Hot Weather/High Humidity Hiking Pants

I hope you don’t find my post unhelpful but I am so glad I spent the money on my RR Ecomesh pants. They much, much cooler than my beloved Prana Zions and less prone to snagging on passing thorns. Perhaps get on their mailing list and buy them on sale for slightly less sting.

FYI the fit on the Ecomesh pants is comically large. I had to return and go down a size. Call or email for true waist sizes.

For a less expensive option I found a pair of woven polyester Champion C9 pants at target that my son swears by they are quite thin and fully lined with an extremely light mesh. He thinks the mesh is key to the comfort. They have zippers at the ankles that go up 8 or 10 inches. He unzips and sometimes rolls when it gets really warm.

Matthew,

I actually find your post helpful. You went against my price concerns to express your satisfaction for the RR EMs. This means that you feel strongly about their effectiveness and for this reason, I will reconsider them despite the price. I knew/hoped this thread would go one way or the other…people would either say that the cheaper options I listed were just as good, or that the RRs are truly worth the money. I CAN afford them, I just didn’t want to if there were more economical solution. :)

Venting isn’t very effective, just get pants that are bigger around so there’s lot’s of air flow inside.

You probably won’t find this very helpful : )

Another testimonial for the Rail Riders. If I am not wearing shorts, I  wear the RR.

I bought mine 8 years ago on sale. So the dollar cost average is now around $6 per year. Sometimes it is better to spend a little more money up front so you buy your second item the first time.

One thing about the fit, they are trousers not pants. A proper fit means they fit around your waist, not your hips as many men wear their pants these days – no visible butt cracks.

I am another HUGE fan of the RR Ecomesh. I have used mine extensively since I bought them in 2010.  They do run sales occasionally.

Thanks, all. Per the above advice, I went ahead and created an RR account and will keep my eye out for a sale. They’re currently out of my size until Mid-March anyways so no hurry, plus I don’t need them until Summer anyways. Until then, I will gladly sport my Pranas in the mild weather.

Another thumbs up for RR pants. I live in the desert and love the Eco Mesh and also have the x-treme adventure pants and the Kodiak pants. The x-treme pants have withstood three years of desert scrambling, through mesquite, cat claw and white thorn brush and still look good. I’ve worn the ecomesh pants on two thruhikes so far and they are also good to go, a bit stained but still very functional. For winter I wear the lined Kodak pants and those are so comfortable that I hardly wear anything else all winter, the liner is so soft and warm I almost hate giving them up when the weather warms up! My only beef with the company is they seem to take forever to do exchanges and when ordering leave plenty of time before you go on a trip, sometimes mailings from them take weeks. It’s a shame the shipping and exchange department is not quicker, but the quality of the clothing makes it worth the wait. So make sure you get the correct sizing or it will be a month of time for an exchange. And for women, the women’s sizes run small, size up.

Okay I think you guys have made up my mind, assuming they end up fitting me well. Can I ask, though, why isn’t there much love for the Bone Flats? No insect treatment but I can do that myself. I’m sure there’s another good reason just haven’t found it yet.

I wear the bone flat pants. They are the lightest and most vented if I am not mistaken. I was originally concerned that they might be less durable because of the thinner material used but they are plenty durable. I have an ecomesh shirt for material comparison. I love both. No complaints with RR ever. The belt that the bone flats come with is my favorite belt too, I use it with all my pants. I would pay $15 just for the belt.

I have owned both.  Both come with the same great belt.

The bone flats pants are heavier than advertised (~10oz) and I think the material is a nylon/polyester blend with a softer, silkier feel than the Eco mesh, however I like the ability to close the vents.  I have found I open and close the vents daily and often multiple times during the day depending on if I am going up or down, in or out of the sun, walking or taking a break, etc.  IMO, the ability to open and close the vents sets the Eco mesh pants above the bone flats, airstrip pants, and all other vented pants I have seen.

btw my medium Eco mesh pants are 11.1oz (I think that is with the belt, I can’t remember)

I’ve found that the best pants for high temps/humidity are those that provide a combo of the following: Very air permeable, thin, made of wicking material.

Vents are no substitute for fabrics that otherwise have lowish permeability, which a lot of the nylon woven pants have.

Or to put it more practically,  my Prana Sutra pants are more comfortable in hot, humid weather than my Columbia Air Gill nylon pants (with double vents–some modified).  If the fit and design was better on the Prana pants, they would be awesome because the fabric is so comfortable for those conditions despite not having any vents. (the fabric is about half hemp, half polyester, with a tiny bit of spandex–thin and pretty air permeable). Vents help, but highly air permeable, more loosely constructed, and very well wicking overall is more important ime/o.

