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I’m a huge fan of  Mountain Equipment’s Comici pants. It was an easy decision to use them for the TGO Challenge because they tick every box as the perfect outdoor pants for everything other than winter conditions.

The fit is superb and the fabric has plenty of stretch so you really don’t notice that you are wearing them. They are genuinely all day comfy.

They have slim fitting legs which I prefer as I hate flapping trouser legs on my outdoor trousers. The lack of reinforcement on the inside of the ankle was no issue, the narrow ankle stops the fabric from getting rubbed and you’d not be wearing these pants using crampons.

For such a light pant they also manage to offer decent protection from the elements. The Exolite 125 softshell fabric is quick drying and wind resistant. They manage to be cool enough to wear on hot 25C+ days and also warm enough on cold windy days.

Despite being light they have been surprisingly durable with no signs of abrasion etc after loads of use. They also seem to shed dirt effectively. Despite getting wet, muddy and covered in an assortment of peat bog residue on numerous occasions on the TGO they still looked acceptably clean by the end (I didn’t wash them once during the 2 weeks).

All the pockets have zip closures which for me is essential to make sure I don’t lose anything from them during a rest stop or scrambling over obstacles.

There are a couple of minor negatives. Mountain Equipment appear to have an issue with the transfers that they use for their logos. I have 3 pairs of ME pants and at least one logo has peeled off each pair. It’s totally random, one pair lost the Mountain Equipment logo, on another pair it was the Exolite logo. They look pretty shoddy during the peeling process so I tend to just pull them off.

The other slight criticism is that the integral belt does loosen by itself so you find yourself tightening them quite frequently.

Neither of these issues detract from what is otherwise my absolute favourite do everything outdoor pant.

I’ve since bought my wife a pair because I was so impressed myself. Her first comments on trying them on were how great their fit and comfort is. I think I’m going to get adventurous and get a brighter pair next.

Danny Pearson
Dan is a keen distance walker who loves to geek over the latest gear. In the last few years, Dan has completed a couple of TGO Challenge crossings of Scotland (with another planned for 2024), GR221 in Mallorca, Dales High Route and Hadrian’s Wall plus countless other self-planned routes. A keen mountain biker but finds he doesn’t bounce so well these days when the inevitable happens. Read more from Danny Pearson