We all have favourite kit and honestly this is one of those things that is personal preference – I prefer hiking leggings to trousers as I find they give me better range of movement when both hiking and also climbing and scrambling.
And yes I do have my favourites but here is an honest review of some that I have tried and tested:
- North Face – Women’s Mountain Athletic Leggings – £50. I have a lot of their clothing (tshirts, fleeces and jackets) and always a fan, however, the leggings were not great. They were very poor fitting and too big in some places and snug in others. There was a lot of movement when hiking and I had to pull up and readjust a lot, which is not ideal. Unfortunately not a pair I would use for hiking, like I recently did in the Lake District, and probably more for local short dog walks.
- Columbia – Hike Leggings – £35. These were nice fitting, with a little movement but nothing too much. I did slip over on a descent wearing this and ended up with a very wet backside, which stayed wet for a very long time – this may sound odd but others that wick better will dry quicker.
- Berghaus – Aether Leggings – £45. Really comfortable and no movement at all. Was a little worried when I received them as they looked very small but they were fine and material was super wicking too.
- Rab – Flux Pants – £45. These are my go to leggings. They are super comfortable, no movement and have withstood a lot of scrambling and rock surfaces where I use my backside as a crampon! Plus they wick quickly when wet.
- Rab – Skyline Tights – £70. These are more robust than the others and feel slightly warmer with a little compression. They also have zips at the ankle should you need to adjust for socks/boots.
And for tops I wear a lot of my mountain biking clothing as it is comfortable, breathable, wicks really well and does the job perfectly!
A friend of mine wears Revolution Race and really rates those but I have not yet tried them to comment.
I also regularly look at the Fjallraven clothing but the pricing is a little wowsers – I would be interested to know from anyone who has tried and tested them if they are worth the investment?