Best Hiking Pants (American Made preferred)

[Gumbo]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>I’m a big fan of the OR Ferrosi. Will try Brion when I get a chance based on this thread.</p>

[Andy Stow]

Maybe try Rivendell’s MUSA pants. They’re geared towards cycling, but should be good for hiking too.

https://www.rivbike.com/products/musa-pants

[Dean F.]

Prana Zion is very comfortable, although I would hardly call the fabric “durable”. Very easy to snag on anything spiny. Incredibly poor integrated belt design also drags this one down.

Well, it’s worth noting that Prana make other styles than the Zion.  I use the version with belt-loops, for instance.  I like having a belt.  And bear in mind that “not durable” is relative.  No, you wouldn’t want to wear them to go canyoneering, but the Prana pants aren’t exactly tissue paper.

I have worn the Prana’s in the Sonoran Desert and wasn’t particularly heatstroked.  Still, I agree that a thin 100% nylon pant might be better in such situations.  And as I said earlier, I like RailRiders.

[William Kerber]

I have several pairs of Railriders. I like their ultralight versa tac pants, because I like cargo pockets and they are relatively thin. Their Bushwacker Weatherpants are more winter pants for me in SC. I wouldn’t wear them unless it was going to be below 30 degrees or some rough bushwacking. I’m going to try their Cool Khakis, which are styled more like a pair of nylon jeans.

[Paul S]

I would love to find some trekking/hiking pants with a ventilated crotch, to help prevent chafing during hot sunny weather.

[BlackHatGuy]

“I would love to find some trekking/hiking pants with a ventilated crotch, to help prevent chafing during hot sunny weather.”

They’re called a kilt….

[Paul S]

They’re called a kilt…

 

LOL, well, I want to keep the sun off my legs so that I don’t need top plaster sunscreen all over them.  :-)

[Stephen Bing]

Prana Zions have three eyelets by each inner thigh by the crotch to vent but they’re small so it probably won’t help you much. I suggest putting something like Body Glide on contact areas to prevent chafing. I use them while on long hot hikes and running marathons and never got chafing.

[John S.]

Wear hiking chaps with short-shorts on underneath for ventilation ; )

[BPLwiia]

Withdrawn for new thread…

 

 

[Brad P]

I need convertible pants for Philmont. I like my classic REI Sahara pants, but have been looking at other options. The non-convertible pants are a good price point. The new version is getting mixed reviews.

I just wish all the options listed in this thread had 34 inch inseams in the convertible versions. Some do. Many don’t.

[Miner]

Well unfortunately, as someone else mentioned Railriders are made in China, but I like several of their long pants.  You mentioned Bushwhacking, Railriders BushWhacker Weatherpants are my goto pants for that.  As someone else mentioned, I also like their EcoMesh pants for warm weather hiking when long pants might be more desirable over shorts such as too much sun exposure (say desert hiking) or a desire for Permithrin treated pants for hiking in mosquito clouds or ticks.

[Eric Osburn]

How are the Prana Zions in warmer weather? I run warm and wonder if I would have to use something else during warmer months.

[Brad Rogers]

Eric – for warm weather pants, you can’t beat the Rail Riders Eco Mesh pants.

I have the Prana Stretch Zions and wouldn’t want to wear them in the summer.

[Matthew / BPL]

What Brad said x10000.

RR Ecomesh pants are the best I have worn (despite their dorky cut).

Prana Zions are wonderful pants when it is cool out or around town but they are way too warm for me to wear hiking if it is above 70°. I wear Zion shorts hiking in the heat all the time but the pants are a no-go unless it is cold out.

[Eric Osburn]

Thanks for the quick replies. I wear shorts during the spring, summer and fall but have fair skin and would love to find some pants that don’t overheat me. Sounds like the RR Ecomesh are what I’m looking for and maybe I’ll pick up the Prana’s for winter and lower output activities.

[BlackHatGuy]

I like Railriders for hot weather as well, but prefer the Bone Flats pants instead of the Eco-Mesh, main difference is there is no side zip on the Bone Flats, just mesh, while the Eco-Mesh has a zipper so you can close off the mesh. And Eco-Mesh comes with Insect Shield and Bone Flats do not (though I sent mine to Insect Shield to have them treated).

[Anonymous]

I like adapt/mod-ability of my clothing. Of late, what I do is take some shorts that I really like, sew some soft velcro to the bottom of the leg holes, and make different “pant legs” to go with them. It makes it easy to bring a combined short/wind-bug pant/sun pant/rain pant system for maximum comfort at pretty low weight and I can choose the most ideal fabrics for each. For example, for sun pant mode I really like a light colored 54% Hemp 43% polyester and 3% spandex, very breathable fabric (Prana has used such a fabric in some of their lines). For wind/bugs taslan etc nylon works well. For rain EPIC. Since I use a poncho primarily for rain, I’m not worried about the upper, shorts part.

A little while back, I scored some really cheap, all nylon and wicking “gym shorts” type shorts which I have yet to put some velcro on. They have a mesh lining, but I cut that out.  Even with the mesh, they are super breathable.

