Mountain Hardwear Epic Pant
November 3, 2008
Waterproof, these are. Breathable, these are not really. OK, enough Yoda-speak. If it’s precipitating like mad outside, these pants will keep you dry, no question. If you’re exerting yourself, you might get wet anyway since there’s only so much breathing a completely waterproof fabric can do. Something’s gotta give, you know? These are great for the snow since if it’s cold out, you won’t be sweating as much. They do have the dreaded “Women’s Outdoor Gear High-Rise Waist,” which, you know, ugh. You’ve heard of mom-jeans, these are mom-rain pants. But my only real complaint about the design is the elastic cuffs. I see the argument for the elastic, and it’s supposed to help keep your pant cuffs dry, but I find that the elastic ends up creeping up my legs, leaving my pant cuffs exposed anyway. This effect is exascerbated if I’m wearing bulky boots – the elastic wants to migrate to the point of least resistance, which is usually above the tops of the boots. Dork alert.
If there was a built-in gaiter, it would help keep the pant legs in place, but I’d prefer a straight cut anyway. There is something about pants with elastic cuffs that will always scream MC Hammer to me. Bottom line, though, is that if you like the fit, you will appreciate the water-blocking power of the Epic pants. They’re lightweight, so don’t think you’ll be wearing these to round up the dogies in the puckerbrush and still have anything resembling pants at the end of the day, but if you’re reasonably careful you will get by without any rips or tears.
One note on the sizing – these are sized S-M-L and there is a BIG difference in sizes, at least between the S and the M. I checked the mediums repeatedly because they were so much bigger than the smalls, it seemed that they might have been mislabled men’s pants or something. I’m a size 4-6 so I usually wear a small, but can get by with a medium sometimes – but not this time. The smalls seemed to fit fairly normally (maybe even a bit more snug than usual) but I was drowning in the mediums. I was really flummoxed at the sigificant difference in sizing. Just another illustration of why women’s outdoor clothing should ALWAYS have numerical sizing and not this S-M-L garbage. If you’re in between, you’re not going to have the correct fit.
