Bushwalk Australia

Hi all,

A firstworld kind of problem here.

In short, I'm semi-interested in getting some hiking pants that rollup nice and high.

I do a lot of creek/shallow river crossings in my neck of the, er, woods. I don't want convertibles (too much hassle, especially when it's regular crossings and then back into the lawyer vine and whatnot and then another crossing). I currently wear pretty rough gear - King Gee workwear type stuff- which roll up okay, but once wet - either through a deep patch or even just from vegetation/rain etc - get heavy and take an age to dry out.

So I'm reading all these articles about the best hiking pants or whatever that have a degree of water proofing and are light and dry easy etc etc, and many articles mention "hey, an important decision is if you want convertible, or rollup, or just straight", but virtually no reviews or product descriptions I can see actually specify which pants can be rolled up.

So - firstly, am I just dumb, and you can roll up anything without too much trouble? Or will there indeed be some pants that are better/designed to be rolled up?

Secondly - if there are specific rollup kind of pants - how fixed/adjustable in height do they tend to be?

And finally, any recommendations? Or other considerations?

Cheers!

Unpopular opinion. Cheap pair of mostly nylon from K Mart that you can roll up easily. They will dry quickly but will also only last a season or two if you are bushbashing. But bushbashing beats the s**t out of gear anyway so you may as well buy a cheap pair instead of an item that is almost the same but priced seven times as high and sold by Kathmandu.

If you want roll up - you don't want them to taper smaller as they get to your ankles. That is one thing to look for, the other, as the OP has discovered, is not cotton.

I have Marmot pants. 100% polyester, slight stretch. They can be rolled up because they aren’t tapered - that’s the main thing to look out for.

They have a tab inside to secure them after the first 30 cm. But I can easily roll them higher. Best just to try a few on in a shop to see what suits you.

Sew your own from Taslan or similar fabric using a PJ pattern.
PJs are not usually tapered.
Took my beloved about 10 minutes to cut mine out and sew them up using an overlocker

Some pants have a press stud on the inside and outside so you can pull up and fasten partially up your leg.

I have a pair of Outdoor Research Ferrosi pants, they have an adjustable elastic cuff which I leave slightly tight and I can pull them up above my calves or knees and they stay up comfortably. It works for me, the pants are really comfortable and they even come in size 29x32 which is quite rare. But unfortunately they have terrible front pockets.

Moondog55 wrote:Sew your own from Taslan or similar fabric using a PJ pattern.
PJs are not usually tapered.
Took my beloved about 10 minutes to cut mine out and sew them up using an overlocker

What's Taslan and where do you get it? I used to make my own stuff but you can get just as good from KMart at bargain price so I don't bother anymore but I am interested in this.

marron wrote:

Secondly - if there are specific rollup kind of pants - how fixed/adjustable in height do they tend to be?

And finally, any recommendations? Or other considerations?

Cheers!

I've often tried rolling up pants. Have always found that they roll back down again when I walk. But your question reminds about garters, so I'm going to try that. Garters being a band of stretchy elasticised cotton of the appropriate length.

The boss bought the Taslan [ which is an airbulked nylon] online from a sewing forum

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone - some food for thought on a number of levels

In my experience, for pants to roll up easily, on demand, they have to be thin of material and airy in their fit, which means not of the snug, form-fitting type with articulated knees.I use a pair of Gondwana pants from Anaconda that, apart from being convertible from longs to zip-off shorts, are easily rolled up just above the knees, but that's as far as I can go. The bonus is they dry very, very quickly. The other longs are MacPac work pants (technical fabric, articulated knees) which are a bit tighter to roll up, going only as far as the upper shins. Realistically, the OP may need to buy and experiment with many different types of longs available. K-Mart is a good place to start, as is Aussie Disposals; I started at both places 40-odd years ago.

Columbia Bonefish pants will roll up easily and will dry out in minutes. Really comfortable too.