[Rob P]

Kuiu Tiburon’s are great hot weather pants…wind blows right through them…they also have thigh vents and have a little bit of stretch as well.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

CORRECTION: Duluth fleece lined heavy duty nylon cargo pants are $78. not $18. !!

(WHY do we lose the ability to edit our posts after a certain time???) Ryan?

[Eric Osburn]

Do Prana and RairRiders ever have sales… I’m trying to convince myself to just pair a few pair but the price is prohibitive.

[Brad Rogers]

Prana goes on sale fairly regularly (I think I got mine at Campsaver for a really good price).  Rail riders has sales too, but not as often and probably not during prime season.

[Tony Wong]

Interestingly, I own 5 pairs of the stretch Zion pants that I about on Amazon on huge sale about 1-2 years ago.

I have been wearing them daily for work for these past few years.

Definitely comfortable, look good enough to wear in a professional setting, and I love the feel of the fabric against my skin better than my old REI convertable pants and my Rail Riders Eco Mesh Pants.

I have only hiked a few times with them….I have been wearing them so long for work that I hardly consider them hiking pants.

I would agree that they would be too heavy of a fabric for wearing on really warm/hot days.

Shoulder season when it is cooler….definitely would wear them.

The integrated belt does not work for me…I even torn off the belt by cinching too hard when I tried to wear the pants without a belt.

For a nice belt that does not slip: http://www.grip6.com

My go to pants for hiking are my Rail Riders Eco Mesh Pants….love the super long side zippers on the sides of the pant legs.

Took them to Cambodia a few years back and felt great in the brutal, humid heat there.

I would agree….sun protection with ventilation that is “like” wearing shorts.

Negative….baggy fit that should only be seen in the deep back country.

As for durability….well they have survived my butt sitting in an office desk for ridiculous hours and look great…like new.

Anyway, few thoughts from a guy trapped in a cube in an office.

Tony

[Anonymous]

“Kuiu Tiburon’s are great hot weather pants”

They would be downright awesome if made out of wicking nylon fabric. Polyester is heavier, stinkier, and less durable compared to nylon though. Polyester is being used more and more because it’s cheaper, not because it’s superior (only slightly in UV resistance).

Also feels a bit hotter to me than nylon, since nylon has higher thermal conductivity and passes body range infrared radiation a bit more efficiently. Not really much of a difference to make a significant change in comfort level, but every little bit helps especially in hot, humid weather imo  Thinness and breathability will be the biggest factors, and when in the sun, darkness or lightness of color.

[Kevin R]

I did ultimately decide to try out some of the Go Ruck pants, and, while I haven’t worn them on any extensive trips yet, I must say that I am quite impressed so far.  I ordered both the Simple Pants (clean look, just two front, two back pockets, may be comparable to Prana Brions)  and Challenge pants (a bit more of a classic hiking pant with recessed zippered cargo pockets and gusseted crotch; still have a nice clean look).

Upon receiving them, I tried the Challenge pants and wore them for about ten minutes, walking up and down some stairs.  I felt like they rode up a bit, so I switched to the Simple Pants and found the fit to be great- good waist, trim in the thighs (I have fairly large thighs and think they fit well- those with really large thighs might find them a bit tight), and loose enough in the calves to breath and roll up, but not too loose so as to look sloppy.

The fabric (“Tough Dry”, 94% nylon, 6% spandex) is very comfortable.  It’s quite thin, which makes me think it will do well in the heat (I don’t normally hike in long pants in extreme heat- it seems to me like in those situations you would want something very baggy and without spandex).  With some Capilene underneath, it does well in the cold.  It has excellent flex without feeling “rubbery.”

I wore them skiing my first time out in them.  I’m not much of a skier, so I mostly just stick to the green slopes.  At the end of the day, my friend convinced me that I was ready to graduate to the “next level”, an icy black diamond.  Needless to say, I mostly slid down the mountain face down.  I had the bottom of the pants stretched over my ski boots, and at the bottom I noticed that they had gotten a small 1/4″ rip from snagging on a buckle.  Go Ruck has a 6 month “do anything to them” guarantee, so I decided to send them back to see if they could repair them (they do have a repair program for their packs and other gear, which is awesome).  They opted to send me a new pair, which they accidentally sent to my billing address.  I needed them at my mailing address shortly, so they sent me a second pair there, and just asked me to return the other one’s when I could.  +1 for customer service.

The only issue I’ve noticed so far is the pant length.  They’re about 1/2″ shorter than all my other 32″ pants, which is just short enough to be annoying.  I decided to exchange them for the next size up (34″ length) which fit pretty well, although I may hem them just a bit.

Overall, I’m definitely a fan of the Simple Pants (especially since they’re made in the US- Washington State!) and will probably look into getting some of their shorts too (the fabric is very comfortable and the fit is great).  I still haven’t tried any of the Zion or Brions, but I would be interested in seeing what the fabric weight difference is and if one will tolerate the heat better than the other.  My size 34x34s weigh 8.0 oz on my scale.

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