I came upon a trail runner taking a break in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness who was wearing a really lightweight pair of shorts. He told me they were "onionskins" from undergear.com. Their website says they are paperthin parachute nylon, but no weight given. The runner told me they hold up well,his were the v-notch style. I am curious if anyone has tried them or knows anything more about them...just in time for winter.

These look interesting. Great name. They don't leave much to modesty. I wonder if I wear them while exercising they'll make me look like that model on the website...I doubt he's really a runner.

Modesty is NOT what that website is promoting... Im not even sure they were promoting their products.

Im also not sure that the ounces saved are worth it... might as well hike in a Speedo.

i can tell you that when i wear such things, i don't run any faster, but others sure do! (i.e. they run faster - away from me).

All joking aside, modesty is not an issue. According to the site, the onion skin shorts have an inner liner for... uhh... support :) And the outer layer is very loose... so they would not be revealing. Shorts like this are meant to be worm without underwear... like swim trunks. Also, go to any running store and you could find tons of shorts just like these... no need to order these onion skin shorts off the web. I've thought of wearing running shorts before for hiking but the problem with them is lack of functionality... i.e... no pockets (usually) and no loops to hook anything to if you want (like a victorinox classic for instance). That said, I do have a pair of Hind running shorts with pockets. They are awesome and they are longer than "short shorts". Most runners under the age of 40 don't wear those things anymore... lol... so there are lots of options now for running shorts that come in a decent length. One great thing about running shorts though, aside from the reduced skin-out weight, is that they would dry a lot faster than the thicker synthetics normally used for trekking clothing. And they could double as swim trunks if you're going anywhere where you might be swimming :) Some of my running shorts are so light and thin... they'd dry in no time on a sunny day.

Edited by davidlewis on 10/12/2005 05:40:19 MDT.

I was just thinking this myself. I just recvd about 5yds of white 1.1oz nylon from thru-hiker that I was going to use for a quilt before I found some lighter stuff. I wondered why no-one had mentioned making some clothing from it. Surely it must be breathable enough and in my kind of temps would be quite nice to hike in. I only wear one style of pant. Some of you may know thai fisherman pants. I made a pattern for those that I've used to make them. I might make a pair and see how they work out. shouldn't cost me more than a 3oz and wouldn't count toward my base weight.

When I lived in Colorado years ago the backpacking mode was to take a pair of ultra lightweight running shorts & then wear them over longjohns for a second outfit, particularly around camp. Quite the fashion statement! I still do that on long hikes. I'm sure many others do too.

Ok, since I started this thread I've bit the bullet and ordered a pair, this pouch thing might be a problem....at least I can weigh them and report back, but it's fall here, north central washington state, so don't look for any real world applications.

baggy running shorts(read real running shorts) are really light mine are around two ounces and they are cool. not super coverage, but they end around two inches above the nee.

I've seen these in road runner sports, it certainly makes more sense, getting the inside of your legs chaffed on a long day on the trail is is right up there with eating a box of poison oak cookies for fun.

Whelp,the onion skin shorts are here,it's 31 degrees outside,and I,my fellow forumites,am not going out to rake leaves in them.
They weigh 38 grams,size lg., compared to 88-92 for 3 other nylon shorts I weighed.
They are not for the self-concious but my wife thinks I look real natty in them.Of course I paided her to say that....

Edited by pyeyo on 10/30/2005 12:15:42 MST.

Heheh-- yeah, I would look like a leather barrel with a loincloth on it. My first impression when seeing the v-notch style was that it looked like a loincloth.

If you found some cozy microfiber, you might be able to make a workable hiking loincloth. An hourglass-shaped cloth would give a non-chafing arrangment around the more delicate areas and you could design and cut for as much side overlap and coverage as you like. Getting a comfortable waist drawstring or belt is more of a challenge-- I guess you could use a thai fisherman pant kind of arrangement.

The onion skins sure are light. I weighed some Nike and North Face shorts (with liner briefs) I bought in thrift stores that are about 105-110g. I don't know home much lighter (or briefer) I would need to go.

I do like baggy thin nylon (or better yet, polyester) shorts with a couple pockets and a self belt for warm weather hiking-- something with a little more inseam for protection from brush, sitting, and sun. Most of the outdoor clothing makers have a version.

As I got into UL gear, I was surprised to find how heavy some shorts could be: heavy cloth, lots of bells and whistles-- same problem as packs: less is more.

Edited by dwambaugh on 10/30/2005 12:59:11 MST.

Ya know in the back of my mind I remember sports kilts,so I stuck it in goggle and found sport kilts w/cargo pockets,camo,...velogear.com has one and mountain hardware made them,so we get some microfiber and off we go, maybe a fustanella in peach. But maybe not such a good idea, everyone already thinks we're kooks,through hiking the northwest passage with a bic lighter and a pack of tictacs.

Edited by pyeyo on 10/30/2005 17:03:56 MST.

www.utilikilts.com is a Seattle institution.

As to your gear list, I hope you are using the Bic Mini lighter and repackaging those heavy tictacs :)

Utilikilts = good stuff.