When I started climbing bigger alpine rock routes, I often wore shorts. When asked by a partner if I wanted sunscreen for my calves, I said, "Let 'em burn". And after a long day whipped by the cold wind and sporting sun-struck, Elmo-colored legs, w…
When I started climbing bigger alpine rock routes, I often wore shorts. When asked by a partner if I wanted sunscreen for my calves, I said, "Let 'em burn". And after a long day whipped by the cold wind and sporting sun-struck, Elmo-colored legs, what was I but a fool? Climbing pants have a place, and they're really the go-to for anything big and exposed. A good pair straddles the line between being thick enough to keep you decently comfortable in roaring wind, and thin enough to keep you from baking as you sit suspended in space at a hanging belay in full sun. To add to the mix, they simply must be stretchy. It's a tough needle to thread, and the HIMALI Guide Flex Pant pulls it off decently well.
Zippers on the base of the pant leg make them easy to put on over boots
Lifetime warranty and repairs
Weight: 325 grams (as measured in size Medium)
MSRP: $ 138
Watching the sun set from the top of a firewatch is using it as intended, right?
Ready to Flex
The HIMALI Guide Flex pants are built with cool-weather alpine objectives in mind. HIMALI calls them companions for alpine scrambles, technical rock and ice, and cool-weather hiking. With that tee-up, it would be reasonable to compare them to other softshell climbing pants, like the Prana Zion or the OR Ferrosi, and I'd say that's fitting. You could take the Guide Flex pants out in Summer temps for longer lowlands climbs at places like Squamish or Yosemite Valley… but they probably wouldn't be the first pick. With that said, for high-alpine objectives in the Summer, lowland climbing in the shoulder seasons, or any ice outing which isn't too wet, they're positioned perfectly to do the job.
The standout thing they bring to the table is mobility. These pants can stretch better than I ever will, and that's just the way it should be. While out climbing in the Guide Flex pants, I made sure to choose routes with plenty of hand-foot matches, not just because I love hand-foot matches, but also because they tend to test the stretchiness in climbing pants' two most critical zones: the knees and the crotch. Aaaand wouldn't you know it? The pants with "Flex" in the name passed with flying colors. They move and stretch very well, and I never ran into any instances of them snagging on the rock while climbing.
For any pair of climbing pants, breathability is crucial. I've had a few pairs of other pants that had a certain greenhouse effect. It can quickly make the day bad. In the spectrum of climbing pants I've used though, the Guide Flex pants are above average in their breathability. They aren't to a level of near non-existence in their airiness, but they also aren't as prone to bogginess as thicker softshells, like the Prana Zion. While testing, they managed heat well, and I only had to roll up the cuffs to the knee to manage heat on one particularly fast approach hike. All told, they have an acceptable level of breathability, especially for more of a cool-weather-focused pair of pants.
Should you need to roll up the cuffs to the knee, it's a pretty easy affair. The pants have zippers on the outside ankle up to about the mid-calf which are designed to make putting on mountaineering boots under the pants easier. They work great for that. They also make it very easy to roll up the pants higher on your leg. So the feature really ends up being a two-for-one.
The little details.
Zippers across the pants are decent quality, but the zippered pockets weren't always my favorite. For one, there are three pockets, all of which have zippers. There are 2 pockets in the front and one on the back right side. I climb with a wallet (I know I'm sick, and I refuse to change), and I usually put my wallet in the back left pocket. Since there is no back left pocket on the Guide Flex pants, I put it in the back right. I was uncomfortable. For two, the front zippered pockets adopt a sort of protruding angle out from your legs if you're really cinching down the pants' belt tension system. It doesn't feel bad, but it does produce a low-tier version of your classic military-riding-breeches look. I can look over these things, even if I'd really prefer 4 pockets, all with zippers that sit flat.
My primary qualm with the Guide Flex pants is their integrated belt tensioning system. I tested a size medium, which the size chart states to cover waist sizes from 31"-33". As a person with a 31" waist, I put that integrated belt tensioning system to work, tightening down to its narrowest setting. While that worked for waist fit, it also produced some bunchy-ness around the hips and the protrusion of the side zippers that I mentioned before. It was less comfortable than a well-fitted waist with no adjustment system. I find that a waist adjustment setup more akin to the Prana Zion's doubled-back webbing to be more effective, comfortable, and aesthetic. Or, alternatively, offering a wider variety of sizes and having folks rely on belts if they need them.
Love me a good big tree.
But hey, there's a lot of good going for the Guide Flex pants. Their material quality, flexibility, and breathability do wonders, and their price-to-value ratio is in the right neighborhood. With the general market of similar climbing pants being priced at or near $100 today, the Guide Flex pants are neither a bargain basement find, nor an outlandishly expensive item. To me, their quality in testing and the fact that they're warrantied for life justifies their price being modestly above the market mean. There's a lot to be said for a good warranty.
Fit: I'm 5'11" and a lean 170lbs with a 31" waist and 32" inseam. I tested a size Medium here. While they did fit, it took tightening down with the tension system all the way to get the waist right. All other proportions fit me well. Still, think I'd order a Small if I could go back in time.
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