Puffy Pants - Tell me your faves

I'm looking for a pair of puffy pants. Im not super concerned with getting the most light weight pants. More concerned with a balance of durability and warmth without being too big to stuff in a climbing pack.

Anyone have any brands/ models that they swear by?

Gold standard is Mtn Hardwear Ghost Whisperer pants. A large chunk of female climbing friends own. I love mine.

The MH Compressor pants are great; full zip, tough knees and butt, and you can belay through the fly. 

' ' wrote:

I wear size 34 waist pants, sometimes 33. I’m looking at getting the compressors to wear while belaying sports climbing this winter. Do you happen to know if the medium fits over pants and a harness of my siz

Probably. Mine are S and I have a 30” waist

Love the Rab Photon pants 

I don't want to derail this, but is there a pair folks like for skiing/snowboarding in as well as winter camping/belaying?

Very hard to find but this is much better than pants for a cold belay. Easy to put on and take off. I wear size 31 pants and size large skirt fits over everything including the harness.

the north face summit L6 insulated belay skirt

rocknice2 wrote:

Very hard to find but this is much better than pants for a cold belay. Easy to put on and take off. I wear size 31 pants and size large skirt fits over everything including the harness.

the north face summit L6 insulated belay skirt

This is the way

It depends on your needs. For expedition life, I love the MH compressor. They’re burly enough that I don’t worry about actually wearing them. I also have the light montbell puffy pants and they rip if you look at them hard, plus you can’t get them on or off with shoes on, and they don’t have pockets… but they’re so light they can go everywhere with me and fit better under layers.

If I could go back, I would get the MH stretchdown pants as a lighter pair. But again, those are on the lighter side, not what I would want for camping in -20 temps significantly less sleeping bag than I should have brought. 

I have a pair of Montbell THERMAWRAP PANTS MEN'S which are their more durable mountaineering pair with reinforced patches/fabric on the knees, butt, and calves. They also have full zips down the side which makes them super easy to get on and off with shoes on, as well as being able to vent them if you're a little too warm. I have them in a size small and their quite big for me as a female, but even so I still love them and cannot recommend them enough! They pack down to the size of a nalgene bottle but have held up to me scrambling around the crag and such. montbell.us/products/disp.p…;p_id=2301304&gen_cd=1 

BD stance are a decent option too

Feathered Friends has some very warm puffy pants. They are about 2 inches thick. I have those but my wife thought they were too pricey so she bought the lighter weight version they sell made by Mont Bell. Mine are built for lightness, not durability. Incredibly warm though!

rocknice2 wrote:

Very hard to find but this is much better than pants for a cold belay. Easy to put on and take off. I wear size 31 pants and size large skirt fits over everything including the harness.

the north face summit L6 insulated belay skirt

Can you belay through the crotch or is that just a pocket

It's a belay zipper not a pocket.

Love my arc Adam LT pants 

rocknice2 wrote:

Very hard to find but this is much better than pants for a cold belay. Easy to put on and take off. I wear size 31 pants and size large skirt fits over everything including the harness.

the north face summit L6 insulated belay skirt

The skirt looks more convenient but less warm than pants, can you comment more on the differences you've experienced?

All of the puffy pants I saw were so expensive, like $200, so I just found some for $60 on Amazon.  Specifically I got the Nature Hike brand and they've been good.