Merino Blend Elevation Stretch Pants Review
Hi hikers! I’m Tolman, and I recently had the chance to test the Icebreaker Merino Blend Elevation Pants while leading Wildland Trekking’s guided Grand Canyon hiking trips. As a hiking guide, I know a sturdy and reliable pair of hiking pants are crucial to your success in the backcountry. So, I’m going to examine the Merino Elevation Pants piece by piece and share my testing experience in order to give you all the information you need to determine if these hiking pants are for you.
We’ll start with some surface-level facts about these pants, what they offer, and Icebreaker as a brand. From there, we’ll dive into specific performance categories and see how these Icebreaker pants measured up. So let’s jump into the review!
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Merino Stretch Pants Quick Look
Let’s review the Elevation Pants’ basic characteristics before we jump into the full review.
- Price: $240
- Material: 48% Cotton, 48% Merino wool, 4% Elastane
- Availability: Men’s and Women’s
- Intended Activity: Hiking
- Fit: Regular/Relaxed Fit
Intended Use
The Elevation Stretch Pants are designed for hiking and mountain adventures. The unique material blend attempts to pair merino’s comfort and moisture-wicking capability with a burly cotton fiber for peak durability and performance on the trail. Since merino and cotton have some performance downsides in extreme conditions or wet weather, we wouldn’t recommend these pants for technical alpine ascents. However, Icebreaker has formulated these pants for casual day hiking and backpacking, and it’s in these niche that we’re going to test them.
Notable Features
The Merino Stretch Pants have a couple of standout features that are worth examining more closely before we dive into the full review:
Merino Wool Blend – provides the unique characteristics of odor resistance, moisture wicking, and temperature regulating to a pair of durable hiking pants (characteristics that are usually reserved for merino base layers).
Built-In Belt – makes it easy to cinch up these pants comfortably without needing to pack and use an extra belt. It’s a simple feature, but one that’s always appreciated.
Icebreaker Company Background
Icebreaker formed in 1995 in New Zealand under Jeremy Moon as one of the original merino-focused clothing brands. Since then, the company has grown to become one of the industry’s leading merino-blend brands providing performance-focused clothing that weaves merino’s significant benefits into almost all of its products. Icebreaker has also been a strong proponent of ethical treatment for its merino sheep suppliers and sustainable business practices (recently celebrating the milestone of making 97.5% of their products plastic-free). Icebreaker was purchased by the US-based firm VF in 2017, adding Icebreaker to other brands under the company’s umbrella, including The North Face, Altra, and Smartwool.
THE TEST – QUICK OVERVIEW
I tested the Merino Elevation Stretch Pants while guiding a Wildland Grand Canyon North Rim tour. Being a little early in the season, we experienced cool to almost chilly evenings at 50°F with accompanying rain, and toasty midday temperatures around 90°F. Therefore, I got to test these pants in a wide range of temperatures and conditions.
The Review
Now that we’ve covered the Merino Elevation Pants’ specifications and features, it’s time to get into my full review. I’ll cover the main performance characteristics for hiking pants below (such as comfort, durability, breathability, and so on) and give each category a score from 1 to 5. The scoring key is below for reference, and I’ll back up each score with firsthand information from my field testing that led me to assign each score.
Test Score Key
1/5 – Poor
2/5 – Tolerable
3/5 – Fair
4/5 – Good
5/5 – Excellent
Comfort – 5/5
Durability – 4/5
One of merino’s main drawbacks is a lack of durability, so I was curious to see how Icebreaker overcame this challenge.
Although the material is fairly lightweight (to help with breathability), it seems well made and reasonably durable. The influence from tough cotton fibers is evident, and certainly helps shore up merino’s natural frailness. In my opinion, these pants don’t quite measure up to tough synthetic hiking pants using canvas or other hard-wearing materials, and the Elevation pants may not hold up to heavy scraping on rocks or other abrasive surfaces. But for standard, non-technical hiking, they definitely get the job done.
Zooming out from just the material, the zippers work smoothly and the waistband attachment is well designed and seems bulletproof. Both aspects of these pants seem tough and unlikely to fail, adding to the pants’ overall durability score.
Quality – 4/5
My testing showed the overall quality of the Icebreaker Stretch Merino Elevation Pants to be solid. I encountered no seam splitting, no hems unraveling, no failed zippers, and no holes appearing. Of course, the long-term quality of these pants has yet to be determined, but my initial impression after a month in the field is very promising.
Packability and Weight – 4/5
Once again, these pants impressed me with their overall packability and low weight. I’d expected a somewhat bulky pant due to the merino-cotton blend, but these pants are very lightweight and roll up small to make them easily packable in the backcountry. They also have well-sized pockets that can fit larger items on the fly, like a SAT phone.
While the lightweight build makes them less durable than other options on the market, it does make these pants light enough to make them a good choice for just about any trip conditions where pants may be desired. They’re light and breathable enough to use in warmer weather but still would be plenty warm for spring and fall conditions. Lastly, they’re lightweight enough to easily pack up and carry in a backpack without feeling you’re sacrificing valuable pack space or overloading yourself.
Moisture Control – 3/5
Price – 3/5
Breathability – 4/5
Bringing it Together
We’ve discussed plenty of aspects to the Merino Blend Elevation Stretch Pant! Let’s bring them all together below so that we can see how the pros and cons stack up.
Pros:
- Good breathability and air flow
- Quality build with good zippers, seams, and belt
- Light and packable design
- Soft and comfortable material
Cons:
- Lower durability
- Slow to dry when wet
- Expensive
Final Thoughts
Overall, I have to say the Icebreaker Merino Blend Elevation Pants exceeded my expectations! The merino-cotton blend (two materials you typically wouldn’t expect to find in a pair of hiking pants) proved to by light enough to be comfortable and breathable when working hard, yet durable enough to stand up to most standard hiking – but perhaps not quite as tough as other synthetic materials. The overall build was also high-quality with good performing zippers and seams while remaining packable enough to be an easy choice on the trail. I found the fit to be a little more loose than other athletically-cut pants, but the relaxed design also facilitated comfortable airflow to help keep me cool in hot Grand Canyon conditions.
The merino-cotton blend, however, does take a long time to dry completely after getting wet, which could complicate use in wetter climates. This, combined with the fair but high price tag makes me think the Merino Blend Elevation pants are a solid purchase for day hikers and casual backpackers who know they’ll use these pants to their full potential and get returns on the steep up front investment.
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