I decided on Mountain Hardwear Epic Pant with Conduit Silk. For an upcoming trip to the French Alps with Liverpool University I was stuck. We were given a specific requirement that every member of the group must have a full set of waterproofs. I was well covered for my top half with my MHW FTX Ultra jacket, but for my legs came a dilemma. I could wait out and see if any high quality W/B pants were available on ebay or opt for a cheap and cheerful pair from Millets. After giving up on ebay and refusing to buy something from Millets I opted for Mountain Hardwear Epic Pant with Conduit Silk for £50 from snow and rock. These weren't exactly the super tough pants I had in mind but being Mountain Hardwear I can imagine them lasting a long time. Again with all MHW products the fit is superb and the quality is fantastic yet I am a bit sceptical of how well these pants will perform crawling over glacial moraine in the high alps. Though so far they're doing great. I recently tried them out climbing in mixed weather up the Malvern Hills and needless to say they didn't do as well as I had hoped! However being mainly for treking I did push them a bit. The Conduit Silk 3000g/sm/24hr breath ability is perfectly acceptable for a dawdle up something like the Malvern Hills and I have a clear conscience that they will do me proud in the Alps. They were bought as weather protection whilst carrying out glacial studies so I'm perfectly happy with them. Of course I would not recommend them to a high energy mountain sportsman as they are simply just not breathable enough!

These are the perfect W/B pants for day hikers who would require a pair for about 30 min in a downpour as their super light weight allows them to be stuffed away and forgotten as I hope they will with me.