{"id":2318,"date":"2013-05-07T15:37:34","date_gmt":"2013-05-07T23:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rockgrrl.com\/blog\/?p=2318"},"modified":"2018-07-12T15:29:23","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T23:29:23","slug":"climbing-pants-review-outdoor-research-womens-voodoo-pants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rockgrrl.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/climbing-pants-review-outdoor-research-womens-voodoo-pants\/","title":{"rendered":"Climbing Pants Review – Outdoor Research Women’s Voodoo Pants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"voodoo-pants_w\"<\/a>
Outdoor Research Women's Voodoo Pants - Black version<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you’re a climber girl you’ve probably known the pain of finding great climbing pants. I know I have. Sometimes I’d think I’d found the perfect pair only to have them tear or lose their shape. Well, can I tell you how lucky I feel that Outdoor Research sent me the Women’s Voodoo Pants to review?<\/p>\n

First off, I loved how they look on. They have a great cut and are flattering. Little details like stitching on the back pockets also help one get away from a look that says “only for outdoors use” to a look that says you can transition to the street too.<\/p>\n

Secondly, I loved the feel of the fabric, sort of slick and stretchy in a good way. The articulated knees are a good mobility touch but don’t look too obvious or baggy.<\/p>\n

One initial drawback to the pants was that I had requested the wrong size. I have a hard time with pants so went with what I thought was my “normal” size. I had to go one size smaller to get the pants to fit in the waist. I almost didn’t request a replacement though, because I liked the fit elsewhere and felt I could still wear the pants if I wore thick long underwear under them and\/or a belt. In the end I did request the smaller size though and was happy to find it fit my waist better and still looked good elsewhere (though of course it was smaller all over).<\/p>\n

Once I got to really using the pants is when I really started to love them.<\/p>\n

I just got back from a trip to Idyllwild, home of Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks (old school granite climbing). <\/span>I wore the pants in the varied weather conditions we found there and put them through a bit more than I had expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some things I discovered I love about the pants after wearing them on the trip and out at local crags:<\/p>\n

1. The color. The shade of grey was not too dark in the sun and not too light for getting dirty.<\/p>\n

2. The water and wind repellancy. During the Tahquitz trip I got on multipitch climbs with a lot of shade. The winds blowing off of the snow at the base of some of the climbs was a bit chilly but the pants did very well in preventing them from blowing right through. I also accidentally splashed a little bit of water on them while trying to drink from a bottle while we were on a rough dirt road. I was able to brush the drops right off.<\/p>\n

3. That the pants are somewhat wrinkle proof. I had these crumpled up in my pack on the day we hiked to Suicide Rocks. I wore shorts for the hike then changed into the pants for the multipitch climb. I almost felt overdressed when I put them on. I was also happy to have them in the end because it got chilly.<\/p>\n

4. The abrasion resistance. I had a hard time on one of the classics in the area, Flower of High Rank, and fell unexpectedly. I thought for sure my shirt and pants had holes in them but they did not. I actually had an abrasion on my knee (broke the skin) but the pant leg was fine (see photos).<\/p>\n

5. Packability. The pants offer nice protection without bulk. This is great for packing to a crag and just packing in general.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>
Me on the summit of the Larks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6. The pocket on the thigh. This is a zippered pocket in a handy place for accessing a topo map of the route.<\/p>\n

Cons of the pants?<\/p>\n

I’d say I wouldn’t mind the pant leg bottoms being a tiny bit slimmer and\/or there be a way to button the legs up to turn them into capris… though the pants were easy to roll up and seemed to stay up once I did that so that request is more about aesthetics than functionality.<\/p>\n

I think an adjustable drawstring inside the pants might be handy. If I lost more weight I’d have to start using a belt or wearing more layers at the waist to keep the pants up, on long trips I notice that I do tend to lose weight so that would be a factor.<\/p>\n

My general impression: these are my new favorite climbing pants, and especially shine in multipitch climbing, providing coverage without loss of flexibility (check out the pic of me leading a roof on Whodunit!).<\/p>\n

By the way, my Tahquitz trip report is still to come \ud83d\ude42<\/em><\/p>\n