ProView – Outdoor Research Voodoo Pants

It’s 1 AM and the alarm on my phone is already blaring at me. “Is it time, already?” I ask myself as I begrudgingly blink my eyes open. Although this is a familiar feeling for me, my body still hates me just as much every time I force it awake for an alpine start. 

I like to be prepared as much as possible the night before an alpine start, that way, I am less likely to forget needed items for our summit bid. Part of this prep is deciding what to wear initially and what to pack, what technical gear is needed for the team, how much food and water is necessary, etc. After years of practice and teaching this as well as dozens of climbs of volcanoes and peaks here in the PNW this process has been truncated for me to a ten minute process as I’m drinking my evening tea. However, it starts actually before I’m even on the peak, it starts at home when packing for a trip.

When I pack for an adventure, I try to choose items that will serve me in the most ideal way in order for me to have the best experience possible. Basically, i’m looking for maximum versatility. One item I do not want to second guess or wish I would have brought something different is what I  wear every single day in the mountains, my softshell pants. 

I have owned several different pairs of softshell pants from several different manufacturers and it’s pretty clear to me that not all softshell pants are created with versatility in mind. When I had the opportunity to try a new pair of softshell pants from one of my favorite companies I was excited to see if they would fill the shoes as my go to, do all, softshell pant.

Fit

To say that I was disappointed by my first impression of the Outdoor Research Voodoo Pant is a bit of an understatement. I was actually kinda angry. Here’s why: for some reason, I have a difficult time finding pants that fit me well. Either they are too small in thigh/butt or they are too big in the waist. These Voodoo Pants by OR were no different. 

I had ordered size 32, based on already owning another pair of OR pants in a size 32 that I loved. Very unfortunately, the Voodoo pants were skin tight around the mid to upper thighs and butt, yet the waist was still loose enough that I had to wear a belt. Immediately I knew that these would not be the do-all pant I was hoping for.

My initial impressions of the fit melted any other objective impressions I could have mustered.

Features

The Voodoo Pants have been around for a few years now and have gotten great reviews. The one complaint I heard a lot was the shallow front pockets. I am very glad to say that OR fixed this problem and the new front hand pockets are pretty fantastic. Conversely, the front thigh zipper pocket was grossly misplaced and rendered unusable as a result. The placement of this pocket baffled me. It was placed on the front of the right thigh directly over the knee. Furthermore, the stitching for this pocket ran directly over my knee cap and was felt with each stride I made. 

The durable, water-resistant, stretchy softshell material these pants were made of definitely lived up to each of those claims. I wore these pants rock climbing, hiking, mountaineering, backpacking, and around town for dinners and beers without them hardly looking like a day of use. The DWR is still going strong even after a couple of months of use. And the movement mirroring stretch seemed sufficient for any type of movement, given a better, more generous fit.

My biggest gripe with these pants is the fit. My initial impressions left me thinking they were simply too tight in the thighs for anything other than going to the brewery for dinner. This still rings true for me, but with the amount of stretch they have, I found that the cut and construction of the pants and not the material was the real culprit. I had a difficult time making any sort of high step while rock climbing or hiking. My legs, and thighs in particular, felt restricted with any big movements. Similarly, the slimness of the cut made these pants unusable for colder weather mountaineering as they were too tight to wear any base layers underneath. 

Quality and Durability

As stated above, over the past several weeks I have put these pants through the wringer. The quality of the stitching and the durability of the fabric is top-notch. I have yet to see any signs of wear. 

Final Word

I have always had a love-hate relationship with pants in general. It is a constant struggle to find technical pants with a good fit that function in the capacity that I need them to. It seems like there is always a missing piece to the puzzle. The OR Voodoo Pants hit the mark on some aspects such as durability and weather resistance but completely missed it on others such as fit. The search goes on for the perfect softshell pants!

Shop the Outdoor Research Men’s VooDoo Pants on Outdoor Prolink. Not a member? Apply today!