Pants, pants, and more pants

imported
#1

I see so many photographs of poeple hiking the trail in shorts . I have head of more that a few hikers that vow that they would not hike with out lightweight nylon pants. They say that these pants are great at combating the harsh rays of the sun and the menacing attacks of ticks,flys, and mosquitos.
The need for rain pants * and * long underwear is obvious.
I also see many people, at the higher elevations in warm looking spandex tight pants.
In the intrest of going lightweight both on my wallet and on my back, i feel the need to get the most out of each item. Do i really need all of them? What did you guys take?
thanks so much for the input!

vinson

#2

I wear shorts on all most all my hikes. i even have postholed on forrester pass wearing shorts of course i did get caught wearing only my long johns in the grand canyon this past xmas. For those who know my portly body the rumors were DID YOU SEE SANTA CLAUS HIKING IN HIS UNDERWARE !!! Pants are like any other concept different folks have way different prefences BUT it works for them…GO shorts!!!

meadow ed

#3

I hardley ever use pants when hiking in the summer. If its wet I use a poncho and shorts.

When its below freezing I use a pair of E.M.S. nylon pants with full side zippers and a pair of long johns. When I hike in weather from 0 to 20 below I will wear two pair of long johns and the same nylon pants.

If I start to heat up in the winter I will unzip the pants as needed. I am never cold with this setup.

Crusoe of Lonesome Lake

#4

It really depends on you. How hot do you get in nylon? How easily do you burn? How sensitive are you to poison oak/ivy? How much do you mind bug bites? I wore Supplex convertible pants. They were fine in the snow and rain so I didn’t wear additional rainpants. (Not waterproof, but warm enough even when wet. My legs sweat too much to wear rainpants except in snow and I wasn’t in snow enough to bother with them on the PCT.) I do get hot in nylon (I couldn’t wear my supplex shirt at all) so when it was hot I took off the legs and just wore them as shorts. But, I don’t burn easily, especially my legs, and I am not very sensitive to poison oak (though I am to poison ivy). I wore long underwear only at night while in the Sierras and some of Washington. One guy who hiked with us just wore shorts and his FroggToggs rainpants at night for bug/weather protection.

Ginny

#5

ladies (or gents, for that matter),

are skirts at all the rage on the AT? they just look so darn comfortable. i’m wondering why more ladies don’t sport them.
for those who do, what do you wear underneath? bike shorts? boyshort panties?
any recomendations for brands, styles, etc? perhaps i’ll just make my own…

msg

#6

msg beat me to it… :slight_smile:

You should seriously check out wearing a skirt (or kilt). Check out these links…

http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Clothing/Skirts%20and%20Kilts/

www.macabiskirt.com

You will not be sorry if you can get past the stigma of a man wearing a skirt.

pct05

#7

In addition to my above post about skirts, this is the system that I use and it works very well for me (3 season use)

Layer #1- Synthetic boxer-briefs

Layer #2- Macabi Skirt

In cold weather I will wear Polartec Powerstretch Tights over my boxers and under my skirt.

In wet and/or very windy and/or really cold weather I wear Marmot Precip rain pants over my Powerstretch Tights and Underwear. I also carry very light weight nylon running shorts as back-up and town clothing

pct05

#8

dude, you get pants and shorts in ONE! now it may not be high fashion, but there are many varietys of the zip off leg pant. those actually are probably the shorts you are seeing in half the pictures. get a light wieght dry fast pair. the tights you see are the long underwear. also a fashion statement, most of the synthetic long underwear bottoms for sale at outfitters and such is sexy sexy skin tight. you can go to campmor dot com for cheap prices, but be careful, the pair of zip offs i got are called “omni dry” which apparently is latin for never dry. feeling the fabric, it is obvious why they are that way, and feeling them wet for hours it is obvious why they were 1699.

anyway, have fun.

milo

#9

Being a total klepto when it comes to airline blankets, I have a light fleece one that I used last weekend. I was hiking in shorts, but when I stopped for a break on a low peak I wrapped that around me like a skirt. Worked like a charm to warm up, and comfortable to hike in. Looks pretty goofy, tho…

molasses

#10

I wear a KMART bathing suit(swim suit) from which I removed the mesh lining. I carry power dry(REI)underwear, one boxer/brief one long. On colder days I can add a third layer of rain pant or fleece pant. The Power Dry material from REI is very good wicking material and great insulator. I have worn them in temps as high as 70 or so and felt comfortable. Even if you sweat a little, it drys really fast.

Chef

#11

In the Sierra and the southern california desert I wear REI Sahara convertable pants. Very quick drying and bug proof.

In the Sierra I also carry silk long-johns (3.2oz) for inside the bag, and a pair of silk boxer shorts (1.7oz) for swimming and when I wash clothes.

Cheers
Steve

geokite

#12

Meadow Ed…I just registered today but see no posts since Feb. Is this site worth the time to check? Here’s hoping you check.:cheers
JoAnn from the PCT Digest

1947/JoAnn (which should I use?)