Best softshell pant design for cold windy weather – windproof front, or windproof front and back?

I would say that the best, by far, of this kind of pants are the Paramo Cascada Trousers, made in Britain. There is nothing else like them on the market and they have rave reviews by most people who have tried them. They are fully waterproof, but not in the traditional, “Gore-tex”-style water-barrier way, but rather by using a “pump liner” that actively wicks moisture away from the skin. They never get wet on the inside from perspiration, unless the ambient temperature gets really warm. And you don’t need to carry a separate pair of regular pants and rain pants; they work as one. Personally I rarely need very protective pants unless it is really cold and wet. When the conditions get like that these are the perfect pants for me.

Hi Miguel,

I just took a quick look at them, and they just look like waterproof pants with a light lining of some kind. In order to be waterproof, the outer material must be waterproof and less breathable material, and it looks like the breathability comes from the 3/4 side zip and not the material. The garment is not going to be waterproof simply by wicking – it will be overwhelmed in a heavy wind blown rain. The descriptive information on them doesn't give much detail about the materials used in the shell and the liner – do you have a link to better information on them? I have no doubt about your report about them, but the information available on them provides nothing to explain what they are made of and how they work.

When you are working hard in these pants, hiking uphill or x country skiing or snowshoeing, do you think they'd work better with a wind-resistant more breathable fabric in back of your legs?

Found some good reviews on them, but these were from birders (sit still for long periods of time) and a few hill walkers in Scotland. However, still could find anything about the waterproof material or the lining in the pants.

Since you have them, I'd love to know if you think they'd work better for you if the back of the legs were very wind and water resistant but more breathable.

I am British although I live in the USA. I love Paramo and here is why. I have used these in some of the worst possible weather that Britain could throw at me.

Especially in Scotland, the bad weather is legendary. My Paramo Cascada pants stood up to it all, keeping out the rain with ease. I never felt damp in them from sweat build up either as they wicked it out very fast.

These pants are heavy by SUL standards but they cetainly work. They replace the traditional walking pant/waterproof pant combination, and in my humble opinion work better as well.

Chris Townshend is highly respected in Britain and I have also read glowing reports from him regarding Paramo clothing.

If I am going somewhere where I know it will be very wet and/or windy then the Paramo pants are the first things on my gear list, especially if it going to be cold as well.

I am in no way connected to Paramo but I have used their clothing extensively. The reason? It works.

I use the Mountain Hardwear Alchemy pants in a wide range of conditions, from cold weather backpacking, to skiing, to mountaineering, and I love them. They are hardface fleece that is windproof and stretchy. The 3/4 side zips eliminate the need, for me, to take them off when the temperature rises. You can unzip them so they're almost as cool as shorts. When wind kicks up, or a cloud passes in front of the sun, I just zip the pants closed and keep hiking. I find that this is really all the insulation I need for cold weather backpacking, maybe add in a midweight baselayer for sitting around camp when the temperature is below about 20* F. Mine are somewhat heavy, at 1.5 lbs, but the weight doesn't really matter because when it's cold enough that I need these pants, given the 3/4 side zips, I'm wearing them the entire trip anyway, so they never see the inside of my backapck. A big negative is that you need to pack waterproof rain pants in addition to these because once the material gets wets out, it is not fun to wear.

Edit: Uh oh! I just checked the Mountain Hardwear webiste and they don't list the Alchemy pants anymore. The Maneuver pants maybe have replaced them? The difference seems to be that the Maneuver is made from Gore-tex Soft Shell as opposed to Windstopper Soft Shell, and also the Maneuver pants don't have an integrated low profile belt like the Alchemy. Also, they cost about $75 more than the Alchemy pants did. :-(

I do believe that the 3/4 leg zips are an important component to a softshell pant, if it is to be used for backpacking. It means that your pants can be as bomber as you want, and you never have to carry them in your backpack. This is what makes softshell pants so great for alpine hikes. You don't have to change clothes every time the wind picks up or the sun comes out.

