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5.11 Trail Pant Review

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5.11 Tactical Trail Pant Review

Hello everyone. I’m Kyle, a full-time guide with Wildland Trekking in our Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone program areas. It sure has been a busy season, and guiding full-time definitely inflicts some substantial wear and tear on my gear. That’s why I was delighted to test the Trail Pants from 5.11 Tactical this summer and see if they could earn a place in my permanent kit.

These lightweight hiking pants come from a brand with an established reputation for durable and hard-wearing gear. However, I pushed these characteristics to the limit as I tested the Trail Pants on a plethora of hiking trips spanning Yellowstone, Glacier, and the Smoky Mountains while encountering a wide range of conditions and weather. So, let’s get acquainted with the 5.11 brand, what these pants have to offer, and dive into a full review to see how they performed in the backcountry.

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5.11 Trail Pants Quick Look 

Let’s review the Trail Pants’ basic characteristics before we jump into the full review.

  • Price: $98.00
  • Material: 87% polyester – 13% elastane
  • Availability: Men’s
  • Intended Activity: Hiking, Off-roading, outdoor activities
  • Fit: Slim

Intended Use 

With a whopping eight pockets, tough material blend, and low-weight design, the Trail Pants from 5.11 are clearly designed with the outdoors in mind. 5.11 touts these pants as being ready for absolutely any activity outdoors, from dirt-biking to hiking and everything in between. Of course, we’ll focus on the trail/hiking suitability of these pants in this review, but the potential for a versatile catch-all pant for most outdoor pursuits is an intriguing prospect.

Notable Features

The 5.11 Trail Pants include a couple of features that are worth discussing before we jump into the full review:

8 Pockets – provides ample opportunity to keep all your essential hiking gear easily accessible. From snacks to your trail knife to your sunscreen or bear spray, it seems there’s a spot for everything in these pants.

DWR Coating – adds a layer of weather protection to help shed light rain and moisture with ease.

5.11 Company Background 

Although two separate companies now, 5.11 Tactical got its start with the famous rock climber Royal Robbins, and his namesake company. Royal initially developed 5.11 pants in 1968 as a purebred rock climbing product named after the Yosemite climbing difficulty scale, where a “5.11” route is considered difficult to climb. Fast forward several decades, and Dan Costa bought a majority stake in the Royal Robbins company in 1999. Soon after, Dan discovered that the 5.11 pants had become very popular at the FBI Academy in Quantico and among other law enforcement agencies. From that point, Dan sold the Royal Robbins brand back to Royal in 2003, but retained the 5.11 trademark to develop into a separate brand. Now, 5.11 Tactical was born, focusing on clothing and gear for the public safety and law enforcement fields with durable and utilitarian designs. More recently, 5.11 has been putting more focus into their outdoor pursuits clothing, developing the trail pant as an outdoor adventure accessory for almost any activity.

THE TEST – QUICK OVERVIEW

I tested the 5.11 Trail Pants while guiding hiking and backpacking trips in the Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. As you can imagine, I encountered a wide range of weather, spanning from warm and sunny to overcast with spitting rain.

This wide range of weather types provided me with ample opportunity to see how the Trail Pants performed in perfect and not-so-perfect conditions.

Smokies sunset from the ridgeline of mount sterling

The Review

Now that we’ve covered the basic characteristics of the Trail Pant and 5.11’s background as a brand, 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

Very comfortable fitting! 5.11 did an outstanding job balancing the slim fit with stretch and range of motion to make sure the pants never felt constrictive. From hiking the trail to kneeling while setting up a tent or cooking, these pants never held me back and felt comfortable every step of the way.
In short, I truly loved these pants! They were solid and fit my body very well. The only note here is that the slim fit design might not be everyone’s preference since some hikers prefer a more loose and flowy pant, but for me, they were perfect.

 

Durability – 4/5

Overall, the Trail Pants’ durability seemed very suited for outdoor adventures. At the end of my testing, all the zippers still worked, and the material was in great condition. In my opinion, 5.11’s push for a lightweight pair of pants sacrificed material thickness and oomph, and the Trail Pants fabric feels on the delicate side – more so than other options on the market. So, while my test pants didn’t fail or rip, I definitely feel more conscious about the potential for them to get snagged on a branch or stone.
Therefore, I deducted one point from this category because they don’t seem as durable to the touch as other pants on the market. Time will tell if these pants can hold up to season after season in the backcountry.

