>>2418479>If they’re disposable then they’re garbage. If they don’t work they’re garbage.No one buys them for the pants. The pants last a day or three then get butchered into shorts or a rain skirt.
>>2418491Rain pants are excellent for consistent cold rain and slushy snow, where your body is cold enough to minimise leg sweating in impermeable/poor MVPTR (moisture vapour transfer rate) fabric but protected from constant fresh cold water from rain, slush and river crossings and subsequent evaporation from chilling winds. Whip them off when it starts to rain less and warms up and you have a chance to dry your pants from bodyheat before night sets, then wear rain paints around camp for surprising warmth and total windblocking
Another system that works really well is wind or rain pants over mesh baselayer leggings like Brynje. I hear people here shitting on fishnet but who cares how you look (no one can see) and having a permanent trapped bubble of warm air and super-wicking, lightning fast drying polypropylene lets you wear sweatbox rainpants with aplomb
In dry cold, breathable fabrics and gaiters work fine or even just exposed baselayers with removable wind pants as I saw some ancient madlad once rocking when skiing. Hell, even jeans would work in cold dry snow, they're just too loose weave for wind and pretty heavy.
