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Reviews > Rain Gear > Jackets and Pants > GoLite Whim Pants > Roger Caffin > Long Term Report
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Reviewer Details
| Reviewer: | Roger Caffin |
| Age: | 61 |
| Gender: | M |
| Weight: | 63 kg (139 lb) |
| Height: | 167 cm (67") |
| Email address: | r dot [surname] at acm dot org |
| Home: | Sydney, Australia |
I started bushwalking at 14 and took up rock climbing at University with the girl who became my wife and my permanent walking partner. Ski touring and canyoning followed. Winter and summer, we prefer long hard trips by ourselves: about a week in Australia, up to two months in Europe/UK. We prefer fast and light in unfrequented trackless country. We would be out in the mountains for at least three months a year. We have now moved to lightweight gear, much to our backs' relief. I designed and made much of our lightweight gear myself.
I am also the maintainer of the Australian aus.bushwalking FAQ web site www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/.
Product Information
| Manufacturer: | GoLite | |
| Manufacturer URL: | www.golite.com | |
| Year of manufacture: | assumed 2006 | |
| Country of manufacture: | China | |
| Size: | Medium, Unisex | |
| Waist: | 43.3" (110 cm) circumference (measured) | |
| Inside leg: | 31" (80 cm) (measured) | |
| Ankle: | 16" (40 cm) circumference (measured) | |
| Material: | 98%polyester, 2% carbon fabric | |
| Finish: | 'Super-DWR' | |
| Colour: | Black | |
| Listed weight: | 4 oz (113 g) | |
| Actual weight: | 3.7 oz (105 g) | |
| MSRP: | US$70 |
Product Description
In a nutshell, these are ultra-light wind pants. They are not waterproof as such, but they don't let much water through until you apply considerable pressure - like kneeling on them. For further description, see my Initial Report.
Field Experience
I have had these on a number of extended trips. Granted, on a couple of trips they stayed in my pack and saw no use - but their light weight and small volume made this quite acceptable. They were tested rather more enthusiastically in our Alps, and I will use a 5 day snow shoe trip in the Jagungal Wilderness in our Kosciusko National park to illustrate their performance.
Global warming has struck this year with some effect: we had a very poor snow season. But provided we were high enough there was enough snow cover for snow shoeing. Of course, we couldn't stay high all the time, and coming over Gungarten Pass (2,000 m or 6,560') on the Kerries Range we decided to take a low route because of the fog and high wind. This took us safely around the Kerries below the storm, but meant we were low enough for the precipitation to be in the form of rain rather than snow. I was wearing the Whims the whole time, and my legs stayed warm and dry.
Later in the trip while climbing over Cup and Saucer at 1,860 m (6,100') (we have these cute place names!) early in the morning in high wind I was again wearing the Whims over light ski tights: this is shown in the lead picture above. Handling the cold and the wind here was no problem at all for the Whims. Late that same day we climbed Mt Jagungal (2,050 m or 6,720'), and I was still quite warm with just the Whims over the same tights - my wife was wearing her padded Thinsulate pants at the time.
But the good weather did not last. We camped on the plateau under the mountain, and during the night a storm moved in. We decided it was time to go home. It was sleeting 'up top', but as we moved down in altitude the sleet turned to rain. This is where things got interesting. The yellow/green jacket I was wearing as seen in the pictures is one I made from a light EPIC fabric, and this material is supposed to be moderately water-resistant. The EPIC fabric gets used in some tents for instance. The fabric used in the Whims does not make the same claims: all GoLite claim is 'wind resistant' and 'water repellent'. However, as the day wore on my EPIC jacket started to wet out and my upwind arm got cold and damp. It was time to put a silnylon poncho on over it. My wife was wearing PU-coated nylon overtrousers by this stage. But the Whims were still keeping my lags fairly dry. There was just a little bit of leakage at the seams down the side of my legs. For a fabric which is this light and this breathable, I thought I (or the Whims) was doing extremely well. I regret not having a picture of this part of the trip, but my camera was sheltering under cover!
The only property I have not been able to really examine is any deterioration over time of the DWR -I have not yet seen any effect. This applies even though the Pants have been washed a couple of times in Atsko Sports Wash during the test period. This is of course very good.
Summary
Obviously, I like these Pants. They are very nice and very effective 'wind pants' and the water repellency of the fabric has been fantastic. The weight and breathability is lovely. I am happy to use them in place of 'waterproof' rain pants. They are a bit slippery around the waist so I have had to use the waist cord instead of relying on the light waist elastic provided. I found the waist cord just a bit short. If the cord was a little longer I could tie a slip-knot in it while keeping the ends tied together for safety. The cord could be a bit lighter too. GoLite should consider an upgrade here.
However, I will emphasise that the design of the Pants does have a major deficiency, in that I cannot get them on and off over my light joggers! This is completely unacceptable in my opinion, and even potentially dangerous. Gear like this has to be made so it can be slipped on quickly! I will add a silnylon dart down the side of each leg as soon as the reporting phase is over so I can get them on without having to take my shoes off. GoLite should change the design!
Things I have been monitoring in the GoLite Whim Pants include:
