Hiking in Long Pants

As much as I enjoy hiking in shorts, I am warming to the notion of hiking in long pants. I started doing it when I was bushwhacking and working through tumbledowns. The major advantages are that it keeps the bugs away, including ticks and it keeps down the number of leg scrapes and cuts when I have to scramble. Ed Garvey always swore by long pants. Getting the right size and fit are essential. If it rains, well , that makes it a disadvantage, as the humidity is usually the killer.

Thoughts?

billski said:

As much as I enjoy hiking in shorts, I am warming to the notion of hiking in long pants. I started doing it when I was bushwhacking and working through tumbledowns. The major advantages are that it keeps the bugs away, including ticks and it keeps the number of leg scrapes and custs when I have to scramble. Getting the right size and fit are essential. If it rains, well , that makes it a disadvantage, as the humidity is usually the killer.

Thoughts?

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I can't remember the last time I wore shorts on a hike. I always wear long pants for the reasons you mention. In recent years I've done more bushwhack hikes than trailed ones. I have four pairs of lightweight long pants that are fast-drying, but if it rains I'm more concerned about my upper body.

rhihn said:

I can't remember the last time I wore shorts on a hike. I always wear long pants for the reasons you mention. In recent years I've done more bushwhack hikes than trailed ones. I have four pairs of lightweight long pants that are fast-drying . . . .

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Nearly my exact sentiments and experience, except that, while I bushwhack a lot, trails play at least an equal role for me. I also wear long-sleeved shirts, always on bushwhacks and on all but the hottest trails. Synthetics are the key - the good ones breath and quickly dry.

Warming and long pants are two words (OK, 3) that go together nicely, which is why I need a darn good reason to wear long pants.

Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

Warming and long pants are two words (OK, 3) that go together nicely, which is why I need a darn good reason to wear long pants.

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That's the other side of it, but that doesn't happen with me, with my lightest synthetic pants. Obviously, there is a heavy subjective component to this. If your body runs warm, you perspire heavily etc., you're likely to favor shorts no matter what. I find the shirt makes a bigger difference, and for that reason I do sometimes go short-sleeve when it's really hot, as I never do with the pants.

bikehikeskifish said:

which is why I need a darn good reason to wear long pants.

Tim

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1. Ticks
2. Scrapes...
3. Poison ivy, poison sumac, poison oak
4. Ticks
5. black flies and mosquitos
6. TICKS
7. Burns on hot rocks

Oh...and did I mention TICKS!!! (YUCKY!!!) The idea of something crawling up my bare leg...then into some nether region to just burrow into my skin and live on my blood while getting engorged just freaks me out....this is NOT ok in my book

Summer or winter I like those zip-off pants. Fast dry material and shorts when you need 'em. Even in the winter I'll often use those with a pair of tights as a means of layering. In the winter I just tuck the unzipped legs into my gaiters.

And I've got a pair of North Face ones where the left and right leg sections are marked - quite handy for re-assembly.

..and on the subject of ticks... They'll climb up your leg with or without pant legs. I find it easier to see them on bare skin and pick them off. If they're going to dig in I'd much rather have it on my leg than on the skin they'll final find up higher.

StashZdanuk said:

Summer or winter I like those zip-off pants. Fast dry material and shorts when you need 'em.

[...]

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^^^This iz korrekt.

I've got two pair of EMS lightweight zip-off that are da bomb.

Plus, they make my butt look cute. (Or so SWMBO tells me...)

I run hot. I sweat profusely, even in winter, when not "resting". I've had exactly one tick on me while hiking - more likely to get then when mowing my lawn. I've never gotten any poison anything while hiking (fishing yes.) I've been known to take off my shorts and wring them out on particularly hot days. Long pants with gaiters help keep ticks out, but are even hotter than long pants without gaiters, which are not immune from ticks by any means.

Tim

bikehikeskifish said:

I've been known to take off my shorts and wring them out on particularly hot days.
Tim

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mental note, never hike with tim!

What kind of hike is it if you don't draw blood???? I've bushwacked the 3ks in shorts, never had posion ivy, never had any ticks! After a wack, I can show off all my scrapes, bruises, and scratches! Makes for good war stories.

I run hot myself, but have found myself wearing these lately...I actually feel cooler with the wicking material than with shorts.

And because they're thin, my legs still bleed, for those for whom blood is a necessity for a successful hike.

Do it.

I have two pairs of hiking pants: one zip-off and one regular. The zip-offs stay in the drawer more and more since I got the regular ones (found some Ex-Officio's on sale). I wear running shorts instead of boxers when I hike and so if it's really hot, I just ditch my pants all together. I'm more comfortable and I cut down on weight.

Shorts..I sweat too much..Long pants cling..Gaiters are worse...Never had a tick but then again I'm usually covered in mud

In my travels I've noticed that a lot of European men wear capri pants, so you could always go halfway.

Taking shorts off... Ditching pants.... No wonder I bike rather than hike in the summer. Of course then there's the issue of spandex...

Stinkyfeet said:

In my travels I've noticed that a lot of European men wear capri pants, so you could always go halfway.

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Ah yeah.. they also wear bikini briefs. If I get caught wearing capri pants someone is free to tie me to a tree during black fly season with my eyes taped open. ....Wait..do they come in butt hugger small and blue?

WinterWarlock said:

And because they're thin, my legs still bleed, for those for whom blood is a necessity for a successful hike.

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Mine too. If you 'whack in the thick stuff with the light-weight pants I prefer, you'll collect nearly as many badges of honor. They do ward off some briar-scratches, at least.

As to ticks and poison ivy, they are both more prevalent in southern New England (although we've been reading about the steady march north of the former). Many of the best trails in eastern Mass., for instance, go through wetlands or along rivers, where p. ivy is practically the State Plant. I'm sensitive to the blasted stuff and long pants make all the difference.

Amicus said:

As to ticks and poison ivy, they are both more prevalent in southern New England (although we've been reading about the steady march north of the former).

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Yes, the ticks have finally made it up north. I just finished a 42 pill/2 week cycle of penicillin as a precaution against Lymes because of all the ticks I've pulled off my legs (and other places) from hiking in the Whites this year. And the mosquitos - I got hammered today as bad as I ever have! So I've gone to long sleeves and long pants, as long as it's not too hot. I've got a pair of cheap Sierra Designs rain pants that are relatively comfortable and are baggy enought that I can roll up above my knees if I start to get too hot. I never thought I'd hike in anything but shorts.

mookie said:

mental note, never hike with tim!

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I *am* discrete about it. Sheesh. It's not like I lean over the observation deck rail and try and rain on the people underneath. I do wring out the bandanna about every 10-15 minutes in warm weather and every 20-30 in winter. Wicking, breathable fabrics my a$$. Quick-drying, OK, I can accept that. Not while I am wearing them, of course. Well, if there is a good stiff breeze, or on my bike, I do stay drier.

I hike alone.
With nobody else.
You know when I hike alone,
I prefer to be by myself.

Tim