Oddly, pants tend to be cooler if they are either noticeably more baggy/loose fitting, or on the other extreme, very snug (like tights and near tights).   Pants in between these, tend to trap an insulating air layer more so.

Earlier Euro and American Caucasian explorers of the tropics and similar climes often wore loose fitting, all Linen outfits.

Throwing in a good percentage of flatter yarned nylon content, would update the above nicely to our times to add some durability, and a bit quicker drying.  (while linen doesn’t technically dry very fast, it feels dryer faster more noticeably than some other absorbent cellulose based fabrics like cotten, rayon, etc because both linen and hemp fibers have thin, absorbent walls with a hollow inner, and suck in moisture like an absorbent straw, and since there is less solid material, it also releases the moisture faster–the combo leads to feeling dryer faster, even before totally dry).

We wear loose floppy MYOg Taslan longs all the year around – they look like track pants (or maybe harem pants).

It’s not the trousers that get me hot in the Australian summer. it’s the sun and the humidity. My shirt has to be open and flappy, and I wear a big wide-brimmed (MYOG) hat. You can buy similar. My back gets wet, and my face drips. My legs – I rarely notice them. Um – except in heavy scrub of course. We will probably spend the next day or two picking spikes out of  our hands and arms.

Cheers

I considered MYOG as well but haven’t yet researched the best fabric to achieve what I’m after. After making three synthetic quilts, many stuff sacks, and pack covers, I’m confident enough in my sewing that I think I could tackle some pants. Guess I need to start looking at fabrics for a new project…

Not to disourage you but RR pants are a bit warmer than many others. Ant the stitch quality is no better than I get at EMS or other rather cheap store. The gussets in the crotch tend to leave me a bit displeased. They make things warm down there. The pocket arrangement is a bit weird, too. The zippers go directly into the cargo pockets (if you use them.) I would prefer they went to a separate pouch between the cargo pocket and the pant leg. I usually stash my car key/wallet (a plastic bag) in them. But they are not effective for that. The knee reinforcement runs about 3/4 the length of the pans. Again, this means they are warmer around my legs. I often spill a bit of water on my legs to cool them off, in summer. The entire cargo pocket is made up first, then stitched to the pants. This means that in some areas, it is actually three layers of fabric. Also the fabric used is RipStop. The raised areas of the ripstop take all the wear. Not good if you consider the ripstop threads are only about 1/8 to 1/10 of the fabric, AND, these threads take all the wear. After two years, I can see a lot of areas that are a bit fuzzy.

I have a much older set of pants from EMS that stick to the “simple is best” philosophy. They are light nylon material. Everything is much lighter with pockets simply added over the pants leg. No additional reinforcement is needed (well, on several seams.) I have had several pair that are over 7-8 years old and worn continuously, except in winter. They are loose and light and work well.

As Roger said, I don’t really pay that much attention to my legs, though. I usually hike thru a fair amount of scrub, nettles, thorns. Not to mention the usual thick brush in open areas. For warm weather, avoid multi-layers and gussets. For cooler weather they are OK. Avoid ripstop materials. They wear much quicker than non-ripstop. Insure that the weave is tight enough to turn bugs. Mostly, a thin nylon woven material is best. Nylon will also soak a bit of water. So it is easy to adjust temps with a couple ounces of water. The NE gets a LOT of mosquitoes, black flies, and deerflies, so any nylon pants can be permethrin soaked…even at home. Avoid Poly materials. They will not pick up a significant amount of permethrin, at least not enough to be effective without bleeding all over your skin.. A plain, tight, lightweight nylon woven cloth is best.

I am not sure you are talking about the RR Eco mesh pants. They have no cargo pockets are are single layer nylon. They do have big deep hand pockets and a hidden security pocket behind the right hand pocket.

I am not sure the sewing is any better than the REI Sierra pants I used to use or the Patagonia G3, Patagonia Sol Patrol, or Patagonia Rock Guides that I also have, but they are noticeably cooler.

They do have a baggy fit especially with the vents unzipped but the baggy fit is cooler than a tighter fit.

The nylon isn’t the most breathable but no less than any other nylon pants. To make it any more breathable I think you would sacrifice bug proof ness and durability.

supplex from owfinc.com is pretty good.  I think quest and rockywoods also have it.

“4 ply” means it’s heavier, better to resist branches and rocks.  “2 ply” is lighter both in weight and warmth.  Both give good sun and bug protection.

Roger and I both wrote an article.  Except Roger uses some weird purple color.  We use a little different techniques which you could pick and choose from.