What do you look for in a climbing pant?

Mr/Ms skinny legs or thicc, what do you look for in a pair of pants?

Unlike the Zion thread, anything goes. Talk about how you that guy who wears skinny jeans to climb. Hell, tell us you climb with no bottoms if you want.

Personally I wear cheaper $30 pants from Costco. Eddie Bauer tech pants. I sewed My mother in law sewed elastic cuffs onto the ankles. Bit of stretch in the fabric.

Some dedicated climbing pants have a diamond panel in the crotch area that purportedly lasts longer. Haven't had a crotch blow out in a climbing pant yet, just my jeans.

J L wrote:

Personally I wear cheaper $30 pants from Costco. Eddie Bauer tech pants. I sewed elastic cuffs onto the ankles. Bit of stretch in the fabric.

I have two pairs. Different brands from there for indoor.

Some dedicated climbing pants have a diamond panel in the crotch area that purportedly lasts longer. Haven't had a crotch blow out in a climbing pant yet, just my jeans.

Two pairs prAna for outdoors. One is over 20 years old and the other is Stretch Zion Pants II. 

REI fleece plus shell for skiing and winter hiking/climbing.

But I get the sense that isn’t what you are asking about.

Artem, just a general discussion, anything goes  

Mr. Chicken legs over here! being quite tall as well means no adventure company really makes clothes that fit. (It’s easier to find 40/32 pants then it is 32/38 pants) I’ve settled for destroying whatever random pants the thrift store has that I can do a full a$$ to gra$$ squat in.

I also look for pants with a thigh pocket that is accessible with a harness on. Has come in handy occasionally.

J L wrote:

I also look for pants with a thigh pocket that is accessible with a harness on. Has come in handy occasionally.

I put my phone in that pocket, but have to clip or zip it shut. They fall out on indoor climbs over 5.11, and I’m pretty sure keeping my belayer from harm is a priority.   

I've got a pair of old army surplus pants that have taken more abuse than anything else and have enough room to move which is saying something for a flexible tree leg.  The button close thigh pockets are good too.

For indoors, I just use basketball shorts and leave stuff in my bag/on the ground.

Clearly style points are not a priority here.

J L wrote:

Mr/Ms skinny legs or thicc, what do you look for in a pair of pants?

Unlike the Zion thread, anything goes. Talk about how you that guy who wears skinny jeans to climb. Hell, tell us you climb with no bottoms if you want.

Personally I wear cheaper $30 pants from Costco. Eddie Bauer tech pants. I sewed My mother in law sewed elastic cuffs onto the ankles. Bit of stretch in the fabric.

Some dedicated climbing pants have a diamond panel in the crotch area that purportedly lasts longer. Haven't had a crotch blow out in a climbing pant yet, just my jeans.

Hmm, I don't think the purpose of the diamond panel is to last longer, but rather to improve mobility (e.g., when doing something like splits).  

Most recent pants I bought specifically for climbing were from a tip someone else posted on MP:  https://www.target.com/p/wrangler-men-s-atg-side-zip-5-pocket-pants/-/A-54585868?preselect=54497249#lnk=sametab

Haven't had a chance to use them yet, but for the price they seem good to my eye.

The absolute most important thing for me is freedom of movement. Some combination of cut and stretch to the effect that I don’t ever feel resistance from the pants. The Diamond crotch gusset referenced above is pretty important here (IMO this is primarily about freedom of movement, the enhanced durability is a secondary effect from the fact that you aren’t fighting against the seams in the crotch in more extreme ranges of movement) though not the only way to achieve this.

One zippered pocket on the thigh so phone or whatever is easily accessible under a harness and doesn’t fall out, other pockets not zippered because i find that annoying and never have so much shit in my pockets while climbing that I need multiple secure pockets.

Durable fabric- obviously nothing I would actually want to climb in is going to be able to stand up to climbing for years on end, but a reasonable compromise between weight and durability is what I am looking for.

Synthetic fiber- moisture management. Less absorbent, quicker to dry, more breathable.

Generally lighter weight. I run pretty hot and if it’s cold out I’m gonna have puffy pants to wear when I’m not actively climbing.

I don’t need any type of system to cinch the cuffs down or fasten them up- I have chunky calves and just rollem up over the bulge and they never come down. In an ideal world they aren’t there but not a deal breaker if they are.

Since I generally wear these pants for work as well I generally don’t want a super teched out aesthetic, and because I carry tools in my back pocket mesh back pockets  are a no go for me as they get shredded quite quickly.

side rant: no 5 pocket (jeans style pockets). I literally cannot understand why people wear pants like this. “Oh I need to get something from why pockets? Ok just let me squirm around awkwardly for a minute while I fight to get my hand in there and fish it out.” Just why? Regular pockets are objectively better in every way. 

I’ve been abusing a single pair of Patagonia terravia alpine pants for years now and love them. I have also been begging Patagonia to make an overall out of that same exact pant fabric and style. Literally just extend the pant up to a bib. Thin soft shell Overalls make by far the most functional sense for climbers with the chest pockets.

Mikey if you’re reading this please for Gods sake get Patagonia to make these overalls!

