Patagonia Traverse Softshell Pant - Men's - 2010 BCS

These pants are absolutely great. DWR works well, and they dry fast when they actually do get soaked. Ok at being wind-resistant, but the fact is that they are just warm (whatever that means). Perfect for a day (or a week) of alpine rock climbing. Don't know how they'd do in the snow, that is, I don't know how well they'd keep dry playing in the snow. But probably great.

They are tight fitting. That's for sure. But I wouldn't say like tights. I can fit tights under them comfortably, but they are not at all baggy on their own. And SUPER stretchy. It's amazing. I have these, Patagonia's 'simple guides' and Patagonia's 'alpine guides'. These are the tightest out of all three, even though Patagonia lists them all as 'slim fit'. The simple guides are available in S,M,L,XL (as are these). I have a medium in both and these are WAY tighter. About the same length. The alpine guides are available in measured inches, and I have a size 30. The size 30 Alpine guides are about the same tightness as the Traverse mediums, but the alpine guides are shorter in length. Funky, but worth it to find the right fit, because oh mamma! They are nice. I not only found the perfect fitting pants (period), but some of the best performing pants I've ever had.

These pants are the high quality you can expect from most Patagonia garments. They do fit slim as most other reviewers have noted, but they aren't quite tights. You can wear thermals underneath without issue. The ankle zips are pointless, and I would prefer a slightly narrower ankle opening for running or biking (maybe then the ankle zips would get used). They seem to be straight legged from the calf downwards. I also think they might fit or lay better if they had no front pockets, or perhaps zippers on the pockets. I can't knock the pockets though, because I knew what I was getting when I ordered. Otherwise they are great pants for moving fast in cool weather, where you just need a little bit of wind and weather protection.

Awesome pants, but Patagonia should go back to the version without ankle zips and with zips on the front pockets. Also make the front pockets a little deeper, maybe an inch or so.

But this fabric is awesome for cool weather.

Worked well for clmbing MT Ranier, but these pants are like tights.