Cloudveil Koven Pant - Men's - 2009 BCS

*** My review is for last year's model***
This is a wicked good shell that will take just about anything and keep you warm or cool in the process.
The shell is strong and durable, cut much like a boot-cut pair of jeans to allow room for movement, but they don't give me a park rat look (not my style).

The only bummer about these, and the reason I'm shopping for a new pair is my knee wrap has velcro which just happened to be located at a friction point. The season's worth of rubbing on the taped zipper's inside weakened it so now they can't zip all the way through. Kid of sucks having one leg full zip and the other half.

Had my old pants (old Columbia model) for over 10 years now...after a couple of holes and a few pounds lost I decided it was time for a new pair of pants.
Was looking for something that could go from the slopes to the snowshoe trail and the Cloudveil Koven are exactly it! First trip out with them was back to their home in Jackson WY.
Great movement and motion, and broke the wind so that equals good core temp. Wore nothing but a pair of MH tights underneath and was as warm as I wanted to be.
Overall a GREAT pant for the price

I have been a long time supporter of the Cloudveil Loven pant. I had last year's version of this pant, and I loved it. One of the zippers blew out after a 100 day plus season, so I thought that I would get another pair. I like this year's version far less. In fact, I don't like it much at all. The fit is tighter around the waist, hips, thighs, but much baggier around the lower leg. Also, the side zips now start behind the hip and wrap around to the front of the ankle. This makes the pant feel rather awkward. It looks and feels odd, and is somehow less intuitive to use. I know its just a zipper, but try it and you'll see what I mean. I can't figure out whether this was to increase the functionality in some way - but it doesn't. They are also full length top to bottom as opposed to the 5/6 zipper from last year, but I don't have a poblem with that. However, I do have a problem with the front pockets which seem to be much shallower from the hip to the front zipper. If you put something in your pocket (where I used to put my wallet with no problems) it now sits quite uncomfortably toward the front center of the pant if you get my drift. The suspender system has also been changed, and also seems to be less comfortable. I would love to buy a pair of last season's pant (size small) and get rid of these. In its defense, it is very well constructed, and it is possible that someone would like these far more than I do, for all the same reasons I don't. But, this is a classic example of outdoor companies feeling the need to tweak and upgrade a product that really didn't need it. I've had two good pairs of these pants, and now these. Unless Cloudveil reverts back to the old Koven pant in terms of cut, fit, and especially zipper placement I definitely won't be getting a fourth pair.

Due to a dry fall, haven't used it enough yet. fit is excellent and construction is bombproof. Waiting for a dumping day to get out. Koven seems to have all the bases covered. I like the suspenders alot.