EJ,
take a look at the Furtech website. Furtech and Paramo work in a similar way.
http://www.furtech.co.uk

Technically speaking, bases on teststandards, paramo and furtech are not waterproof. But in practice, based on the reviews of lots of people, it appears to work very well. Something like a combination of a hardshell and a soft shell. Really interesting stuff. Instead of a mebrane or coating like other waterproofs, it uses a thick fury lining which pushes moisture outside. The lining makes the fabric also very warm and heavy. Not very usefull for warm conditions but perfect for winterconditions.

EJ,

It's really hard to explain how Paramo works to someone who has never used the clothing. When I bought my first Paramo jacket sight unseen from here in Japan, I really had my doubts about the claims that a lot of people made. Paramo themselves have the hardest time convincing people about how well the system works. You have to put aside your traditional notions of what "waterproof" means and try to intuitively see the way water works through the system. As Tom Van Wauwe explained, the materials are not truly wtareproof. In fact if you sit down in a puddle while wearing the pants water will squeeze through. However, within minutes after standing up your skin inside the pants will be dry again. If you splash some water on the inner liner you can watch as the water is actively "pulled" through the liner fabric toward the outside, where the shell absorbs it and disperses it, much like Pertex Quantum. It is the liner that is important, not so much the shell. (the shell acts to disperse the moisture so that it evaporates more easily and to block the wind, not to keep the garment waterproof) . The Paramo system works to keep you dry by continuously drawing moisture away from your skin, even in very heavy rain. When you pull a Paramo hood over your wet hair, the liner will actually draw moisture away from your hair until it is dry. So you can see the whole system is the reverse of what people traditionally conceive of as "waterproof".

And it works. The fabrics are completely breathable, not in the micro-pourous way of Gore-tex, but like any woven fabric, so the system always breathes well. When you sweat the system draws that moisture away, too. The only trouble, like Tom said, is that the clothing is heavy and, for me in three season summer conditions, usually too warm (though when it gets that warm I simply let myself get completely wet. There is no danger of hypothermia. If the wind changes and I start to chill, I don my Cascada jacket and let it dry me). Still, the Cascada pants, in one garment, replace base-layer tights and regular pants and a rainshell, so in winter it is a very versatile system. And if Chris Townsend recommends them over and over again you can be sure that they really do work. After years of using Gore-tex, Sympatex, Triple Ceramic, H2No, Breeze Drytech, and even eVENT, I much prefer the comfort of the Paramo system (plus every woman I've met who has tried them love the softness of the fabric).

Reading and writing about it just doesn't quite do it…

The Paramo garments sound alot like the Rab Vapour Rise. What is the difference?

Im moderatly sure the lightest all wind proof would be the wild things powershield tights at 13 oz. look at those golite soft shell waterproofs they look very nice also.

Paramo and Rab's Vapour Rise are similar. Difference I see:

• paramo inner material "pumps" more vigorously
• the Rab's shell is a bit more efficient at shedding water when new, but over time is less effective because it can't be renewed as well as paramo
• paramo is warmer and heavier.

I thought (when planning to make my own Paramo-style clothing) that Paramo and pertex/pile (ie. Vapour Rise from Rab, and other PP makers like Buffalo, Mardale, Montane, Trax, and Patagonia's Infurno) were the same, too, until I discussed the topic with people at the British outdoor forum Outdoor Magic. The main difference is that the pertex/ pile system (which I also use and love… I have an old Montane Epic Jacket and a Rab Vapour Rise) only spreads the moisture over a large surface and relies on body heat to move the moisture, but the fabric itself doesn't pull the moisture through to the outside like the Paramo pump liner. Also you can't use the NIkwax waterproofing with pertex/ pile like you can do with Paramo, so pertex/ pile does not have good water resistance. It works more like a fast-drying wetsuit.

I bought a pair of REI Alpine pants this week on a whim for my midweek trip. I spent 2 days in nearly nonstop snow and rain. My legs were perfectly warm, never to hot or sauna feeling. windproof, waterproof and they actually breathed. I did not wear anything under them either, with no clammy leg syndrome either.

Only downside? They are very, very heavy pants. Full side zippers add in for extra weight.