HIKING SHORTS

Hiking clothing is not about making a fashion statement and with good reason, because you’ll rarely encounter any fashion critics out there in the countryside. In fact, each item of clothing that you select for your hiking trip should be considered for its practicality, from your heavy hiking boots right up to your headwear.

But often, when talking about hiking clothing, people only think about what goes to the head and what goes to the feet, and hardly anyone thinks about what they ought to cover the remainder of their bodies with. The clothes you actually wear on your body are just as important as your boots and head wear.

While we won’t be talking about the merits of wearing shirts and trousers in this article, we are however going to be discussing just why hiking shorts are preferred by most sunny day hikers.

Now, of course, hiking shorts would not be suitable if it was going to be cold and rainy out there. For that, you can wear a simple pair of jeans. They’re tough, durable, and reasonably warm if they are not allowed to get too wet. During the spring and autumn, you can expect breezy days and medium temperatures. A pair of jeans are still fine, but hiking shorts can also be worn too. However, if you’re going to hike on a hot day, do yourself a big favour and wear some form of hiking shorts.

Hiking shorts provide cool comfort on hot, sunny days. Wearing hiking shorts will improve your hiking experience by keeping you cool and comfortable as you trudge along the trail.

On the other hand, jeans tend to become uncomfortable as the day wears on. If, for instance, you start out in the morning and your hike takes well into the afternoon, the temperature change can make your jeans awfully hot and uncomfortable.

So, as one solution, you could bring two pairs of garments for the lower body – a pair of trousers or jeans and a pair of hiking shorts. It could work, but it can be quite a bit of hassle as well.  Just try to imagine yourself getting into a pair of hiking shorts from jeans while standing on one foot in the forest. Plus, you don’t want your hiking partners or whoever else is on the trail to see you there in your underwear, so you have to change into your hiking shorts real fast.

However, it’s not time yet to despair. There is a simple solution to this potential problem. If you are not sure that the weather’s going to last, you can try stringing along a pair of cargo pants with removable legs which actually eliminates the need for you to bring both jeans and hiking shorts when you hike.

Like we said earlier, the weather can change through the course of the day. What started out as a cool, breezy morning perfect for hiking in a pair of hiking shorts can change into a dark, rainy afternoon that requires something a little more weather-resistant than hiking shorts.

With a pair of cargo pants with the removable legs, you can start the day wearing hiking shorts, then when the climate changes, you can just re-attach the legs back to your hiking shorts so you’ll be wearing long trousers again.