So the Columbia pants are called Air Gill pants, because up and down the inner leg area, they have these vents and mesh. Seems like a good concept, and reviewee's say these seem to help. But, i'm often looking to improve things. The fabric itself is fairly thin and fairly breathable nylon, impregnated apparently with xylitol (?), which when it gets wet, lowers the temperature of the fabric significantly. It also acts as a antimicrobial.
Anyways, first pic—seemingly normal looking pair of pants (though one leg looks shorter than the other, i didn't smooth out the fabric of the other leg, so not sure if it's really shorter or just looks that way).
But 2nd pic reveals the mod.
Was pretty easy to do, and didn't add much weight. I still need to do the other leg though. Though i sewed some extra velcro to secure the opened pant leg, i find that if it's opened almost all the way, with just the ankle connected, it stays open by itself fairly well.
In some ways, i do prefer my overall more breathable fabric all linen, or about half hemp, half polyester pants, but the all nylon (except mesh) Columbia pants weigh less, provide better bug, sun, and abrasion protection, dry faster, and likely will be more durable. Between the inner "air gills" and the outer opened up area, provides a lot of ventilation, and i find the fabric itself is a bit more breathable than a lot of other nylon pants i've looked at and breath tested.
