>Rating: 1

Terrible climbing pants

Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer Fit: Runs large Size Bought 28 Height 5` 8" Weight 140 lbs

I have high standards for gear, but these pants consistently did not meet my expectations or hopes, and I really can't see why everyone rates them so highly. All of my climbing/mountaineering friends also dislike them. They died in a year of use. Let's count the ways. 1. They stretch out rapidly over time. I got the 28in waist for my ~29 in waist, and within six months the pants could easily fall past my butt. When climbing, this means that they were always falling below my harness, meaning blisters and rug-burn where the harness contacts my hips. The waist cinch was close to useless for countering this. 2. They are not durable. Mine got holes in them rapidly from chimneys, offwidths, and squeeze chimneys. Some holes are fine and a cost of awkward styles of climbing. But once the holes got to a certain size, they then caught on manzanita bushes while approaching and immediately blew the entire knee out (see photo). These pants to not discourage ripping very well at all. 3. Overall design is poor for climbing. Small things like the poorly positioned pockets (fine for hiking, bad for climbing) and even the buttons to hold the cuffs rolled up (which aren't useful and only get in the way when you want to wipe off your climbing shoes) mean that these pants really are annoying to climb in. I really wanted to like these pants. But every time I put them on, I was annoyed with them. This included being mad at them on The Nose on El Capitan, the Bugaboos of Canada, and other alpine adventures. I put them through the wringer. But I wager they would be nice pants for hanging around town or doing low-impact hiking.