Zip-off convertibles are often disregarded as touristy items rather than serious hiking trousers. This is mostly a factor of the available designs more than the idea. Finding a well designed pair of convertibles may be a tough, frustrating shopping job but if you do find them they’re a very interesting item, particularly for thru-hiking, where you’ll need both shorts and full pants at different times along the way.
Rugged, thru-hiking worthy convertibles
There are other ways of having shorts and full lengthies but convertibles are best at minimizing the carried weight, which amounts to nothing when worn full and it’s very low when worn as shorts. Convertibles are also reasonably good at the transition either way. Fiddling with zips is often unwelcome but the alternatives -tights underneath, wind trousers on top- are not really any better.
And the case for non-stretchy fabrics
I miss the old fashioned, non-stretchy fabrics for trousers, so common around the turn of the century. It seems all meaningful fabrics nowadays have got some elastic built-in. Such fabrics may feel more comfortable to the movement but I don’t like how they wear and I particularly dislike how they cling to your legs. I like the breathing room of non-stretch fabrics. Such stuff seems difficult to find nowadays but this applies to both regular, long trousers and zip-offs.
In 2019 I’m thru-hiking big time and I’ve made an effort to find the best gear for my hiking style. I went shopping and I was too happy that I found a pair of properly designed convertibles in bi-component fabric with barely any stretch built into it. The bi-component fabric is great for a do-it-all garment, it may get uncomfortably warm in hot weather but that’s a price for a do-it-all that the forgiving legs can pay and you’d be wearing them as shorts anyway. The bi-component is great for cold or damp weather thanks to the excellent moisture transfer, the nice touch against the skin and the very limited stretch that tends to leave a gap and not feel suffocating.
I’ll be wearing them for 3000 miles so they better work well.
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