.

If wearing shorts a lot on a trip its lot lighter to carry both wind pants and rain pants oppose to carrying hiking pants and rain pants.
Also wind pants combined with a pair of long underway can be a good combo.

Dale, thanks for posting that link!

I've been waiting for pants made from the houdini fabric for a while now (i know it's slightly different from the jacket fab). The jacket is my most used/loved/abused piece of gear and has saved tons of wear and tear from the much more expensive and finicky-to-clean WPB shell layers, especially on day trips skiing, biking, hiking when weather is easily predictable and dirt easily picked up in the long run of a season.

+1 on Stephen's comment regarding using another piece of WP gear (ground cloth) if the shit really hits the fan regarding preparedness for extreme weather when leaving the rain pants at home; like Max implied, we've all hiked with wet yet still warm legs,….. and if that's not enough to sustain safe body temps, just stop and bail into the tarp/quilt (and adjust the gear kit for the next trip with a little more wisdom).

Glad to have another arrow in the gear quiver.

Totally off topic I know, but I picked up a pair of long rain shorts to try out this spring. These are something I hadn't considered before, but seem like they'll make sense in warmer conditions instead of full length rain pants.

I usually wear running shorts and carry wind pants. I carry rain pants only if the forecast calls for rain.

If I did not have a pair of Montane wind pants already I would be all over these.

Nathan,
I proposed the ideal on MYOG a while ago to try out some rainshorts. Some people loved the idea, others shat all over it. I ended up never getting around to it, but the way I see it, it's the same concept as a rain skirt but with better mobility/less ventilation/less billowiness and lift. I don't see why they won't excel in an environment like the sierras where rainstorms are short.

Konrad,

They make sense to me on paper at least. They'll breathe better than rain pants but will shed the water that flows down off of my rain jacket keeping my upper legs dry and comfortable.

I don't think I'm man enough to wear a skirt. Even in the woods.

We'll see. Maybe they're more of a niche product only really optimal for a small range of conditions.

I had an REI version of these for about 10 years until they disintegrated. Great for camp when the sun and temps go down, and function fairly well as rain pants in short showers. My actual rain pants stay home. I probably need to eBay one pair of those suckers at this point after thinking about the groundcloth wrap – groundcloth sarong?

Frogg Toggs makes rain shorts and Ground Effect makes 3/4 rain pants.Never tried them I use wind pants majority of the time.

When wearing a poncho and gaiters, there is just a 6" gap to cover. I could handle it with shorts and gaiters in summer temps. As with wearing a windshirt under a poncho, wind pants with good DWR and tall gaiters could take it to three seasons.