Walking through your local REI store can be like a traveler’s version of a trip to Tiffany’s. When I stopped in two weeks ago to use my annual rebate check and a “20 percent one full-priced item” coupon, I had trouble actually using the latter. After perusing racks of $95 slacks from Columbia, $80 t-shirts from Mountain Hardwear, $200 sunglasses from Smith, and $18 socks from a whole slew of companies, I ended up using the coupon on some heavy-duty DEET bug repellent. I saved $1.60. Woo-hoo.
In all fairness though, REI does run some killer sales now and then, in the stores and their outlet site, plus the prices on their own private label versions of popular clothing items are much easier to swallow. Like the lower-priced snacks and cereals under the Target or Costco brand name, the REI versions of pants, jackets, or wicking shirts won’t sting you so badly at the cash register.
So I used my rebate check to go toward these nice REI Adventure Pants, marked down from $44 to $32.83—a deal that is still up on their website too at the moment. I usually travel with a pair of convertible pants that turn into shorts, but you’ve got to admit they scream “Tourist!” just as loudly as a floppy hat and a camera case. So when I’m traveling some place where men in shorts aren’t common (um, turns out that’s most of the world actually), I like to have a pair of lightweight pants that stay cool and don’t make me look like a backpacker. These do the trick nicely and are the kind I can wear out to dinner or a club without feeling self-conscious. Or I can wear them on a hike and know that they’ll wick away the sweat.
They’re not your average cotton chino slacks. They call the synthetic fabric “neo-linen nylon,” but all I know is it’s soft, breathable, and very lightweight. These are the kind of pants you can wash in the sink and they’ll be dry before morning, which means less to pack. They’ve got plenty of pockets tucked around them, including two rear button-closure ones, two concealed zipper pockets at side seams (handy for those pound or euro coins) and a zippered hip pocket. Like most any sheath of fabric they will “block harmful UV rays.” Not completely wrinkle-free, but close enough for casual wear.
They come in khaki or graphite in a variety of inseams. Men’s versions only though unfortunately: REI’s Roundezvous Pants for women list for $56.
Search “adventure pants” at REI.com
#1 by Ellsass - May 7th, 2009 at 07:35
There are indeed great pants for traveling. They’re all I wear around Europe. The pockets are great, they look nice (but not too fancy), and they really don’t have wrinkle issues if you don’t ball them up haphazardly. They also don’t make swishing noises when you walk. The only minor drawback is that they can be a tiny bit blousy around the mid- and lower-leg (not baggy, just a little wide relative to the waist size), but I’m just nitpicking.