Rain Kilt or Rain Pants?

What’s your use case, Lowell? Mountains? Forest? On-trail? Off-trail? Temperature range? Type of weather (storms vs. continuous moderate rain)?

High winds present that will blow wind-driven rain? Pants > kilt.

Off-trail bushwhacking or scrambling that has potential to snag/catch on loose clothing? Pants > kilt.

Trail hiking, moderate rain, moderate temps (ok for lower leg clothes to get wet)? Kilt > pants (better breathability, more comfortable/cool).

Kilt below treeline, pants above.

Tall gaiters are a good add-on for a kilt.

I might consider both for some longer hikes in varied conditions, because a kilt is SO much more comfortable, while pants are more protective.

Agreed with Ryan’s breakdown, as well.

I use both but have a slightly different take.

For me, rain pants only to stave off risk of hypothermia.  I sweat far too much in even breathable ones even in the low 40s.  Alternatively, if you don’t sweat much, or are willing to slow way down, that extends their use case to higher temps.

Otherwise I use a kilt unless it’s too windy (as mentioned, above treeline) for that or I’m bushwhacking (which is often) then I let my pants just get wet and wear them to dry later.  Wet from rain is more comfortable than wet from sweat, again assuming no risk of hypothermia.  So I watch the weather closely and factor in possible extremes for the season from unexpected weather changes when deciding what to carry.

I have a old pair of short FroggTogg pants.  Unfortunately they’re no longer made. I guess cutoffs could be made. Make a pair of convertibles.

I just started using a kilt this year, and overall it’s been great for typical convective showers in the Colorado Rockies. It’s lighter than rain pants, but the most critical factor is that I can put the kilt on in a few seconds as opposed to needing to take my boots off to get rain pants on (size 12.5 boots just don’t fit through the leg holes).  The longest I wore the kilt was ~ 2 hours one afternoon in July. It worked great, even in winds gusting to 20-30 mph, but stronger than that would have been a challenge. Conditions I would pack pants instead of a kilt would be:  1) If my trip were in an area with steady rains for several hours or days, 2) bushwhacking, especially in wet willows, etc… 3) if I’d be prone to hypothermia weather such as significant rain/snow below 35 degrees F, 4) if there was a good chance I’d experience winds > 30 mph.

A few notes about the kilt, from my experience. I always use gaiters (keep the dirt out of my boots), and that helps keep the boots/lower leg dry. I’m 6′ 2″ and most of the kilts seemed too short for me. I ordered the “Onewind Outdoors Lightweight Nylon Rain Skirt” for $19.90, and it is long enough for me. And seriously, it’s $19.90.

Full-zip pants, because…

1. They go on without requiring me to remove footwear.
2. Don’t cause me to accidently pull a Marilyn when the wind kicks up.
3. I can glissade in them.
4. Actually keep me dry.

It’s all about the use-case; most people on this forum probably don’t want to carry the extra weight of zippers in the legs, but I don’t like owning multiple/redundant pairs of pants, so my full-zip shell pants are my rain pants.  But that’s me: I have issues.

Better than a Mae West.