UKC

How hard wearing is soft shell equipment eg. Mountain Equipment G2 pants or Patagonia Mixmaster Pants? Are they suitable for extended mountaineering trips and am I right in assuming that a hard shell waterproof overtrousers/bibs will be required? Also how insulated are these? I'm used to wearing thermal tights, ultrafleece trousers with a pair of hardshell bibs. Any comments on this kit would be great.

In reply to Hamish:

havtn used them on mountaneering trips but have used the g2 s for scottish winter in the corries. Very impressed, much more comfortable than shell, got cold knees whilst belaying in a semi hanging stance but apart from that no concerns whatsoever.

i wore power stretch underneith and it was crappy wet snow/ rain turning to ice snow and i was not wet and i dint get half as sweaty as i do in my normal shell. also managed to stick a crampon into it and didnt rip when my shell would have been in half.

In reply to Hamish:

extended mountaineering trips ? --- well for alpine use the mixmaster pants wont need adding too. They are hard wearing, warm, windproof and dry out very quickly with body heat. With softshell make sure you get a good body fit for full benefit. The trousers are less forgiving than hardshell if you suffer with poor crampon technique as they snag quite easily.

In reply to Hamish:
Got the G2 pants recently and I'm very impressed. I wear them with thin bottoms underneath and they have been plenty warm enough, tested on some very cold days too. No need for gaiters either. I forgot my gaiters on my first outing with them and thought I would rip them to bits. I haven't even snagged them yet as they are quite slim fitting around the ankle. All round very good troosers and no faffing about with salopettes/gaiters, etc and the bottom of the route.
As for how they wear, to soon too tell but so far so good..
The only drawback may be if you've got sparrow legs, they are quite loose fitting which are perfect for my tree trunks.

In reply to Hamish: the Mixmaster trousers are fantastic, so good you dont want to take them off even after a long days winter climbing, I even keep them on the car on the way back home, amazing things. Very tough as well. Highly Recommended.

In reply to Hamish:

I replaced a similar combo to yours with Mixmasters and they are 100% better all round. I sometimes carry a pair of very light (Precip) overtrousers as well in bad weather but haven't had to wear them yet.