Haglöfs Rugged Mountain Pants review update
I’ve now worn these a lot since my first look at them. I wore them through winter where they shed snow and sleet, on walks in the park with the girls, I’ve slept in them a dozen times and I’m now going to try and to make them work in the height of summer regardless of the thickness of the fabric. They were the first thing on the pile of kit to go down to the Lakes for the Trail thing last month. Put simply, they are my favourite mountain pants.
The fit is perfect on me, the pockets easy to reach and use (A Camelbak bottle fits in the thigh one), leg movement is unrestricted and despite their sturdy nature the pants are unobtrusive to the wearer. The outer fabric remains unblemished despite numerous close calls with rocks, trees and frequent use of the arse crampon. There are a handful of catches on the stretch panels on the inside, but these appear to be single fibres and haven’t spread or gotten worse.
The leg vents are fantastic, it’s a much better solution than zip off legs I think. One feature that’s gone unused is the ankle adjustment. The wee buckles annoyed me so I ignored them, and as it turned out I didn’t need them as the lower legs aren’t exactly boot cut and the cuffs don’t lift with a high step up, exposing your…ah I was going to say boot-top there, but you know what I mean. The DWR is effective as well, they dry quick when they do get wet and are comfortable across a wide range of temperatures. Windproof and warm enough on the move in winter, but still usable in warm weather. The build quality and detailing are oustanding.
Hardly a dispassionate account, but they are that good. Worth the money? Without a doubt.
Escape Route in Pitlochry definitely had them up until recently, try the IceFactor shop in Kinlochleven, they had them recently as well. They’re not on either website though, I’d give them a call.
Other good bets are the Climbers Shop (who for some reason don’t list all their stock these days) and Footprints in Glasgow.
Some of the colours are a bit odd though, so mind how you go…
I use ecover liquid in the washing machine these days and it seems to keep my tech ghear in good working order.
A friend of mine uses those “eco ball” things (that I don’t understand… how do they work??). She used them on some Paramo but didn’t reproof it… she got rather wet after that!
So the eco-balls must be doing summat… but what??
Here, I had an eVent presentation thing that I never got around to writing up, the washing instructions were interesting, “use whatever the hell you like” seemed to be the updated advice?!
“Use whatever you like” as long is it lifts out body oils I suppose? Which I think is where they were coming from with the biological angle.
I guess they’ve found that things other than bio work well at doing that?
Although it’s my prefered fabric I wear more Gore stuff these days as that’s what gets sent. I’m watching how that Montane Halo weathers through disinterested maintenance :o)
I own a pair of the rugged mountain pants and they are awesome, however I was wondering if you had seen or could recommend a lighter weight version for the summer complete with the very handy combat style pocket(yes the one that has just about gone lol)
Trousers is a personal bug bear for me as I love my old military issue combats but would love them even more if they dried a dam site quicker.
All outdoor trousers should have big pockets!