Stretchy Pants

Just a note, the OR Ferrosi pants don’t fit me (waist to ass ratio is too big).  But the Ferrosi crag pants do fit me.

Black Diamond Alpine Light Pants- 15%- obviously the trade off is drying time, the more lycra, the longer drying time

that said they are a quality pant, slightly heavier than the Ferossi

Wiiawiwb I’m actually trying to go in the opposite direction for hot and/or humid summer weather, seeking light summer pants without spandex. Higher spandex context doesn’t just lengthen drying time, it also makes the fabric hotter. I have an otherwise excellent pair of Patagonia Tribune Pant with 12% Spandex. We’ve found the same for 4-6% Spandex, just not as hot as 12%. In summer in higher alpine areas where it’s cooler and windier the Tribune pants are fine, but in lower hot and humid conditions my wife and I find the spandex traps too much heat and water vapor from sweat. Are you using your pants in higher altitude cooler windier conditions?

Wiiawiwb, you are interested in fabric stretch, not % spandex.  The way the fabric is constructed will control % stretch more than the % spandex.  % spandex will control the power (force that the stretch returns).  I would recommend that you try stretch pants to see how the stretch compares without focusing on the % spandex.

I can try the Prana Zion (Brion) to see how they stretch. I’ll use the pants from April through end of September before switching to a different pair. I haven’t found the Renegades to be hot but I’m always under the canopy of trees where the temperature is a tad cooler.

I’ll have to call Kuhl because their new Renegade do not stretch as easily as the old Renegade and the difference I focused on was the significant reduction in spandex. Maybe there is another reason related to how the material is made. I never thought of that.

I have the Brion which I wear everytime I go bouldering and they are very stretchy when I do splits on some routes. They run a bit hot on really hot days but I can always roll them up.

This helps explain mechanical stretch versus stretch with spandex.

“Comfort Stretch – Fabric containing 1% or more of spandex…Mechanical Stretch– Fabrics with stretch properties but contain no spandex stretch engineered into a yarn through mechanical stretch construction or in finishing process.”

I have travel pants that are roughly 50% poly/50% nylon (no other materials I just can’t remember the exact % breakdown between the poly and nylon, but it’s close to that) with mechanical stretch and are cooler. They just don’t stretch as much as pants with 6-12% spandex. If you’re not using your pants in hot and humid conditions, I’m sure any light fabric with 4-6% spandex will be fine.

Light fabric weight with a poly/nylon mix seems to breathe well, stay cooler and dry faster and can offer a bit of stretch. One pant like this is the Patagonia’s RPS Rock Pants. Just tried them on and unfortunately didn’t like the fit (no butt…hard to have freedom of movement with no butt) and they don’t have belt loops which I prefer for securing a few items in my pocket on a cord. They have Quandary Pants with a better fit and belt loops, 94% nylon 6% spandex, but again, you can feel they will be warmer in hot weather. Also the thigh pockets on both pants are on the small side. So still searching, especially since I’ll be hiking in steamy New England and Upstate NY this summer.

As for shorts, no way with the ticks out there in full force.

I’m a fan of the Kuhl Radikl and hike with them a fair amount.  For me, their stretchiness and range of motion is unmatched.

Now getting off topic but worth mentioning…

One thing to note for the cotton kills crowd is that they are indeed a cotton blend mix, but so were the summer weight BDUs I wore in the military (50/50 cotton/nylon blend).  The Radikl’s are a mix of two fabrics and three materials, specs noted below:

• Main Body Woven Fabric: ENDURO^{<span style=”font-size: small;”>™</span>} 68% Cotton, 29% Nylon, 3% Spandex l 5.2 oz/sq. yd; 176 GSM
• Knit Panel Fabric: 88% Nylon, 12% spandex l 8.7oz/sq. yd; 295 GSM

In my experience, cotton blends shouldn’t be compared to 100% cotton blue jeans, for example, and perform much differently.  Most of my cotton blend garments feel like they dry at the same rate as some 100% nylon pants I’ve owned. Living in the PNW, when it’s wet, it’s wet, and there’s no magic bullet fabric that’s going to prevent that.  Some anecdotal non scientific evidence I present to further support this claim is that when I hang dry my clothes after washing them, they dry as quickly as my 100% nylon pants do.

These pants are also my EDC pants for LEO work and travel.  They have a khaki-esque look to them and I can get by without raising eyebrows in a business casual setting, at least on the west coast.  They are also comfortable as wearing track pants and are fine for scrambling, climbing over fences, etc.

Spandex has lower regain (water vapour absorption and retention) than nylon so a higher percentage of spandex ought to mean a quicker drying fabric, all else being equal.

Thickness of the fabric has a major part to play in drying time  over percentage of spandex, in any case.

Richard Nisley chart PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF NYLON AND SPANDEX WHEN USED AS BASE LAYERS https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/41486/

Ian agree with you about cotton/nylon BDU’s and have worn them in the military in very hot and cool conditions. They dried much faster than cotton clothing. Those pants certainly pass for W Coast business casual.

I happened to be wandering around the outlet mall in Tulalip this morning and ventured into the Eddie Bauer store because, why not, right! I ended up buying a pair of their Mr. Rainier (that’s what the tag says…) pants. Might be a closeout because I can’t find them on the Eddie Bauer site at all. They retailed for $69.99, I got them for $49 at the outlet. Now that I know you can’t buy them any more, I might head back down to the outlet and get another pair.

Pretty light, quite comfortable, decent stretch, dwr, not too baggy, good size side pocket (on right side only). They resemble the Guide Pro pants, which might be the current model. Worth a look if you have an Eddie Bauer outlet nearby.