I've had a par of the SG De Havilland Lite pants for bout two months now. Have put them through the paces with a couple days of predator hunting and a ten km scouting trip today in ~95f heat in the back country. Here are my thoughts:
Material:
I was surprised at how water repellant these pants are. I didn't buy them for this purpose but the bead water very well and I have stayed dry in moderate rain. They are not, however, very breathable. This is obviously mitigated by the hip vents which are great and basically run the whole length of your leg with dual zippers and are great -- but I was hiking through thick mosquito country today so didnt want to expose any skin for bloodbugs and paid the price with the pants soaked through from the knee down.
Fit:
I am 6'5 and 225lbs and got a large-tall. Despite my best efforts, I don't have huge quads or much junk in the trunk, but I am not built like a pencil either. These pants definitely fit on the slimmer side and I think they may be too tight if you were thicker in the legs than I am. For someone built like I am, they fit perfectly.
Pockets:
The hip pockets are placed very well and are easily accessed when wearing a pack. Good depth etc on them and you can definitely cram some stuff in there without noticing. I never worried about anything falling out. The thigh pockets are also placed well and easily accessed. A slight issue is that the buttons on them, while very silent,, are sometimes difficult to snap shut with one hand and a few times I thought I closed them when I did not. All around, I am happy with the pockets on them -- I don't like pants that are loaded down with tons of pockets all over and the position and size of these are great.
Color:
I have these in the "muskeg" color. The color is a little different than how it looks online -- more tan and less brown. It is closer to a "coyote" solid color. It is definitely a versatile color for the areas I hunt and I actually like the color of the actual product more than what it looked like online.
Noise:
This was my biggest concern prior to buying the pants. They are loud but I don't find it to be as big an issue as others have raised. They noise has definitely chilled out after using them for a couple of months and washing them a couple of times.
Overall, these are an obviously well-constructed piece of gear and I think well-worth the money. They will probably be my go-to pant for hot weather hiking/hunting. Let me know if you have any questions -- I also got the SG merino T-shirt in SS and LS which i was impressed with and can review if anyone is interested.
Material:
I was surprised at how water repellant these pants are. I didn't buy them for this purpose but the bead water very well and I have stayed dry in moderate rain. They are not, however, very breathable. This is obviously mitigated by the hip vents which are great and basically run the whole length of your leg with dual zippers and are great -- but I was hiking through thick mosquito country today so didnt want to expose any skin for bloodbugs and paid the price with the pants soaked through from the knee down.
Fit:
I am 6'5 and 225lbs and got a large-tall. Despite my best efforts, I don't have huge quads or much junk in the trunk, but I am not built like a pencil either. These pants definitely fit on the slimmer side and I think they may be too tight if you were thicker in the legs than I am. For someone built like I am, they fit perfectly.
Pockets:
The hip pockets are placed very well and are easily accessed when wearing a pack. Good depth etc on them and you can definitely cram some stuff in there without noticing. I never worried about anything falling out. The thigh pockets are also placed well and easily accessed. A slight issue is that the buttons on them, while very silent,, are sometimes difficult to snap shut with one hand and a few times I thought I closed them when I did not. All around, I am happy with the pockets on them -- I don't like pants that are loaded down with tons of pockets all over and the position and size of these are great.
Color:
I have these in the "muskeg" color. The color is a little different than how it looks online -- more tan and less brown. It is closer to a "coyote" solid color. It is definitely a versatile color for the areas I hunt and I actually like the color of the actual product more than what it looked like online.
Noise:
This was my biggest concern prior to buying the pants. They are loud but I don't find it to be as big an issue as others have raised. They noise has definitely chilled out after using them for a couple of months and washing them a couple of times.
Overall, these are an obviously well-constructed piece of gear and I think well-worth the money. They will probably be my go-to pant for hot weather hiking/hunting. Let me know if you have any questions -- I also got the SG merino T-shirt in SS and LS which i was impressed with and can review if anyone is interested.
