Backpacker Magazine – Fall/Winter Gear Guide 2010

Gear Review: Marmot Alpinist Pants

Lightweight bibs that turn into pants with a zip.

by: Kelly Bastone

Tags:
• Pants
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• Apparel
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• Gear
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[do-everything bib]
Can’t decide between full-coverage bibs and lighter weight pants? Get this two-fer and use what you want, when you want. It takes just seconds to switch back and forth, thanks to a zip-off bib panel and to belt loops on the pants. In either mode, it’s made for wearing all day, every day, because of the full-length side zips and Gore-Tex’s up-armored, three-layer Pro Shell fabric.

“I wore these pants in wind and blowing snow and sunshine, while skinning and skiing and hiking, and I never wished for something else,” our tester says. “And I could sit in a snowmelt-soaked meadow without moisture pushing through.” The fit is not baggy through the midsection, like some bibs, but that’s also because the chest panel is on the small side. That reduces excess bulk, but also creates the only drawback: It lacks to-the-top protection, and a chest pocket. $435; 1 lb. 11 oz.; m’s S-XL; marmot.com


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