Prana brings back the OG Stretch Zion Pant

I had a pair of the OG pants, still wears OG manpri & Zion 2 (neither for climbing), none I paid close to full price. TBH, they were all pretty meh. But today I decided to splurge & bought a pair of Montbell light cliff pants @ full retail (same price as the OG stretch Zion) & can already tell they'd climb 100x better than the "stretch" Zion.

But I'm Asian so...

I’ve basically lived in the stretch zions for years and was pretty bummed when they made the change. Seemed like one of those incredibly moronic business decisions that start to happen when a company is sold off to someone who doesn’t give a shit about anything but the bottom line. I didn’t love the fit of the OG OGs, but there was a few years there where they had the good fabric and a better cut.

You could always able to get them on sale if you kept an eye out for all you hating on the price, and the old style lasted me years, being gradually downgraded from a wear teveryday pair to a raggedy ass crag only pair, to shorts.

Has anybody actually laid hands on the new ones? Are they up to snuff?

I snagged a couple of pants today and will report back once they arrive. Here's a 20% off code for anyone that wants it: BZ26B5UUB8C6 

The quality of Prana garments has slid so far in the past decade. I won't be surprised at all to hear that this re-release of the OG material is still significantly different. 

I found the Rab Venant pants to be a nice upgrade from the Zion/zioneers and they've held up very well on lots of granite climbing.

Slightly different in color and design from older models. Here's an album with pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qWNwPnB9Wemuw1pn9

I'll report back once they've been washed and I can actually tell how they are. Right now I'm leaning towards they are close enough to the old ones for me to not care.

EDIT: I washed them twice and wore them last night and today. My biggest concern was the fabric, and that's definitely the same, but there are some very small changes in design like color, the main button, and waist line tags. Nothing at all big enough to say that they are negatively different. I'm gonna buy a few more pairs to throw into my rotation. I wouldn't expect any of them to perfectly match my old ones, all the colors seem slightly different.

Overall, these are great and very very close to the old ones. If I wasn't directly comparing them I'm not sure that I would notice a difference.

Update: The main button on one pair has already snapped off. It appears to be made out of some very cheap aluminum. 

Jeremiah White wrote:

Slightly different in color and design from older models. Here's an album with pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qWNwPnB9Wemuw1pn9

I'll report back once they've been washed and I can actually tell how they are. Right now I'm leaning towards they are close enough to the old ones for me to not care.

EDIT: I washed them twice and wore them last night and today. My biggest concern was the fabric, and that's definitely the same, but there are some very small changes in design like color, the main button, and waist line tags. Nothing at all big enough to say that they are negatively different. I'm gonna buy a few more pairs to throw into my rotation. I wouldn't expect any of them to perfectly match my old ones, all the colors seem slightly different.

Overall, these are great and very very close to the old ones. If I wasn't directly comparing them I'm not sure that I would notice a difference.

Update: The main button on one pair has already snapped off. It appears to be made out of some very cheap aluminum. 

I've had issues with the buttons on older models too. At least they're pretty cheap and easy to replace: amazon.com/ICEYLI-Removable…

What years were the OG ones made and when did they switch? I bought some and have no idea if they're the originals everyone likes or the newer ones.

K Dub wrote:

What years were the OG ones made and when did they switch? I bought some and have no idea if they're the originals everyone likes or the newer ones.

I think they switched last year. I have some OG and new. But no 'new OG'. Not sure what to call this latest iteration. 

The material feels different of course but you'd be able to tell based on the button. My OG ones (bought in maybe 2016-2020?) have a metal button. The ones I bought in 2022-ish have plastic buttons. I liked the metal better.  

drew A wrote:

I think they switched last year. I have some OG and new. But no 'new OG'. Not sure what to call this latest iteration. 

The material feels different of course but you'd be able to tell based on the button. My OG ones (bought in maybe 2016-2020?) have a metal button. The ones I bought in 2022-ish have plastic buttons. I liked the metal better.  

Thanks. I got mine in 2020, so OG. Was never very impressed. The knees pilled really quickly. The material is kinda hot too. I like the snaps when you roll the pants up though.

I have the new pants and they are very very similar to the old ones.  The colors are slightly different but material feels the same. The metal button is back although it's a different metal button (old one has a rivet in center like it's two pieces and this one is more a single piece.)

I think if you liked the original pants you're safe buying these.

Michael Buszko wrote:

I have the new pants and they are very very similar to the old ones.  The colors are slightly different but material feels the same. The metal button is back although it's a different metal button (old one has a rivet in center like it's two pieces and this one is more a single piece.)

I think if you liked the original pants you're safe buying these.

Glad to hear the metal button is back!

I really like my zioneers, not as baggy as the zions; I tried the new zion slim fit, terrible mistake, they were more like skinny jeans.

Any idea if the Rab venant or Montbell light clif are similar to the zioneers?  I like them fitted, but not skinny jeans, and I found the zions to be a big on the baggy side.

FYI I found a pair of Rab mountain torque pants, which seem to fit the bill, with a rare-to-find 30" inseam, but they are not as casual wear as the zioneers.

Matt Pierce wrote:

Ive owned stretch zion pants and shorts for over a decade - at least 12 pairs. I lived in these things year round. Well my pants are getting tattered and worn so I went to buy new ones and the new pants SUCK! Good to see they are bringing back what works. Too bad Ive already moved on to Kuhl shorts and Stio and other pants that are just as good as my original zion's. 

I would also note that the old school Bronson pants were rad - I've got a few pairs that Ive abused for like 12 years. 

prana bronson are my favorite pants of all time. anyone please let me know if youve found a replacement

ben dreamin wrote:

prana bronson are my favorite pants of all time. anyone please let me know if youve found a replacement

eBay Mercari Poshmark + screen time

Bought mine from rei in case the plastic button ever failed I could just return them with the year long policy. 1 year and 2 months later after purchase the plastic button snapped and the vertical zipper on the side pouch failed a week later and opens from the bottom when zipped up. The fabric is starting to stretch open into some holes as well. Pretty frustrating. I do love the pants though