Travel pants

Help! I'm looking for a pair of women's travel pants. My main priority is that they don't take up too much space in my pack and don't need ironing (I don't mind a little crumpling if the creases are likely to come out quickly or will come out with a spray of water). However not super-thin material - I will be taking them to Europe in Spring

I don't mind if they are convertible, provided they look relatively nice (eg. to me, these convertible pants don't look so bad: http://www.rei.com/product/811309/marmo ... nts-womens) but I'm not specifically after that. Quick-dry would be good but I'm not obsessed with that - I am actually planning to take at least one pair of jeans too and pretty much anything dries faster than jeans.

I don't want high-waisted pants. A bulk of the travel pants on the market seem to be high-waisted, I'm not sure why! I also don't want them to be made of anything (eg. nylon) that is super noisy when you walk.

They need to be available in black or grey. And not too expensive (or something that is likely to come on sale and I could get them cheaper). I still have a year to look around so don't need anything NOW, but I like to start looking in advance so that if something good does come up I can grab it.

I have scoured the websites and the options are overwhelming. Plus where I live (regional Australia) I don't have the option of going and actually looking at most of the options you see online so it can be difficult to tell what the material is like.

Any suggestions?? Thanks!

Have you tried Kathmandu?
They've got some nice looking pants on the website and if you're a member of the summit club the discount is pretty good (or oyu could just wait for one of their amazing slaes they seem to have eveery month or so)

these or theseor these or these all look quite nice.

Yeah but Kathmandu charges the earth for their stuff ...even with the summit discount. They're having a good sale for their summit members this week, ends Sunday, and that extra discount makes some of those pants considerable, maybe the ones around the $60 mark. I do worry though, if the predominantly cotton ones would crush?

I know it sounds weird, but I've started traveling with nurses scrubs for pants. They're comfey, they repel stains, don't wrinkle, have useful pockets, are lightweight, dry quickly, take a lot of abuse, and look much better than most people think. They're not just the crappy blue scrubs that people think of any more. Now you can get ones that look just like normal pants but are a fraction of the price. Something to think about...

LilaBear wrote:Yeah but Kathmandu charges the earth for their stuff ...even with the summit discount.

How much do you actually want to spend? None of the ones I saw at Kathmandu were more than about AUD$60 with Summit discount / $100 without.

I do worry though, if the predominantly cotton ones would crush

Dunno, my long travel pants are linen!! Personally, when I pack I just roll everything up rather than folding it and that seems to keep things relatively uncreased.
For trousers just roll the waist first as this is the bit that will get most crinkled and the top of pants doesn't really matter, then by the time you get to the legs, the roll should be big/smooth enough that they don't get creased.

But then, I really hate ironing and will go to silly lengths to avoid it so my idea of acceptably un-creased may not be everyones!

Well, one of those pants were over $100 with the discount (like $170 fullprice) and another pair was $150 fullprice - I'd never pay that much for a pair of pants anyway, except for like ski pants or something. Like I said though, the ones down around $60 (with the sale - double the normal summit discount) were worth considering. You'd never get them that cheap at Kathmandu normally. I just wish our city had more places that sold such things so I could go and actually look at them and try them on, etc! We do have a Kathmandu but it doesn't have everything on the website :-\

I know I'm a guy so I probably can't add much in the way of advice on pants but I actually got these Cloudveil Convertible Pants this past Christmas http://www.backcountry.com/images/items ... 265/CO.jpg.

I asked for them after reading about them on a minimalist travel blog. I knew I would need pants that were lightweight, quick-drying, somewhat attractive, and the convertible feature was a definite plus. But I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. Yes they look nice and I did the convertible feature but the material is like uber-thin nylon that feels like you're wearing a rain jacket on your pants. I do like that as shorts you can use them as swim trunks. That's a good plus. And for hiking they're superb, which is what they're made for really. But I can't imagine myself walking around foreign locals in these pants. But I think since I have them already and I'm heading to Hawaii, they may end up coming in handy so I might stick with them.

Good luck in your pant search though. I know technical and lightweight pants tend to be pretty pricy and it's hard to find good looking ones.

Have any of you travelled with yoga pants or harem pants? I never have, but they look super comfy... Any thoughts? Do they hold up well?

