Hiking pants should be rugged, durable, comfortable, dry quickly, but most importantly, they should be lightweight. In this article, I will really focus on the best lightweight hiking pants. Some of these options also qualify as technical pants – which means they are also optimized for mountain hiking, climbing and scrambling.
Best lightweight hiking pants
I will start by listing the best lightweight hiking pants. Later in this article I will provide additional information.
Montane Terra Pack
Weight: 8.4 oz | Price $$ | 96% nylon – 4% elastane
Not only is the Montane Terra Pack great for hiking, they are also great for scrambling and climbing. It’s a perfect fit for a technical ridge line hike in warm weather. It’s my personal favorite when it comes to lightweight hiking pants, but it’s also one of the best technical pants out there.
Coming in at 8.4 oz these pants are truly king when it comes to weight. These are the lightest pants on this list – and the lightest pants I could find (that don’t suck). Let me know if you have know an even lighter alternative.
They are made mainly from nylon, but some eslastane is used as well. The nylon that was used has a cotton like feel to it and is called Tactel. Some parts of the pants are reinforced with Cordura high tenacity nylon ripstop.
Only reinforcing the parts where needed instead of making the entire pants ripstop is the secret to keep these pants ultralight.
Because these pants are so lightweight, they also dry very fast. One of the main issues with lightweight pants is durability/ruggedness, but this is no issue at all for the Montane Terra Pack. This is one of the main reasons why these pants made it to the top of the list.
I would expect these pants to be more expensive than they actually are. It’s not the cheapest hiking pants out there, but I wouldn’t label it as expensive either. Definitely worth the buck in my opinion!
These pants are available for both men and women on amazon:
Women: Montane Women’s Terra Pack
Outdoor Research Ferrosi
Weight: 12.5 oz | Price $$ | 86% nylon – 14% elastane
The next option would be the Outdoor Research Ferrosi. These pants are not as lightweight as the Montane Terra pack, but it is quite a bit cheaper as a trade-off.
These pants even made it on my other list covering the best cheap hiking pants.
There aren’t too many bad things to be said about these pants – especially for the price. At 12.5 oz they might not be the lightest pants available – just take a look at the other options on this list. However, these pants can still be considered lightweight If you don’t care about 2 or 3 ounces more, these pants might be very interesting for you.
They are considered tough, breathable and are pretty windproof.
One of the only bad things about these pants is that they don’t come with a built-in belt. I guess, I shouldn’t really expect a built-in belt for a lightweight pants that is this cheap, but still.
If you are interested in the latest price, this can be found on amazon:
Men: Outdoor Men’s Research Ferrosi
Women: Outdoor Women’s Research Ferrosi
Columbia Silver Ridge Pant
Weight: 12.6 oz | Price $ | 100% nylon
Another very budget friendly alternative is the Columbia Silver Ridge. Note that these pants are available in a convertible version as well.
This is not the lightest pant on the list either, but they are the most affordable. Once again, it’s a trade-off. Depending on whether you care more about the price or the weight of pants, these might be a solid option for you.
The Silver Ridge comes with a built-in belt. It’s one of the few pants without elastane, some hikers really disliked this. The problem is that the pants are a lot less stretchy when it’s 100% nylon. Therefore, some hikers did not think these pants were versatile enough.
That said, there were plenty of hikers who did not think this was an issue at all. As always, it comes down to personal preference.
Except for being cheap, these pants are also very breathable and can still be considered lightweight.
For the latest price I will redirect you to amazon:
Men: Columbia Men’s Silver Ridge Pant
Women: Columbia Women’s Silver Ridge Pant
Patagonia Quandary Pants
Weight: 10 oz | Price $$ | 94% nylon – 6% elastane
If you are looking for a high-quality lightweight hiking pants, the Patagonia Quandary is definitely an option.
It’s one of the lightest pants available today – only the Montane Terra Pack is remarkably lighter. It’s not too expensive for a high-quality pants.
The Patagonia Quandary is received as a comfortable and breathable.
A solid option for sure, but if you truly care a lot about an additional ounce or two, I would still recommend the Montane Terra Pack.
These pants are available for men and women on amazon:
Arc’teryx Lefroy Pant (men only)
Weight: 9.9 oz | Price $$$ | 86% nylon – 14% elastane
The Arc’teryx Lefroy Pant is amazingly lightweight considering what it has to offer. It’s an outdoor pants that is designed for more technical experiences, perfect for hikers who also like a good scramble once in a while.
Most of the more technical pants tend to be a lot heavier, this makes the Lefroy a little bit special. When it comes to overall quality and durability, the Lefroy pants perform very good as well. Arc’teryx is a well-known and well-appreciated outdoors brand by both hikers and mountaineers.
These pants come with a belt included – which is something I can really appreciate. Except for being premium quality, it’s also very breathable – even for a lightweight pants.
The only downside is that these pants are a little bit more expensive than most alternatives. This is pretty common for Arc’teryx, they provide premium quality, but they are also more expensive… Fair enough! That said, I think these pants are actually worth the money. Remember, the premium quality also means that these pants will last longer and that you might save money in the long run.
These pants are available on amazon only for men:
Men: Arc’teryx Men’s Lefroy Pant
What to look for in lightweight hiking pants
One of my main priorities when looking for a lightweight hiking pant is ruggedness. See, a lightweight hiking pant will almost always be breathable and comfortable. However, one of the most common flaws of a lightweight fabric is ruggedness.
There is a good reason why the Montane Terra Pack was the number one recommendation on the list. Not only are these pants the lightest of them all, they are also very rugged and durable. They can even be considered technical pants. Which means that they are not only optimal for hiking, they can also be used for climbing and scrambling.
Generally, lightweight pants tend to be cheaper than heavier pants. Heavier pants are generally more optimized for cold weather hiking. By the way, if you are interested in winter hiking pants as well, take a look at this article: the best winter hiking pants for cold weather.
The trade-off, is that lightweight pants tend to be less durable. If you are on a very tight budget, I would recommend buying a slightly heavier hiking pants. These tend to be cheaper and often more durable. Take a look at the following article if you are looking for some very budget-friendly option: Best cheap hiking pants.
Does weight matter that much?
Does weight really matter that much in a hiking pants? Well, weight always matters when hiking. Especially when hiking a long distance trail.
However, I would personally not care about 1 or 2 ounces, I would rather focus on comfort, price, breathability and durability. Therefore, I only selected pants that were not only lightweight but also scored good on the other important factors.
So, yes weight matters, but it’s not the most important factor. Only if you are an ultralight hiker or an extreme through hiker I would suggest caring about 1 or 2 ounces.
All in all, the best lightweight pants are comfortable, durable, breathable, affordable as well as lightweight.
Conclusion
Looking at all the arguments, I’m pretty confident in my number one pick. The Montane Terra Pack takes the title of the best lightweight hiking pants of 2019. I don’t really see any reason not to buy it. Except maybe the extreme budget hiker might be looking for a cheaper alternative. That said, the Montane Terra Pack is definitely good value for money in my opinion.
If you have every tried one of these ultralight hiking pants please share your experiences in the comments below. Also, if you have other recommendations for a lightweight hiking pant, I would love to hear about them!