Down Pants Fit

It’s all relevant…what does one consider loose fit? My down pants are loose fitting so I can layer them over anything if needed. I can tighten the waist a bit also. They are however a bit snug in my crotch area.. As I ordered a 32 inch inseam .. Which would normally be fine in regular pants.. And the waist is cut a bit low.. But the legs are loose fitting which I find works well.

I am a female who tends to get cold so I was wondering if it would be worth ordering another pair with a snugger fit. This pair has space all around my legs / butt. Not huge but definitely a “relaxed” or “comfort fit.” I did size up in length which may have created a bit of “bunching” as well. I can definitely wear these over my hiking pants but the original idea is I would wear them over just thermals/tights for extra warmth in winter since that seems to be more thermally efficient based on what I’ve read. Just curious how other people size their gear!

There should be at least a full 10mm of dead air space between the down pants and the layer underneath, there can be up to 25mm for maximum warmth. The same rules apply as for windshirts over base layers, that gap is weight free insulation

Gotcha. Last year I picked up a pair of Patagonia Nano Air Pants.. They are more snug fitting and tight around ankles. Nice for hiking but also nice to compliment under my down pants on very cold nights. Not sure about women’s clothing sizing and fit though. .I’m sure some others will chime in here and give you some advice too…

if they’re looser, there’s an air space underneath that will make it warmer.

Edward’s numbers seem reasonable

If they’re looser, that means they’re bigger around, so it would weigh more.  But that’s probably insignificant.

oh hmm, I guess I always thought you wanted it to be tighter for LESS air space to heat up? Have I been sizing everything wrong? haha

The smaller the air space the faster it will be to warm up but it won’t be “warmer” in total.

Most clothing makers still do not understand this simple fact and seem to be designing and making as street wear not back county and climbing use. As one of the larger men but not obese I find it really difficult to  buy LW and UL down clothing large enough to allow adequate layering size.

Static layers need to be large and loose as a general rule

air has little heat capacity so it takes very little to warm up

after that, it’s insulation

This all assumes the air in the air layer stays put.  It does not.  Every time you move, the air in the air layer moves as well.  When the air is displaced, it will draw in outside air, so you must warm up the newly arrived air layer.  That is what pumping is about and it is significant. Convection will also occur, so as air is warmed, it will rise and attempt to leak out.  When it does leak out, cold outside will be drawn in. I think it is very difficult to predict the benefit of the air layer.  I would go for a fit that is comfortable and get positive closures so you can try to control the pumping effect.

”

air has little heat capacity so it takes very little to warm up”

Actually, airs heat capacity is 2x that of steel

But the saving grace is that there isn’t much mass of air there

Steven that’s why down pants used to always have either knitted cuffs or elastic at the bottom, seal that gap and no pumping takes place, if your down pants have none add it.

What Stephen S said.  Whether the air gap is large or small, the most important thing to get right is the seal at the ankles and waist to eliminate pumping.

I picked up a pair of XL Montbell UL down pants on this site a while back because they were 1/4 the price of new…if buying new I would have gone for a L.  These pants are very warm and I’m completely happy with the performance because they seal well.

To the OP – provided you can seal them up, the pants you have are likely perfectly fine.

good point Stephen

good point M B, wiseguy : )

They’re the Goosefeet ones made by Ben so they do have a drawstring waist and ankle cuffs. The first ones I ordered had some issues so Ben remade them with some adjustments I requested and now these are waaaay looser than the first pair. Definitely lots of gaps in the crotch/rear and just general looseness. Ironically, the first pair fit a lot better but based on what you guys are saying, it should be fine?

These are sewn through so would warm air escape those gaps? My other concern is that I don’t generate a lot of heat so it takes a looong time for me to get warm. I’ve actually sized down my bags/quilts to help with that.

Air leakage through the stitch lines won’t be the problem so much as the fact that there is no insulation there, easily cured/fixed by wearing your wind pants over the top.

Yes!  Absolutely wear a layer over the down pants for max efficiency.