There are lots of choices for hiking pants and I have purchased quite a few over the years.  Many did not last long due to poor quality or poor design.  In this next series I am going to cover my top choices for hiking pants and providing some insight you just will not find in a catalog.

With each pair I consider the following:

1.  Durability

2.  Comfort

3.  Pocket functionality (how many and how useful)

First up is LL Bean’s Canvas Pathfinder Pants.

Pros – These pants are durable.  I have worn my pair several times a week for over a year.  The canvas has held up against thorns, other rough vegetation and sharp puppy teeth.  These have been my go-to hiking pants and they have little wear and tear to show for it.  Pockets and seams are all solidly intact.  The zipper and velcro have all held up as well.  I machine wash and air dry them and I have found the thick canvas material to be somewhat wrinkle resistant.  If they are a bit wrinkled simply wearing them usually works the wrinkles out.  I have never had to iron them.

These pants are very comfortable and fit well.  There is an elastic waistband to allow for a few winter pounds.

The front pockets are deep and durable.  The side pockets are large enough to fit an iPhone in.  They are also built into the pants, not hanging off them like some cargo style pockets, which I prefer for the streamlined look.  These types of pockets also keep contents closer to your legs and make for less bouncing around, the sort of thing that annoys me on long hikes.

Cons – I have a pair in the “basil” color and the color had noticeably faded.  They are sort of a funky color now, still wearable, but they do not look as good as they did.   The back pockets and leg-side pockets use velcro to keep them closed.  The velcro just gets nasty after a while and I have to pick it clean.  I much prefer either zippers or buttons.