Trail Testers

On the Hill - On the Web

I have always thought that trousers that make into shorts must be a good idea. Though I like my legs to be unencumbered by zips where possible, so was a little doubtful if these Nosquito convertibles from Craghoppers would be all that comfortable.

To start with you do notice the zips that run horizontally around the legs just above the knee, but within a couple of outings I had forgotten about them.

The zip is easy to undo single handed and the lower leg comes away easily quickly converting the trousers into a pair of shorts with the minimum of fuss.

Putting them back on is slightly more fiddly but easy to achieve, if the weather closes in and rain or a drop in temperature means that you want to wrap up.

Since these arrived we have not had a lot of hot weather to wear them as shorts, but the trousers themselves are by far some of the best walking trousers that I have tested.

They are lightweight and fold up into an impressively small space.

What’s more they are made of a material which dries very quickly. So if you are negotiating high wet bracken or splashing through streams and slip into the water, no worries, as these brilliant trousers will be dry again in no time.

They have two large side pockets and the one on the right hand side has a zipped security pocket .

There is a zipped back pocket and a cargo pocket on the left leg with an inner mobile phone pocket, secured with a button.

One day I was wearing these out on the hill and had my credit card in the security pocket . I had to buy some diesel on the way home and when I came to pay, the zip jammed and try as I might I could not shift it which was rather embarrassing, as I tried to explain my predicament to the forecourt attendant I was forced to cut the bottom of the pocket with my Swiss army to get to my dosh!

As the material is so light they are absolutely no protection at all from nettles and thistles, as I have found to my cost in the hills a couple of times. So if you are wearing them as walking trousers, it is best to wear them with gaiters to protect your legs from the rough stuff.

I also got singed by a spark from an open camp fire and this immediately burnt a hole in the material, but thankfully did not flare!

Over several months and hundreds of hours of testing, these minor problems are the only ones that we have encountered.

A Scandinavian take on this was when I met a Swedish skier wearing a pair of these as shorts in Oslo airport, when the outside temperature was -42C. He also had on a pair of Helly Hansen ¾ length merino leggings and his ski boots. He told me that he often wears this outfit when flying between winter sports venues and finds it very comfortable. When he arrives at this destination he simply zips on the bottoms

The trousers are available in men’s and women’s styles and retail for around the same price. They are available from Craghoppers direct and from various outdoors stores.

For our test we have worn the trousers day in day out until they were filthy dirty. Then washed them and began again many times over. At the time of writing they have been in the washer at least 30 times, but apart from a bit of colour fade on the legs, when cleaned they look as good as new. They are very easy to wash by hand, in a machine, or in a mountain stream and dry very quickly, making them ideal for travelling and trekking. We award them 98% and they only missed top marks due to the dodgy zip.

Craghoppers Kiwi Nosquito Convertible Trousers

SRP £50 Men’s and Womens XS - XXL

Craghoppers Nosquito Convertibles

If you have these trousers and would like to comment please do so by clicking the box Post a Comment. Before posting please ensure that you have signed in.

Comments Post a Comment

They have deep net lined pockets. They are quick and easy to make into shorts and back again to trousers if the weather cools off.

The ankle zip makes it easy to remove the bottom halves with your boots on.

The trousers are very cool, lightweight and comfortable to wear.