> If you want a convertible pant the REI Sahara ones are still the best. That whole leg zips off from the side and vertically.

Not a fan. In the wind, they flap and billow like crazy. I absolutely hated them for that reason. Some heavier fabric, or a trimmer fit could improve them in this regard, but heavier fabric doesn't make sense, as then they'd be warmer, and a trimmer fit isn't exactly as marketable.

Edited by lindahlb on 07/12/2012 12:44:22 MDT.

Shorts in the winter, pants in the summer for my local hikes.
Shorts so I don't worry much about getting my legs wet in the rain (it's california, not really that cold), and pants+gaiters for walking around oak woodlands in the summer. All of the stickers and seeds when walking through grass will flood your shoes and force you to stop constantly.

^ you can wear gaiters w/ shorts too :)

That's very true Mike, however stuff can still get uncomfortably wedged between the top of the gaiters and your legs and work it's way down, especially the little slender, poky grass seeds that are everywhere around here. It's like a torrential downpour of stuff falling on your legs and shoes in the grasslands around here. Gaiters with shorts are a lot better than nothing though. Also, there are plenty of poky plants and thistles which make shorts very uncomfortable. And even wading through dense grass for long enough can rub your legs raw. I suppose if you walked through nasty stuff in shorts for long enough, the skin on your legs could toughen up.
When I go hunting with my dad, he usually wears high top boots as a solution. I wear vivobarefoot aquas with those tan REI gaiters.

Edited by justin_baker on 07/13/2012 17:28:53 MDT.

I agree with Brett. I've used regular REI convertible pants for many years, but the need to take off my shoes or get the inside of my pants muddy resulted in converting them only one time for a creek crossing. It was a ridiculous waste of time for something like that. I might as well remove my pants entirely. The new convertible style looks much more practical.

Everyone’s body behaves different.
I’ve used zip-offs for several years.
A big chunk of my heat comes out through my ankles (skinny ankles do that). Heat stroke is minimized; sweat is tendered when the ankles are exposed (including no socks on the ankles). But when mosquitoes are swarming (like Wind Rivers WY earlier this month), the bottoms get zipped back on. But I feel a little heat relief when I unzip the knees partially.

I’ve never had zipper problems (knock on wood). And as other posters noted, zip-offs are dual use, thus one less thing to pack.

-Barry

Shorts for years - til I realized I may need pants for x-country.

I found a very stretchy pair of pants that will roll up, creating a big cuff right above the knee. Thus I can turn them into long shorts when it's very hot.

- Elizabeth

i bought some north face pants a couple months ago. they have some heel wear. would rei take these back if i wanted to get convertibles?

They'll take anything back.

Never convertibles.
in summer usually shorts however in buggy areas I use the Montane Terra because I can roll them up if I want to but usually just unzip the sides and the mesh under them keeps the bugs at bay.
Not that unusual for me to have both shorts and long pants...
(not one on top of the other)
Franco