My old goretex pants are looking a bit shabby (and a bit tight) so I've been looking at new shell pants for XC and poss. some downhill. I like the look of the Mont tempest but Macpac has an Easter sale with really good prices on their Event pants and bib and brace Prophet pants. Any experience with these shells? I bought a pair of Lowe softshell pants a couple of seasons ago so am even wondering whether I need new shell pants. The old ones spent most of the time in the bottom of the pack to be honest.

I'm seriously considering the Macpac eVent prophet pants atm. Good price, and I want something super breathable for splitboarding. eVent seems to be as good as it gets right now. I find a nice light shell with a light thermal layer underneath more comfortable than softshell for the legs.

touring pants for me - breath-ability is a big issue: full length zips vent pretty well

Same. Plus always full leg zips. Plus bib-and-brace to keep the storms out (I live in storms). It is amazing how many people I see coming untucked with lower back skin exposed when bending over.

Down side to BnB pants is when camping if you do not want to sleep in them: to put them on in the AM, you need to take off your warm jacket as well. I hate doing that.

That MacPac BnB looks ok, great price and Event is lauded. But if the back is too low, your base layer will pull out and/or the pants will work down under your backpack waist belt. This is why I use these pants, with the high back so that I NEVER have to worry about it even slightly. So incredibly comfortable.
http://www.arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?EN/Mens/Pants-Shorts/Theta-SV-Bib#

Only think they are missing is thigh cargo pockets.

The Arcteryx look great but the price, ouch! Wondering if BnB would be too much for touring in Vic, it's very often above zero down here.

A little warmer than you may like, but I have survived in mine during spring. You unzip the front.

Arcteryx prices are huge. I've had about 500 backcountry days in my Theta bibs now, good for another 200 or so I guess, with some duct tape and rubber glue around the cuff. Also starting to leak at the constant movement hinge areas like in the groin (but getting water there is a rare event - eg when I spilt my coffee driving last week, sitting on a lift in the rain)

i've BnB also as they're used for everything else I do in the mountains and yeah, they're warm - full length zip helps and I've not had overheating issues that I couldn't fix by taking off jacket and opening zips.
The missus has arcteryx BnB and loves em, they're very durable too. Mine are mountain hardware, less stylish but very rugged, good instep protection for the inevitable tele edges or crampon points. We've both had em since 08 and mine are the ones looking a little haggard - but I'm a bit of an oaf. Neither have ever gotten us wet either

mate, you're all over the shop! a little while ago you swore that Gelanots was the new way to go!


trew outerwear is my new boutique brand, Gelanots by the way, coincidentally. Slightly heavier but could wait out armageddon in it.

I'm in the market for some good shell pants as well.

Any suggestions with good inside cuff protection for use with crampons? This year I managed to not put any holes in my pants as I used the crampon strap to tie up the bottom of my pants but I made a hell of a mess of them last year, thank god for Remote Repairs.

These look pretty good at about $300 but don't know if they have cuff pro.

http://www.mont.com.au/index/catalog/product/003

been using a pair of light softshell pants for the last 5 years. They get too hot in spring and down low in the middle of the day but are great at night combined with thermal underneath. SO this means i'm not lugging an extra pair of pants to wear at night. Open lower leg zips and fly gives some venting but not enough.

What do all you shell wearers do at night to keep legs warm?

I have used the MD Alpettes for several years now as my inbound and touring shell.

They are heavy duty and will be too heavy for light weight day tripping brigade. But when you are the top of the ridge and it is horizontal puke you will be glad of these pants.

Details are here.

So many options: on top of Macpac, Arc'teryx, North Face, Mountain Designs, etc already mentioned there are plenty more options depending on your budget and what you are seeking. Here's a little list to get started with

Flylow make some Ok duds try the Chemical pants or eSpecial pants

Cactus Climbing Equipment HD Dreadnoughts are bomber but heavy, had mine 3 seasons now

Westcomb make some good gear could do worse than try their range check em out

Haglofs good make good Euro gear here

66 Degrees North make some cool outer wear here

drink?

I have shell pants and just wear em with a light merino long johns and am pretty warm - my missus has down pants I'm pretty warm in general though.

my Mountain Hardware bibs are similar to skifree's - and my reasoning for getting them are similar to his - nice and heavy duty for really feral weather. The bottom cuffs are similar also, very heavy duty stuff there to protect. I think you'll have to look at a few pants in person to see what that part is like if you're after it. They aren't the height of fashion...

Given how much better it was in Cham being more fit than the last couple of times, I've decided that I'm not going to bother unless I'm even more fit again, and weigh even less.

So it may not be prudent to try on pants until I get to a particular weight I have in mind....

the weight from when you were 20? ha, i wish too

Being a narcissistic gen y-er im pretty keen on more contemporary designs. I currently use Burton AK gore -tex shells which I have found pretty good. They have nice big vents and useful cargo pockets, although being snow board pants they don’t have instep edge protection. If I needed new pants (based on the colour of my current pants some would say I do) I would go for these ones

http://www.norrona.com/Products/5003-11/lofoten-gore-tex-pro-pant-m

Not being that silly!

They look pretty funky don't they. I was tempted to buy a Norrona parka a while back, it was vintage style with a Kangaroo pocket. Luckily for my wallet the bout of GAS passed.

Yeah, somewhere like antarctica, where other mebranes delam in the cold, gelanots rules. I'd like to get some Earth Sea Sky gelanots salopettes, they would be a lot more durable than the Macpac Prophet pants, but they would likely be way too freaking warm for me here in NZ.

Cheap option is gaiters (look at cactus), but if you are only cramponing occasionally and mainly skiing then that's not that practical. Cheaper and better option is to spend more time on 'poons

maybe merino leggings, probably just jocks. Never dug sleeping in pants.

Definitely. Got much better at it this year.

I have the Macpac Prophet eVent pants and find them excellent, they are quite high at the front and beautifully made like all other Macpac gear. You have a great choice of colours as long as you like Black.
They have good quality waterproof side zips and a 2-way front zip.

The eVent fabric actually does breathe much better than goretex. I think I will get their jacket as well.

Edit: when using crampons I throw on a cheap pair of gaiters to avoid ripping the pants.

I must definitely check them out this coming Saturday. I tried on my old Verglas pants ( Mountain designs?) tonight and they are still a bit tight with not much crutch room. How do the Prophets fit?

nah i mean bumming around the campsite at night.

oh, ha, durrr, shell with a merino base layer, maybe some cheap fleece pants.

as i posted earlier I find my heavy shells + merino ok for this but consider getting fleece pants as an extra layer under the shell for hanging out?

like this or thicker...

snap rs