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Royal Robbins
Wilder Pants
Review

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Royal Robbins Wilder Pants Review

Hi hikers, I’m Jennie, a professional hiking guide with Wildland Trekking. Locking in the perfect setting of hiking clothes can be a tricky endeavor as you sift through different materials, weights, features, and comfort levels. Therefore, I was delighted to test the Wilder Pants from Royal Robbins; a pair of pants that aim to blend two critical backcountry clothing aspects, comfort and protection from those darn mosquitos. If these pants can pull it off, they could be the perfect addition to my guiding kit!

My testing took place while leading a guided llama trek to Turquoise Lake in the Jackson Hole area. We had the perfect conditions to push the Wilder Pants to the limit. Multi-day hiking over tough terrain, hot evenings, and plenty of mosquitos to put Royal Robbins’ Mosquito Protection Technology to the test. So let’s see how these pants did!

 

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Wilder Pant Quick Look 

Let’s review the Wilder Pant’s basic characteristics before we jump into the full review.

  • Price: $120
  • Material: 94% nylon, 6% elastane
  • UPF Protection: 40+
  • Weight: 11.1 oz. 
  • Fit: Standard Fit

Intended Use 

The Wilder Pants are designed for outdoor adventures, plan and simple. The material, durability, movement, and mosquito protection technology are all intended to compliment your trips to the outdoors – particularly hiking and backpacking. The added water-repellent and wind-resistance technology also adds to this outdoor-focused design. While not designed as a technical mountaineering pant or for rock climbing, the Wilder has its niche in standard hiking, and can move comfortably while remaining lightweight yet durable for everything the backcountry has to offer.

Notable Features

The Wilder Pant has a few features that are worth closer inspection before we dive into the specific review. So, let’s take a look at what makes these pants unique.

Mosquito Protection Technology – is Royal Robbins’ non-chemical solution to biting insects. The MPT material offers a very tight weave that insect bites (mosquito bites, in particular) can’t pass through. The pants aren’t actively repelling mosquitos like chemical repellents, but instead becomes a strong barrier that their bites can’t penetrate.

Cuff Bungee Cinch – adds extra bug protection by allowing the wearer to cinch the leg cuffs closed. This is particularly helpful for preventing ticks from making contact with your skin.

Double-Layer Knee Material – adds to the Wilder Pants’ overall durability in an exceptionally high-wear area.

Royal Robbins Company Background 

Royal Robbins has the same name as one of its founders, an accomplished rock climber who spent years chasing crags around America in the 1950s and 60s. During that time, he met his future wife, Liz, and together, they set out to provide climbers and adventurers with quality clothing that better served the outdoor community than what they could scrounge at local army surplus shops. From its start in the 1970s, Royal Robbins has put significant emphasis on sustainable and ethical clothing combined with a durable and comfortable build, launching the first ever pair of shorts designed specifically for rock climbing in 1973. Since then, Royal Robbins has continued to provide quality clothing to the outdoor community and is heavily involved in land conservation and protection efforts across the country.

THE TEST – QUICK OVERVIEW

I got to test the Wilder Pants while leading Wildland's Turquoise Lake Llama Trek in the Gros Ventre Range. During my testing, we encountered very warm and dry days highlighted by relentless sun. A perfect environment to test the Wilder Pant's breathability and moisture-wicking capability!

Mosquitoes were also quite bad during most evenings on my trips. Therefore, I had the chance to put Royal Robbins' mosquito protection technology to the test.

The Review

Now that we’ve introduced the Wilder Pants and Royal Robbins as a brand, it’s time to take a close look at how these hiking pants performed in the field. Below, I’ll cover the important categories for hiking clothing performance (such as comfort, durability, packability, and so on) and give each category a score from 1 to 5 along with firsthand information from my testing. The key to the scoring system is below, so let’s see how these Royal Robbins pants did!

Test Score Key
1/5 – Poor
2/5 – Tolerable
3/5 – Fair
4/5 – Good
5/5 – Excellent

Comfort  – 4/5

Overall, I found the Wilder pants very comfortable to wear both at camp and while hiking the trail. The sturdy material wasn’t rough or scratchy against my skin and they were light enough for hot days on the trail.
The only downside is the extremely high waist on these pants, rising well above my belly button. This is totally an aesthetic critique on my part, and I believe that it feels somewhat awkward and limiting in the world of hiking. But again, that’s totally my opinion! So all in all, I found the Wilder Pants very comfortable!

Durability – 5/5

These pants seem burly and built for the outdoors. The material is sturdy – no scrapes, tears, or pilling from my testing – and handled the tough backcountry very well.
In particular, I’m a huge fan of the double-layer material over the knees. This is a classic high-wear area that I oh so often see hiking pants failing. From kneeing next to the camp stove from taking a knee to unload a backpack and set up a tent, pant knees take a lot of abuse in the backcountry. Therefore, I was delighted to see that Royal Robbins saw this and reinforced the Wilder Pants in this particular area. So top marks for durability!

Quality – 5/5

I was extremely impressed with the the quality during my testing! Royal Robbins did a fantastic job fielding a pair of pants that finely balance weight, feel, durability and performance.

