The Happy Camper: Winter Camp Pant Review
Quality camp pants are essential.
They have to be durable, versatile, weather-resistant, comfortable and above all, make your butt look good. Here’s what I like wearing in the woods… and around the house.
Outdoor Research Voodoo Pants
I own four pairs of OR Voodoo pants; two are even the same colour. It’s my pant of choice for late-season trekking—and casual winter wear. They’re extremely comfortable, fit perfectly, super lightweight, shed snow/rain, dry quickly, windproof, breathe well and are extremely abrasive-resistant. They also come with loops at the cuffs that attach to your hiking-boot laces and keep the snow out. OR’s Voodoo pants are constructed with 12% per cent Spandex (the rest is nylon), which adds stretch. The interior’s mesh-like layer helps to wick body moisture away and promote air circulation. They might be too warm for a summer day, but they’re perfect for cold, damp and miserable conditions.
Keen Newport Pant
I love Keen footwear because of their perfect fit and comfort. Same thing goes for their pants. The Newport is definitely not a simple straight-leg pant design—a double-layer panel and knee greatly reduces wear. So does the reinforced hem. The rotary flexed knee design and multiple stitching and angles throughout gives them their comfort. Your cellphone fits into a security pocket and a zippered pocket holds items you don’t want to lose. Two more deep pockets add to the mix. Some nice extras are a heavy-duty shank-button and brass zipper. Not many pants have that! The only downfall to some outdoorsy types is that they’re made of 100 per cent cotton. (That’s not a big issue with me, however.)
Fjallraven Vidda Pro Trouser
These pants are heavier than the rest, but they’re also bombproof. The material is specific to Fjallraven: G-1000, made of 65 per cent recycled polyester and 35 per cent organic cotton. This fabric is wind-proof and water resistant, with the knees and butt reinforced with a double layer. You’re pretty much guaranteed that a hot spark from the campfire isn’t going to burn through these pants. There are also six pockets, including a map pocket, knife pocket and even an axe pocket. They’re basically a walking daypack. The second layer of material on the knees also has opened bottoms—perfect for paddlers to place makeshift foam knee-pads. Sizing can be tricky—try these ones on in-store.
