hiking/running tights reccomendations?

Ronhill Men's Trackster Classic Running Tights

6 ozs , with 4 way stretch, very durable

If you are skinny like me then they are more like very slim pants, so can be worn around town.

There was a similar thread here a week+ ago wherein people recommended the Marmot Scree for wet-weather running/biking. I don't have them and so cannot tell whether they will work for occasional bushwhacking.

with discretion being the better part of valor, i typically wear them under a pair of lightweight shorts if not using them as a base layer.

Walmart, $5 or less.

Cheers

I don't wear these for hiking, but I do wear them for walking/jogging around the neighborhood and sometimes for workouts in the gym:

http://www.brooksrunning.com/en_us/mens-infiniti-tight-iii/210672.html?dwvar_210672_color=001#start=3

I think they would fit your needs. Fairly robust fabric. Mine have very small breathability panels, but nothing that would present a problem for snagging/abrasion.

I assume that most of the running companies make something like this.

What kind of temps are you applying these to? I don't understand the tights thing except for potential quick drying. Reason being, is that with some air gap, you increase insulation. The tighter something is against your skin, the cooler/less insulation it will be (via conduction) and vice versa, if it's overly loose and baggy also cooler/less insulating (via convection).

Likely if it was cold and wet, i would do something like this, wear some Polartec Powerdry High Efficiency baselayer pants under my supplex nylon shorts that have EPIC fabric sewed on for the legs. Some air gap between my skin and the baselayer pants, and then an air gap between the PPDHE baselayer and the nylon short/EPIC leg pants.

Or, alternatively, might wear my thin/light Sahali Merino-nylon tights under my thin polypropylene baselayer pants, though this wouldn't be all that durable/good for bushwhacking.

I started using tights under shorts for cold wet PNW weather in the 1960s on my junior high school cross country team. I used to have a picture of Steve Prefontaine at a high school cross country meet sporting shorts and tights. If it was good enough for Steve….. I still use the same system for above freezing wet weather. With tights your legs will get wet, but your bodies heat will warm up the fabric, lowering the relative humidity just outside the fabric, allowing the water to evaporate. (the higher the temp, the lower the relative humidity) It will also act somewhat like a wet suit warming a thin layer of water against your skin. Your legs will be wet and warm. When you stop or get out of the rain your tights will dry pretty fast. Loose baggy wet clothing will only dry if the relative humidity (temperature) of the outside air is lower than the humidity in the material. At low temperatures 100% humidity is common, thus no evaporation (drying). When the wet cold material touches your skin (or you base layer) it feels cold. I use tights with shorts or a kilt in above freezing weather, I'll use a waterproof layer around or just below freezing depending on activity level.

Good article on this below
Part 2 has review of several different makes of tights.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/backpacking-tights-tougas-part-1.html?forum_thread_id=80776&startat=20#.VGrVWEt3vFI

Mark

Justin, I find that tights insulate well when wet. The fabric needs to be contacting my skin. I know my golite tights with a slight fleece lining do that well enough. Damien Touglas in his backpacking tights article described it as a slight wetsuit effect. I know that being forced to walk through cold water often (like walking up a creek canyon) the tights do take the edge off of the cold water. In shorts in the same water my legs would be numb and in pain, but not with the tights on.

Mark said everything better than I could.

It's true that a slight air gap increases insulation, but my legs are likely to get wet and so I would prefer them skin fit. I also like having my legs slimmed down, it makes it less likely to catch or rub on things which extends the durability of not so durable materials.

Thank you for the suggestions, those brooks look nice but pricy.

i like tights as part of my layering system because there's less binding and bunching up that you sometimes get with loose fitting long underwear. they also help protect against chaffing and hotspots. i’ve gotten to the point that i don’t vary my base layer as much as picking the right pants for the conditions to go over my tights.

This stuff has been durable for me, and dries very quickly. Expensive though, I got it on a sale. I don't know your temperature needs, but they have several options.

sporthill.com

Hi Justin and Mark,

Have either you ever tried something like polypropylene fishnet leggings with the tights over same?

I think you would notice a world of difference in comfort with something like that. The PP fishnet absorbs practically no moisture and meanwhile keeps the cold, wet tights off your skin, but still allows them to dry fast. The only time i would want a "wet suit" effect, is if i'm going to be primarily in water and wet most of the time.

If you're only spending a small percentage of time in the water, you basically want to keep the much higher conductive fabric and water OFF your skin, and that's what a fishnet baselayer does really well. Polartec Power Dry high efficiency fabric (Cap 4, MEC T3, etc) would be fairly good as well, but PP fishnet would shine in this specific application.

I'm not sure about chaffing and all that. I've only used PP fishnet as a top, but otherwise it's the same principle. For maximum warmth and quickest drying time, you want a thickish but high void, super low regain fabric, and then a thin, tightly woven, low void fabric on top (both dry fast, but provide different functions that work together well in a synergy).

I have the $15 Walmart bottoms and the Northface flashdry bottoms ($35 on sale).

Walmart ones work well, stay up (don't ride down) and seem pretty durable. They seem to use a higher percentage of spandex though, so they're not quite as warm. They also don't breathe the best if you wear underwear underneath.

Northface Flashdrys- twice as warm. great to sleep in. Definately my preferred pair. Drawback is with the lower spandex ratio my pair tends to ride down. Not sure if I just need a smaller size. Breathe great.