Thanks,
Lisa

Have you considered scrub pants? They

- dry faster than jeans
- aren't loud nylon
- can be packed in a crumpled manner
- shake out the wrinkles
- can tolerate a lot of dirt without becoming stained
- wash wonderfully in the sink with a little soap
- come in hip hugger varieties
- come in gray and black
- cost around $20/pair

This isn't as glamorous as buying specifically marketed travel pants, but there are a ton of cool styles that look fabulous. I recently took a pair of White Cross brand scrubs with me to Italy in May. They were a nice dark gray (called Pewter). I was able to try them on before buying as my flea market has a scrubs store.

If I didn't have friends in the medical field, I never would have known such a resource exists. As it is, scrubs have replaced both my travel and camping pants. I love the price tag.

The best pants I've ever purchased were prana brand "monarch convertible women's pants" http://www.rei.com/product/802319/prana ... nts-womens

I bought a pair of them before going to Africa because I wanted some zip off pants that wree not super dorky looking. I called the my safari pants and they soon became my favorite pants in my closet. They are very comfortable with lots of room for movement. If they get wet, they dry very quickly. And while they are (what I would describe to be) casual, I've been able to dress them up a little and it has resulted in many compliments.

They great for days when you're not certain when your next chance to change your clothes will be - like when you're taking a 12hr plane ride or train ride or something! Because they are REALLY comfortable, non-constricting and breathable.

Wonderful for hiking. Not too hot, (but not warm enough for cold weather) you can zip off the bottom when you want, and if they get wet, they dry out very quickly.

They are long. For many this might be a bad thing. I'm 5'11" and I think they are about half an inch too long still, but I can never find pants that are long enough so I think it's great.

Finally, Unlike every other zip-off pants on the planet, they still look very nice when you zip off the bottom half.

I like them so much I bought another pair this year. It's pretty much the only thing I wear when on the go.

This won't help you but my most favorite travel pants were a pair of DKNY black drawstring capris. I bought them on a whim for $20. Was ambivelent to them initially but they have worked so well for me and sadly they are now treadbare. I think the best part was that they were a silk/linen blend. I tried to get them remade with a linen (was unable to find a silk/linen blend) but the fabric isn't as nice and there were details in the originals that just weren't replicated in the remakes. For example, the drawstring was 1/2 elastic which made them very comfortable and stable on your hips.

I am temped by the travel pants but I just don't like the look --- which to me says "I am a traveller with a lot of money to spend on special pants"

My general concept has been to replace my replace my "daily" wear with travel-worthy clothes. All of my socks/tshirts/underwear are now travel-worthy (synthetics, dries overnight even in humid climates).

For pants, I'm thinking about this for my city/train/bus travel days and the usual nylon/convertibles for outdoorsy/hiking/woodsy days.
http://www.calvinklein.com/product/inde ... d=11694347

Looks nice, should wash well in a sink. Any thoughts?

I'll chime in even though I'm a guy and won't be able to offer much in terms of women's fashion. I used to love convertible pants because they wore well and were versatile, had ample pockets w/o looking baggy and made of great material (I have a pair of northface). The tricky thing is the fit. I'm about 3/4 or so inches shorter than the standard size model for menswear, which is not a problem with pants you can alter, but convertible pants have a zipper at the bottom (well, mine do) and so you can alter it. More importantly the though, is that when it came to style, nothing screams tourist like a pair of convertibles. I guess this is not necessarily an issue on more outdoorsy trips. With that being said....I'm still bringing a pair of convertibles on my next trip to, which is to Amsterdam.

I read some talk about materials in this thread (synthetics, nylon, etc.). I used to bring "quick dry" type fabric t-shirts but found that they really smell bad compared to other materials after the same amount of wear. Wool however, is awesome. I've had wool socks (Smartwool) as well as wool base layers and I could wear those for days without smelling like anything.

redleader wrote: I'm about 3/4 or so inches shorter than the standard size model for menswear, which is not a problem with pants you can alter, but convertible pants have a zipper at the bottom (well, mine do) and so you can alter it.

Assuming a typo & you meant can't alter, that's incorrect. I have the same problem but a competent tailor (Vietnamese) in Ontario Canada shortened them with no problem. The zippers close from top to bottom, just cut it off & sew a stop to keep it from going too far.

busman7, thanks for the tip. I had always just looked at that zipper and assumed it can't be done. I've never actually asked a tailor to do it. I guess I can go try now.