Specifically, the fit was true to size and comfortable and didn’t stretch out much when worn over several days in a row (a common downfall of hiking pants). The stitching is also solid and doesn’t seem like it will come apart easily. Finally, I really like the lightweight and comfy nylon-elastane blend material that also seems relatively bombproof and quick drying.

Also, The mosquito protection technology (MPT) worked! We encountered plenty of mosquitos during evenings at camp, and I didn’t get any bites coming through the pants. Therefore, I’m very happy with the Wilder Pants’ quality.

 

Packability/Weight – 5/5

Heading into the backcountry – even with adorable llamas to help carry the load – my gear’s packability is a huge concern. Heavy or bulky gear often won’t cut it for backpacking when we’re trying to keep our pack weight to a minimum. With that in mind, top marks to the Wilder Pants! At 11 oz, they’re pleasantly lightweight and handled the toasty, sunny weather we encountered very well while not weighing down my pack when I needed to stash them.
At the same time, they pack down nice and small. I could roll them up, shove them in my pack, and forget they were there. They never felt like they were cluttering up my packing game or holding me back by being too bulky.

Warmth – 4/5

These pants aren’t overly warm. But then again, they aren’t meant to be! I’m including this section simply to provide some insight for hikers who are considering the Wilder Pants for shoulder season hiking with chillier temperatures. If this sounds like you, then I’d 100% recommend a base layer under these pants to stay comfortable.

 

 

Moisture Control – 5/5

Once again, these pants impressed with their ability to handle moisture. Hiking in such hot conditions naturally led to some sweaty days. But, the Wilder pants did an admirable job wicking moisture away from my skin. This helped dramatically with preventing me from feeling gross and saturated.

What’s more, we had a couple of river crossings with water up to our thighs. However, these pants dried surprisingly quickly afterwards. This is undoubtedly thanks to nylon’s quick drying ability, and I certainly felt this benefit during my testing.

Price– 4/5

The price point for the Wilder pants is a tad above average for what you’d normally see for a pair of standard, non-technical, hiking pants. But after all my testing, I’m pleased to report that these pants deliver outstanding value for the upfront investment. What’s more, I truly believe the Mosquito Protection Technology works and, therefore, adds additional value to these pants. So, with all these points in mind, I’m giving the Wilder Pants a good rating for price. They’re expensive, no doubt about it, but I believe they’re worth it.

Breathability – 5/5

The lightweight material provided very comfortable breathability in hot conditions, which I thought a little surprising since these pants are also so durable. I found myself pleasantly comfortable while hiking on hot, sunny days in long pants, and never overheated at any point. A button or snap to roll the pants up and hold them in place would be handy, but this is a minor critique since the pants provide such good breathability at baseline.

 

Bringing it Together

So, considering all the categories we’ve discussed above, I’ve pulled all the pros and cons for the Wilder Pants together and listed them below. Luckily for us hikers, there aren’t too many cons on this list!

Pros: 

  • Lightweight yet durable
  • Good breathability
  • Easily packable for backpacking
  • Mosquito Protection Technology’s tight weave prevents bug bites
  • UPF 40+ sun protection

Cons: 

  • High-waisted design a little uncomfortable (my personal opinion)
  • Expensive, but worth the investment
mosquito yosemite summer visit vacation

Mosquito Protection Technology (MPT)

We’ve mentioned Royal Robbins’ Mosquito Protection Technology a few times in this review. This MPT features an extra-tight weave in the fabric to prevent bug bites from penetrating and reaching your skin. But why is Royal Robbins putting such effort into producing a “chemical-free” mosquito-resistant shirt? Let’s discuss.

In short, synthetic chemicals can potentially add environmental and health concerns to your clothing. Long-term exposure to the most popular chemical bug repellents has a muddled background of research concerning health concerns, varying from length of exposure, inhalation, skin contact, and dose. Additionally, synthetic chemicals add another dimension of industrial processing and production to a business actively trying to lower its carbon footprint and environmental impact. For these reasons, Royal Robbins took the physical bug barrier path instead of chemical, focusing on a material that doesn’t actively “repell” bugs, but instead prevents their bites from reaching you.

mosquito yosemite summer visit vacation

Final Thoughts

All-in-all, my testing showed the Wilder Pants from Royal Robbins to be a solid addition to almost any hiker’s kit! The pants are lightweight and breathable, ideal for hot hiking conditions, while still proving very durable and more than capable of handling the rigors of outdoor adventure. Part of this durability is owed to the Mosquito Protection Technology’s tight weave material which prevents mosquito bites from penetrating and reaching your skin. The pants also proved to continue Royal Robbins’ reputation for high quality and effective clothing, with solid craftsmanship, good features, and and clearly designed with hiking and backpacking in mind.
The only downsides from my test were the aesthetics of the high-waist design, which is not my jam, but I recognize that some hikers may like that fit. Lastly, these Wilder Pants are a significant investment in your outdoor adventure clothing, and I only recommend them for folks who know they’ll use these pants to their full potential season after season. If you’re more of an intermittent hiker, then it may not be worth the steep upfront price. But for hikers that get after it all season long, these pants can be a fantastic option!

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