Pants for cold weather

B

Benjamin

Joined
Apr 4, 2002
Messages
100
Hi. Sorry if this is terribly basic, but I'm new at this.

In essence - jeans are cotton, hence terrible when wet.

What pants are particularly suited to cold weather?
 
Wool maintains much of its insulating ability when cold and/or wet. Many modern pants mix wool with some synthetics, I'm not sure how much that enhances/degrades the insulating performance.
 
Cotton I believe is okay if blended with other synthetics.100% cotton I think is the bad choice,correct me if I'm wrong.Wool pants may be a good choice,but can be heavy.Gortex pants which are waterproof and wind proof may be a good choice also with layering underneath with synthetics.
 
I recommend swedish surplus wool pants, u can get them from majorsurplusnsurvival.com for around 10 to 15 dollars.
 
Being a gearhead... a good set of "slicks" will serve you well.... eventuallly they waterproof themselves.

Jeans that have expierenced so many grease jobs and oil changes they not only standup on their own... but you get dirtier putting them on then you do the actual job.

:D
 
Cold? Welcome to Canada.

I find military fatigues with longjohns underneath are more than enough. Though for really cold I have a skidoo suit.
 
Synthetic synthetics synthetics

Now I am really sounding like a broken record.

Poly-pro long johns- fleece pants and a rain shell over works is the absolute best method I have tried. You can always layer and take off the fleece pants.

not other method has come close wool is great too alot cheaper but nothing beats synthetics.
 
Icebreaker, icebreaker.

This stuff is without doubt the best thermal wear I have encountered. How does living in one of the hottest places on the planet qualify me to recommend thermal wear? I've wintered in Montana, Northern California and Nepal. Merino wool is the best.

http://www.icebreakernz.com/
 
Points to consider for cold weather pants:

1. Pants should be loose so's you can wear insulation (poly fleece) under them without binding. Polyester fleece is 2x the insulation when damp as wool, much more abrasion resistant, and machine washable. (And, silly me, I still like my German and Swede wools.)

2. Pants should be wind resistant. (The "boiled wool" of the German pants do this too. But why are they on the surplus market? Nylon and polyester.)

3. I like belt loops, not silly elastic, so you can keep them up. (Or you can use suspenders.)

4. I like exterior pockets. (Can you believe pants without pockets. Please!)

5. Zippers calf to ankle are nice to allow pulling over boots if absolutely required.

6. Gore-Tex (and the like): The theory vs. reality. They don't breath with a film of water on them (Vapor pressure can't overcome film strength. That's why they put water repellant on the outside.)-- not an issue in really cold weather (below 25 f). They don't breath enough if you're active -- an issue whenever you're active. Wet is wet, whether from outside or inside. Plain old nylon works better unless keeping rain out is an issue; that Gore-tex does pretty well. [Side note --> Gore-tex chaps. If the parka goes down far enough so there's no gap, the chaps keep out cold rain and allow ventilation of critical areas.]
 
I prefer thw swedish wool pants, i also have some of the thick brown poly pro stuff, very warm I just got back from outside t was -10, and I had my pants on anf was fine, also the good thing about these is that they are cheap, they are quiet since they're wool and if they get wet they still insulate.
 
If you're looking for an under layer or base layer, Under Armour does a great job. I wear one of their pant versions under my snow pants(which are basically a shell) when I go snowboarding and have not seen any problems. They are a little pricey however, ~$50. Microfleece also does a good job. Another thing I've worn in the past is what I believe is a mix of cotton and polyester I think. As far as actual pants, I'm not really sure. Maybe try lookin into Columbia, here's something I found on their website http://www.columbia.com/products/pr_detail.cfm?product_id=2228. It's got ~75% waterproof legs (and pockets!). Hope that helps you.
 
Some of the artificial stuff is great, unfortunately because of my ever present need to stalk up on critters with exceptional hearing, it's usually too noisy as well. So, I stick with the ol' stand by, wool.

I agree about Merino wool being the very best under garment/thermal layer available, but then, I really like how it feels too.:p
 
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