The Rab Bergen Pant is made of three-layer eVENT, with a minimal feature set to minimize weight to 10.8 ounces (men's large). Rab calls them "overtrousers," but I found them to be a lot more versatile than that, as I explain in this review.
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Will Rietveld Ph.D, Senior Editor for Gear and Apparel, joined the BPL staff in April 2004. In his former career, Will was a research scientist, project manager, and R&D program administrator. Now retired, he lives in southern Colorado where he takes up a new career of backpacking year-round in the mountains and canyon country of the Southwest. During the summer months Will and his wife Janet are volunteer wilderness rangers in the Weminuche Wilderness. He has been a lightweight backpacker for 52 years and an ultralight backpacker for 13 years.
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I liked your review but I do not believe 33" inseam qualifies as long legged or a tall size. Long or tall sizes are usually reserved for inseams of 35" or greater.
Nice review, problem is you can't buy these pants anywhere. Ive been looking to get a pair of these for quite awhile and there's none to be found here in the US, unless you can fit into a small, in which case Prolitegear has only smalls left. Jackson Sports in the UK would ship to the US, but they list the pants as "Discontinued". It's a shame it takes BPL 6 or 7 months from actual field testing to printing an online reveiw, especially given how fast the market changes. How long does it take to write up a thin 800 word review?
I ordered the Rab Bergen eVENT pants several months ago from TowerRidge.co.uk. Their service was good despite the fact that I live in Virginia (USA). At 6'6" with a typical 36" inseam, I didn't have a problem with the length.
Actually, I found the receipt so I can be exact. I had purchased a Rab Super Dru and the Bergen Pants. Shipipng ran $20, which I believe was in pounds, so somewhere in the neighborhood of $39.70 in ole American bills. Keep in mind though, I had purchased two items, so your cost will be less. In case you were interested, I like the Rab Bergen pants, although I wish they had pockets and the nearly full length zipper seems a little unnecessary. When I purchased them, I didn't look too hard for other options but other vendors are now stepping up. I really liked the Rab Super Dru jacket too, but I ended up returning it because it was too snug on me and wouldn't allow me to layer anything underneath. European manufacturers seem to allow very little space under the arms as I tried at least 5 different eVENT jackets from European manufacturers and they were all uncomfortably tight under the arms even without layers.
I also had some luck with another European website in case you wanted to look around: http://www.outdoorgb.com
I like the long zipper length with double sliders, my old goretex pants have them. That much vent makes them usable for high exertion such as uphill snowshoeing, whereas my Reeds are horrible (!) unless very cold or strolling. I don't use gaiters ever so the longer length is welcome, and I'd consider attaching a stirrup cord to the hem for postholing.
Around here, you often see soft-shell pants paired with a slightly large parka – we get showers not rain.
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