Offwidth: cheapest, thickest thrift store pants available, plus DIY ducttape/superglue kneepads on the inside. I bought some Duluth Trading Co work pants once, used them on the wide for one fall season, then took advantage of their "We dare ya to wear em out" guarantee. Felt kind of like taking candy from a baby, so I didn't do it again -- the pants wouldn't protect against abrasion of the conscience. :-P

I also wore my old overalls from the gote ranch for a winter season and they were really nice, especially in 8-10" cracks, but a bit heavy and hot on the approach.

Alpine: Poly tights and thin zipoff cargo pant/shorts that were popular when I was in junior high, so they will always be badass in my heart now.

Daily cragging: Whatever is stretchy and cheap. Most men's apparel companies these days incorporate a small amount of spandex, so it's not hard to find something stretchy at cheap mega-retailers. I don't get why people drop $100 for cragging pants, but ewe do ewe.

Daily sport: Cutoff girlpants jorts with sequins in the butt for extra scumming friction. I have standards to uphold, people.

Bouldering: Whatever makes it easiest to give a shit, because that's what I have the hardest time doing when it comes to outdoor bouldering. ;-) 

Tanner James wrote:

I’ve been abusing a single pair of Patagonia terravia alpine pants for years now and love them. I have also been begging Patagonia to make an overall out of that same exact pant fabric and style. Literally just extend the pant up to a bib. Thin soft shell Overalls make by far the most functional sense for climbers with the chest pockets.

Mikey if you’re reading this please for Gods sake get Patagonia to make these overalls!

Holy gote we both were simul-posting about overalls.

I would eat my words and pay a money for good softshell multipitch climbing overalls with chest pockets.

Yes! I’d pay actual dollars for a simple softshell Overall that would be my uniform for a long time I’d imagine. Truwerk makes something like that but it’s tailored towards construction workers but I’m about to fold and try it out 

nylon, pants that are made of nylon, not polyester. Nylon doesn’t absorb smells like polyester does, polyester pants or any cloths smell as soon as you heat them up or sweat in them.

Also extra pockets are bonus but not required, some of my best climbing pants are 5 pocket dress pants that are 95% Nylon. 5% spandex, 

 
Best way I find them cheap is to just check tags at discount stores like , tjmaxx, micheals, sierra, Costco sometimes has nylon pants too, and don’t forget to check the dress pants, there are some Great climbing pants disguised as dress pants 

Remember the old gramicci pants? They would somehow last for several years of hard abuse. 

Jimmy Strange wrote:

$30? Decadence. I wear $10 old school training pants with the little zips above the ankles. I like the Bulgarian athlete from the 80s look.

Mind you these are the only pants I wear 90% of the time anyway. 

So, the middle aged overweight male wearing a Fila Tracksuit and Adidas runners sort?   

Beat up double front carharts. Had them for two years of trailwork from new,  and now they’re super soft and still hard wearing, and baggy enough to do everything I need to.

Artem Vee wrote:

I stopped paying attention to most things other than cost for rock pants. They’re going to be in tatters no matter what the brand is, so as long as they are stretchy and synthetic, ready to go. RAB made some with tough fabric on the knees that I liked. Zip pockets are needed, obviously (top drop in pockets are also quite nice). 

But honestly, yeah - pants get destroyed in adventure climbing. Nobody has made an offwidth proof pant, and no I’m not wearing jeans or some other heavy jean mimick into the mountains. 

Euro style reenforced knees make the pants last long enough to justify the cost for granite trad climbing.  The Rab's mentioned above have been great for me and I have an older pair of sportivas with a burley cordura in the knees that survived years of valley climbing. Both pants have thin fabric elsewhere making them nice to wear (and generally the perfect pants for warm california ski touring). 

I'm very curious if the patagonia pants mentioned elsewhere in the thread actually survive OW. The fabric in the knees seems too stretchy to be durable and the previous patagonia pants haven't lasted well at all on granite. For example the Rab pants barely weigh more than Patagonia's RPS pants but will easily survive a few chuffy OWs without damage. 

Heywood L wrote:

nylon, pants that are made of nylon, not polyester. Nylon doesn’t absorb smells like polyester does, polyester pants or any cloths smell as soon as you heat them up or sweat in them.

Factually incorrect, nylon actually smells significantly worse than polyester as its oleophillic and hydrophilic so it likes to hold onto and sequester all those lovely oils that you excreet as well as your sweat. Polypropylene similarly reeks when used as a base layer as it absorbs all your oils, it has the benefit in that like polyester it doesn't actually absorb water. 

A climber, usually??

Can I post in with a slight diversion?  I'm looking for non-stretch nylon pants - for hiking, or just straight loose pants with a reasonably tight weave.  While I have a few stretchy things - nice pants until something happens.... I want more pants with a nonstretch medium wgt nylon.  My google-fu, such as it is, is hopeless.  The inclusion of -stretch or -spandex seems to fill my screen with more of the same.

I burned through 2 such EMS pants in 30 yrs, with some support from even heavier nylon pants from LLBean for skiing.  My North Face stretch nylon shorts got shredded in 4 years.  A pair of cotton shorts barely make it through a summer of gardening.

Thanks.