Mountain Hardwear Mesa Pant - Men's

very comfy and lite, lets you move freely. handles a good amount of abuse.

Bought these pants a month ago and have taken them out several times. First of all, these pants look sharp. Similar to other models, they a button snap, but also a built-in belt for a more fitted feel. I'm usually skeptical of built-in belts as I don't care for the feel of them when I have a backpack on, but this belt isn't noticeable. I did a 10 mile hike in 90+ degree whether in these pants and thought they stayed relatively cool. Obviously not as cool as shorts, but they did protect my legs from sun, bugs and brush. The mobility of these pants is good. They aren't quite as stretchy as others, but still fully functional for hiking and scrambling. They also dry pretty quickly.
The only thing I would improve on these is related to the rear pockets. While the position is great, I think a better design feature would be to put the "scratchy" part of the Velcro on the pant and the softer part of the Velcro on the pocket. This is because the scratchy side is pretty abrasive against your skin, especially if you have sunburn.

The Mesa pant has been updated for 2011 with some changes. I just got these a few weeks ago to replace my old Mesa's, and they are quite different, but not necessarily in a bad way. First, two big changes; no more cargo pockets on the thighs. The new updated pocket is a vertical zip on the thigh, and there is only one. Second, (and this may be an issue with M.H. production) although the picture and advertisement shows ankle zips, mine did not come equipped. I purchased mine directly from the M.H. website. Not an issue for me, because i would rather not have them, but for anyone making the purchase who wants this feature, i would double check. The two front pockets are placed a bit differently; now, they are cut with horizontal entry (kinda like jeans), as opposed to the "slash" style entry of the old ones. The rear pockets secure with a velcro patch, and are placed slightly outward from the normal placement of back pockets (kind of out towards the upper thigh). Same great fabric which is lightweight and very durable. The legs are a little bit more tailored than the old ones, but not much, and the ankles are slightly more tapered. Overall, i like the updates, because they're still a great lightweight technical hiking pant that no longer screams "lets go hiking!". They can probably pull double duty for travel-casual. I am 5'10'' 190 with a 32-34 waist and the mediums are spot on.