Opinion: Columbia’s Saturday Trail, Best Women’s World Tour Pants

Even if I have become a digital nomad and do less treks, I still keep the habit of wearing technical clothes, like merino wool tops because they are very breathable. Some of my clothes are even water repellent. And in terms of design, we’re getting better and better.

I used to wear Decathlon pants but I didn’t like the texture so I wore my cotton pants as soon as possible and reserved these cardboard pants for real treks. But it’s a shame because it means that there are pants sleeping in the backpack most of the time.

And then, I discovered the Saturday Trail model at Columbia (from 31€, Amazon link) and I fell in love with it. After 2 years, mine is still in excellent condition. The model I chose is the pants that can be transformed into pants.

Columbia has another model in the same style: pants that can be converted into shorts, called Convertible Pants Saturday Trail™ II ( from 60€, Amazon link), but I find that the shorts aren’t short enough, so I prefer to have a real pair of shorts next to them.

The Cloth

At first glance, it doesn’t look like it, but this fabric is a concentrate of technologies

• Omni-Shield™ advanced repellency
  • anti-stain technology. Even though my pants are ivory white, I have to admit that the stains never stayed on them for long. OK, I will have a stain if I fall in the mud, but after washing, this stain will be gone
  • water-repellent fabric: if water or coffee is poured on me, the water will run down my pants and leave. On the other hand, if it rains lightly, the small drops may wet the pants, but not to the point of getting wet. I wore it in Iceland in April (with warm leggings underneath). I obviously don’t go under a waterfall with it but for a normal trek with a little rain it’s perfect.
• Omni-Shade™ UPF 50 sun protection: anti-UV technology. It’s true that I didn’t get a sunburn while wearing these pants.

The fabric is quite stretchy (stretchy), which allows free movement without fear of tearing your pants ahaha. The touch is super soft and it’s a complete change from the cardboard pants at Decathlon.

The Cup

The cut is really very well done. Even if they are hiking pants, just add a belt and it fits without any problem in an urban environment. It can cause a little problem when you put something very heavy in the zipped pocket: as you can see on the picture, you can see my iPhone a little too well!

Pockets

There are 2 front pockets (without closure), 2 back pockets (velcro closure) and a zippered pocket. It would have been cool to have more zipped pockets, but hey… I often put the equivalent of 10€ in this zipped pocket (it’s invisible) and the rest (credit card, iPhone) in my body pocket.

Size

At Levi’s, I wear size 25.

At Columbia, my size is 2/S or 34FR with a short crotch.

Correspondence	USA	XS	S	M	L	XL
SIZE FR – BE		34	36-38	40-42	44-46	48-50
POITRINE	in cm	81-84	86-89	91-95	99-103	107-113
SIZE	in cm	65-67	70-72	75-77	81-85	90-95
HIPS	in cm	88-90	93-95	98-102	105-109	114-119

I would have liked a smaller size (at the belly and legs, it’s a little wide but at the hips, it’s OK). That said, if you put a belt on, it fits much better.

About my size 2/S = 2 is the size (like 36 or XS)

S = short crotchR
= standard crotchL
= long

crotch

Inseam = distance between the seam at the inseam and the hem

Weight

454 grams

Confort

I don’t know how they do it on the breathable side, but they are super breathable, super comfortable to wear and very light.

Even if I had a lot of doubts when I chose light colored pants for trekking, the anti-stain, water repellent technologies etc. still assure me a nearly clean pant at the end of the trek. There are some small traces of mud at the ankle but it is absolutely not visible and these stains go away very quickly, I just have to rinse this part under water quickly.

If you’re hot, you can also pull up the pants and turn them into pants. Here is the system allowing to do it:

What about winter use?

Alone, it will not be enough. I wear it with (ski) leggings or normal tights, or technical tights. It’s the onion technique: wearing several layers instead of relying on one warm garment.

Washing & Drying

You know that I am not the kind of person who is a slave to my objects. I don’t even know how one is supposed to take care of them.

I wash it as I can, I dry it as I can, with the laundry I can find, or I entrust it to a laundromat. Thus, it has passed through the hands of the pros, as if it were not pros, underwent washing, or no washing, hand or machine washings, and the result after 2 years

• the fabric is always water-repellent (see photo above)
• the fabric is always anti-stain
• the fabric is in very good condition, it’s fluffy a little bit on 3-4cm, but there is no hole
• the zippers and press studs are all functional

If I have to hand wash it, it dries overnight. This is what I did for my trek in the Amazon.
The same Decathlon pants, which suffered the same fate, not only stank after an afternoon in the Amazon, but also became a kind of cardboard box after hand washing. While the one from Columbia remains soft and doesn’t smell.

How much does it cost and where to buy it?

New and without promotion, it costs about 70€, but I buy it on promotion and I got it for 31€. It’s a timeless model, and available every year, so wait for promotions to buy it.
Prices are cheaper on Amazon, year round (-10€ in general), you can find it here

The other model, which turns into shorts, is made with the same fabric. It costs 10€ more and can be found here (Amazon link)