So my mom is teaching me to sew and the first project is will be wind or rain pants.

I will either be using Momentum or Silnylon and I need some opinions which is more useful.
i.e. Momentum is breathable but only useful as wind protection vs silnylon is waterproof but non breatheable

I'll be hiking the CT next July but most of my hiking is on the AT.

Silnylon will result in some very sweaty miles of hiking. Just laying it over my lap as I was sewing a tarp of out of it made my legs feel clammy. There's always going to be a compromise between waterproof and breathable, so which is more important - would you rather get wet from the inside or outside? I'd go with something more breathable personally. Momentum has some DWR to it, so it will shed light rain. But it's also very very thin and I'm not sure how well it will hold up as rain pants. Good luck!

Regular hiking pants tend to be fairly wind resistant already, so carrying some extra 'wind pants' likely doesn't make that much sense unless you plan to hike in shorts and not carry hiking pants.

Edited by dandydan on 10/08/2010 18:10:25 MDT.

If I made a list right now, my Montane Featherlites would be the second best piece of gear I got this year.

Layered over tights or soft shell pants they provide more warmth than one might think. They're comfy to wear over just shorts, and are bugproof. They dry as fast as any piece of clothing I've ever owned, and are way tougher than I thought. The ankle zips make them easy to take on and off over shoes.

They've been on every overnight trip I've taken since I bought them in April.

Andrew I agree, silnylon seems like it would be way to sweaty. I've seen a few people on here with silnylon or spinnaker chaps and was thinking there might be something to that but I am pretty sure now thatbi couldn't handle it

Dan,
I hike in shorts ALL the time and don't cary any kind of pants but long underwear if the weather requires it. But I was thinking windpants could add a lot of extra versatility for minimal weight.
What kind of pants do you recommend for hiking? I've used the ubiquitous green nylon zip offs from REI and can't stand both the zip offs and the fabric.