Diehard hikers often rank their bottoms—be they pants, shorts, or skorts—as their single most important piece of performance apparel. That’s because bottoms serve several functions, all of them critically important: They shield against chafing, manage sweat, and fend off assaults from trailside brush and branches. These pants, shorts, and skorts do all that—and more.
The Winners at a Glance
Houdini Daybreak Shorts ($130)
Kühl Haven Joggr ($109)
Kuiu Attack Pant ($149)
Mountain Hardwear Mountain Stretch Skort ($65)
How We Test
Number of Testers: 12
Number of Products Tested: 45
Number of Miles Hiked: 299
Number of Holes Golfed: 18
Number of Continuous Pitches Climbed: 3
Pounds of Blackberries Foraged: 1
Number of Jelly Spills: 1 (staining avoided)
All hikers are wonderfully unique, which is why we tapped a group of testers with the most diverse body types and hiking habits we could wrangle. One tester who serves on Search and Rescue and rarely registers fatigue before mile 80 struggles to find pants that accommodate her extra-capable calves. Another tester loves short-shorts but hates inner-thigh chafing….
