Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants review: hiking comfort from early spring to late fall

Lightweight and comfortable softshell trousers, Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants have plenty of stretch – ideal for three-season hiking in all kinds of terrain

Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants
(Image: © Pat Kinsella)

Advnture Verdict

A comfortable, versatile and adequately featured pair of three-season hiking pants, with an impressive degree of dynamic stretch. The lightweight build and uncomplicated design of the Tenacity makes them perfect for walking escapades from early spring through to late fall.

Pros

  • +

    Lightweight

  • +

    Quick drying

  • +

    Plenty of stretch

  • +

    Integrated belt

  • +

    Lower leg zips

Cons

  • -

    No large map pocket

  • -

    No reinforced areas

  • -

    Mesh-backed pockets not very robust

  • -

    No recycled material content

  • -

    No women’s version

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Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants: first impressions

Lightweight and functional, Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants are perfect for a whole range of outdoor activities across three seasons, but they are primarily designed for trekking and walking. I have been testing them out for a few months, to see whether they’re worthy of joining the pantheon of pants that Advnture deems the best hiking pants on the planet.

Specifications

• List price: $129 (US) / £100 (UK)
• Style: Softshell hiking trousers
• Gender specificity: Men’s only
• Sizes: 28in-40in
• Leg length options: Short / Regular / Long
• Weight: 425g / 15oz
• Materials: Nylon (88%), elastane (12%)
• Colors: Black / Oak Green / Olive
• Compatibility: Three-season walking, hiking, trekking and backpacking

They are constructed with a softshell material Montane calls Granite, which is primarily nylon, but contains a comparatively large percentage of elastane, providing these trousers with a massive amount of dynamic stretch. 

This Granite fabric is lightweight, but gives a decent degree of thermal protection from the cold, and also shields the wearer from the worst of the wind. It’s also been treated with a PFC-free DWR (durable water repellent) finish.

These pants have two hand pockets, plus one thigh pocket and one back pocket, all of which have YKK zips, so you can keep things secure. There is no large map pouch, however, and the interior backing of the pockets is mesh.

The Tenacity trousers are done up with a sliding popper and come with a simplistic (but perfectly functional) belt, which is integrated into the design of the pants by passing through a long waist sleeve. They have a zipped gusset at the bottom of the legs for use with larger boots.

Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants: on the trails

Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants

Montane Men’s Tenacity Pants have two hand pockets, one thigh pocket and one back pocket, all of which are secured by YKK zips (Image credit: Pat Kinsella)

I’ve been wearing these Tenacity hiking trousers on a wide range of coastal and countryside day walks during a fairly feisty spring, which has thrown everything at me, from torrential rain and biting chilly winds to some generous sun. So far, I have found them to be an ideal for all kinds of trail pursuits in fast-changing conditions.

These softshell trousers are very light – in fact, they’re so light on your legs you do occasionally have to look down to check they’re still there. Despite the thin material, the Tenacity pants provide decent protection from the wind and keep your legs fairly warm. And, although they’re not waterproof, they do shrug off light rain thanks to the PFC-free DWR treatment – and if it does get soaked, the material is quick to dry.

Montane Men's Tenacity Pants

Montane Men's Tenacity Pants have a zipped gusset at the bottom of the legs for use with larger boots (Image credit: Pat Kinsella)

The knees are articulated and the four-way stretch of Montane’s Granite material works exceptionally well. The Tenacity pants don’t restrict your freedom of movement at all, and I found I could clamber over boulders, walls, stiles and fallen trees with no problem. They’re also ideal for fastpacking, scrambling or even full-on rock climbing. One downside of all this stretch, however, is that these trousers do seem prone to giving you wedgies.

The pockets are fairly functional, although personally I prefer non-zipped hand pockets on the front of trousers, because they’re more comfortable. The thigh pocket isn’t big or baggy enough to be much practical use – you certainly can’t get a sheet map in it. All the pockets are backed with mesh, which is great for ventilation and keeping the garment’s weight down, but it does mean they’re not particularly robust; a set of keys would probably put a hole in them after a while and you can often feel the contents against your leg.

Montane Men's Tenacity Pants

Montane Men's Tenacity Pants come with an integrated belt, which works fine but does mean you can’t swap it for another favorite belt (Image credit: Pat Kinsella)

The integrated belt is basic, but it works well enough. Some people might dislike the lack of belt loops, because it makes it harder to wear these trousers with a belt of your choice (or to clip anything to said belt when camping) but I found the one supplied to be more than adequate.

The zipped gusset on the bottom of the legs allows you to pair these trousers with more serious hiking boots, which proves useful during bigger backpacking escapades and on technical terrain, when bulkier boots are required. These pants are capable of tackling such adventures, but only during the warmer months, and not at too much altitude. They’re really in their element during long day walks and fair-weather overnighters.

Pat Kinsella

Author of Caving, Canyoning, Coasteering…, a recently released book about all kinds of outdoor adventures around Britain, Pat has spent 20 years pursuing stories involving boots, bikes, boats, beers and bruises. En route he’s canoed Canada’s Yukon River, climbed Mont Blanc and Kilimanjaro, skied and mountain biked through the Norwegian Alps, run an ultra across the roof of Mauritius, and set short-lived records for trail-running Australia’s highest peaks and New Zealand’s Great Walks. He’s authored walking guides to Devon and Dorset, and once wrote a whole book about Toilets for Lonely Planet. Follow Pat’s escapades on Strava here and Instagram here.