Prana Halle Pants Review

Finding a good pair of pants is hard to find.

Why am I looking for pants? I want a pair I could wear indoors and outdoors, can climb in since I’ll be taking them with me to Bishop, and appropriate to wear as work pants. Any ideas?

I’ve been researching pants from a clothing company called Prana. I’ve heard and read good reviews about the Prana brand. Plus, my co-workers like their pants. The Halle model seems to come up the most in my searches. Reviews have said they were great outdoors and are known as a hiking and climbing pant.

So, why am I buying another pair of pants for this trip? I do have yoga/workout pants, but I’m not sure how much of a beating they’ll take being outdoors. I’m guessing I’ll be outside a lot and so I need something that will last. Also, they’ll be a pair I can wear for the purposes mentioned earlier.

Eventually, I bit the bullet and bought the pants. I bought them on sale online from Backcountry.com and had them shipped since I couldn’t find any locally in my size. I’ve never have bought pants online until then. Because I’m picky when it comes to purchasing clothes because of my height and dimensions. So, this was a bit of a risk for me to do.

How Are They?

The reviews said to size down because they ran big in the waist. I’m in-between sizes, so I went with the smaller one. When I tried them on and looked at them in the mirror, I kind of wished I got the bigger size. They fit but appeared somewhat tight in the crotch. It was something to get used to wearing.

The material felt different than what I usually wear, but it’s not a bad thing. The pants are lightweight and comfortable. However, I thought they would be brighter in color. They’re called nautical and are closer to a navy blue.

They can be rolled up and have snaps to make them capris length which I like. That feature was one of the reasons why I went with them. If I get hot, I can roll them up to help cool off. The pockets could be bigger (go figure), but it does have a third zip-up pocket on the right thigh for extra storage.

Testing the Pants

I’ve had the pants for over a week now. I did a session with some friends last week and wore them then. I didn’t get any pics, but I made sure to boulder first in them. I didn’t feel any restrictions at all which was something I was looking for in them. I tried some almost splits, and heel hooks on some problems and they moved well with me.

They did well while I was in my harness also. Thankfully, no problems there. One concern I did have was seeing thigh sweat from where the leg loops trap heat from my thighs. But I didn’t notice any. So, that was good.

Chalk seems to wipe off mostly well from them. Some still stick, but it’s not super noticeable. With the darker color, it does show when it is on it though. Overall, the pants felt comfortable throughout the entire session.

I ran errands after climbing. They look good enough that I can wear them out and about. In the end, I think I made a good investment. We’ll see how well they’ll do in Bishop and I’ll let you know how they fared.

Until next time, happy bouldering!