 

Quality – 4/5

Quality is good! Inventory at the end of my testing revealed all the seams were still pristine, zippers still worked, buttons still present, and no pilling or other material damage. Well done 5.11!
My only critique in this department is that I wish the main pockets were a little bit deeper. I’m particularly surprised to have this feedback since 5.11 is such a utilitarian, gear-oriented brand. So, I’m shocked the pockets for the Trail Pant aren’t massively voluminous affairs, but here we are.

Packability and Weight – 4/5

5.11 clearly put a lot of effort into trimming weight on the Trail Pants. While no official weight is published, these are definitely some of the most lightweight hiking pants I’ve ever used. They effortlessly fold down or roll up for easy packing, and can easily disappear into my pack without feeling like they’re taking up valuable space or weighing me down.
As we covered in the durability section, I think 5.11 sacrificed some material (and therefore, durability) in order to achieve this low weight. However, the benefits of the lighter material were evident during almost every stage of my testing. From packing to drying quickly, to breathability, to heat management, and ease of motion, everything benefits from a lighter design, and the Trail Pants have all these upsides working in their favor.

Moisture Control – 4/5

I’ll lump moisture control together with weather resistance for this section. First, general moisture control from sweat seemed quite good! I never felt gross and sticky from working hard while hiking. What’s more, the lightweight design of the pants allowed them to dry out quite quickly after they got wet from a rain shower or sweat-fest.
Additionally, I witnessed the DWR coating working very effectively during a little rainstorm we encountered in Yellowstone. The water droplets beaded up and ran off the pants without saturating them. Of course, DWR coatings wear off over time, but I like that these Trail Pants are ready to tackle the outdoors right from the get-go.

Price – 3/5

Overall, I’d say the price for the 5.11 Trail Pants is okay for what you receive in return. These aren’t the most high-end or purpose-built trekking pants on the market, and are accordingly priced lower than those premium options (which can run up to $150 or more). However, I’d say that at $98, they’re still on the upper end of cost for this type of pant, especially considering my concerns regarding longevity and durability with the super lightweight build. There are definitely less expensive competitors on the market that offer comparable features. Therefore, I’ve taken a few points off the score for this Price Category to reflect my concerns regarding the tough price-to-value ratio.

Breathability – 3/5

For ventilation, I believe the trail pants are right in the middle of the pack. Not outstanding, but not lacking either. The lightweight material is the greatest benefit 5.11 has in this category since less material promotes quick drying and breathability. However, the Trail Pants lack any dedicated breathable mesh or ventilation zips on the sides. So all in all, what breathability the Trail Pants manage to achieve is thanks to the thin material, and not due to any dedicated features or specialized designs. So, 5.11 just manages to squeak by in this category.

Bringing it Together

We’ve discussed plenty of aspects to the Trail Pants from 5.11! Let’s bring them all together below so that we can see how the pros and cons stack up.

Pros: 

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Quality materials and build
  • Light and packable design
  • Very comfortable slim fit
  • Good range of motion and stretch
  • Quick drying

Cons: 

  • Slim fit may be for everyone
  • Questionable long-term durability due to lightweight material

Final Thoughts

Overall, I loved testing these pants. As a professional hiking guide, I particularly appreciated the Trail Pants‘ very lightweight design. The low weight allowed me to move quickly and unencumbered, keep my gear bulk down, and easily pack these pants into my kit when I needed to. Along those same lines, the Trail Pants felt very stretchy and free-flowing despite the slim design, which is good news for folks who may be on the fence about investing in a pair of slim hiking pants.

5.11 sacrificed material thickness and, I suspect, durability in the push to make the Trail Pants so lightweight. Therefore, I’m a little concerned about the long-term durability of these pants and their ability to withstand abrasive surfaces or sharp objects (such as thorny bushes or protruding branches). Granted, these pants held up very well to my testing with multiple hikes in different parts of the country, so perhaps my worry is misplaced. However, I’m very interested to see how these pants hold up in the long term.

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