Mountain Khakis Original Mountain Pants : For Original Mountain Men and Women

If I were to be dumped in the middle of nowhere with only the clothes on my body, I'd make darn sure I was wearing the Original Mountain Pants by Mountain Khakis. They're among the most durable, well-made pants I've ever owned. They'd help keep me alive through whatever ordeal I'd endure, and then, when it was all over, they'd look cool in the news photos when I stumbled out of the woods and into civilization.

Mountain Khakis is known for its extremely well-designed clothing, and these pants are no exception. First, they fit perfectly. Not too baggy, not too tight, no nerdy tapered legs, no hippied out bell bottoms. They've got a gusseted inseam for freedom of movement, which is great for adventures of all types -- from the Colorado backcountry to the urban jungles of Denver. And I love love love the pockets! They're absolutely cavernous.

I also love how beefy the fabric is. I took the dog for a walk last week, and he disappeared into the woods in hot pursuit of a rabbit. I bashed through a thick underbrush for 45 minutes to find him. Luckily, I was wearing the Mountain Pants. I skewered myself a few times on fallen trees, bashed my knees on coarse granite boulders, and endured several other unpleasantries before the dog came bounding back. Most pants would have taken a beating -- perhaps some frayed stitching or a hole or something -- but these Mountain Pants looked brand new. Part of that was the thick, indestructible, yet incredibly soft canvas fabric, and part of it is the fit and finish.

The attention to detail that went into these pants is outstanding, which means they're going to last for a long, long, long time. They're assembled like a work of art. The seams down the legs have three rows of indestructible stitching, where other similarly styled pants have only one or two two rows of stitches. On the back of the heel cuffs, there's two layers of thick canvas as opposed to just one. And how about the eye hole above the fly? Companies are always skimping on their stitching, and all too often I button my pants but can't undo them because the button gets caught on some stray loop of fabric. But the stitching in that Mountain Pant eye hole is absolutely flawless. 

I also like these pants because I like Mountain Khakis; the company is a role model in the outdoor industry. Thanks to its membership in 1 Percent for the Planet, MK gives a portion of its earnings to awesome environmental nonprofits like the Snake River Fund, the Access Fund, and the American Alpine Club. 

Available in men's and women's sizes.

Bottom Line :  The Energizer bunny of multipurpose outdoor pants -- it'll keep going and going and going (NW, Jan '09) 

Price : $72.50 ,

Manufacturer's Site:  www.mountainkhakis.com

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