Outdoor Research Women's Cirque Pants - 30 Day Review

This review is of the Outdoor Research Women's Cirque pants, and is done through the experiences of Mrs Stick covering 30 days of use ranging from lounging around the house, to 6500" up the side of Mt Rainier in the winter.

Outdoor clothing for females has been traditionally men's clothing shrunk down into size extra small, and then magically labeled for women.  At least that is how my wife, and most other women I've talked to have looked at it.  The problem with this is that women aren't the same as men, they aren't built the same, they don't look the same, and they don't look at clothing the same way most guys do.  The problem in her mind is the need for outdoor winter wear which is functional for snow shoeing, hiking and other winter activities, while still allowing for a look that flatters the female form.

Her mission, which became my mission, was to find outer wear that looked good, and was as functional as it looked.  Click the image for more pictures, specs, and 30 days with the OR Cirque pants.

more

The review was intended to be primarily based on snowshoeing on Mt Rainier, but in addition to this, these OR Cirque pants were used for everything from hiking, trips to the store, outdoors in snowstorms, and lounging around the house as well.  Mrs Stick felt these activities were equally important, and that the female readers would want to know more than just about trips up and down mountains.

Outdoor Research list these pants as being technical soft-shell pants being designed for high energy outdoor activities in alpine environments.  They are water, wind and weather resistant with a light fleece insulation with a double-weave, stretch woven fabric.  Manufacturer specs at the bottom of the article.

I asked my wife to describe the pants to me, and she immediately blurted out "they are awesome!"  We spent several hours at sporting goods stores looking through different pants and jackets, and most guys will attest to the joy of clothes shopping being somewhere around that of water boarding after a certain amount of time.  The problem wasn't the amount of different pants available, it was all how the pants looked.  Not being a complete idiot, I understand that clothes look different on a hanger than they do on a person. However,  when I'm trying clothes on, its to see if they fit, not to see how I look.  Some of the pants she tried on look like floppy duffel bags, others seemed fine to me, but none met up with what she had in mind.  I'm currently working on outwear reviews for OR mens clothing, so I asked if she was willing to try the OR female line.  She agreed, and when they arrived, she tried them on and immediately said "they look great".

With the primary comment being how good the OR Cirque pants looked, the next level of importance was fit and comfort.  The fit and comfort around the house is one thing, and she loved them saying they felt like she was wearing a favorite pair of pajamas.  The fit outdoors and while actually doing something is of more interest to me, and probably to most readers as well.  Our excursion to Mt Rainier for snowshoeing while loaded up with a pack was going to be a much more honest assessment of the pants in my mind.  They excelled in this area.  The lightly insulated pants kept her warm before we got moving, during strenuous activity they breathed well, and on breaks sitting in the snow she never got wet or chilled.  The adjustable waist tab was used, and she commented it was great to see something that basic work that well.  Once adjusted, they never loosened, and the adjustment was super easy even with the pack on.  The Cirque never rubbed, chaffed, had any pinch points or felt "weird" at any time.  The gusseted crotch worked well, and the articulated knees were great preventing bunching or pulling.  They remained super comfortable from the time she put them on, throughout the entire trip and back again.

The boot lace clip is one of the features that probably could have been used while snowshoeing, and so was the drawstring cuffs, but we had no problems without it due to the fairly well packed snow.  If we were in heavy powder, those features would have been important.  The pockets were pointed out as something easily accessible, and she used the map pocket repeatedly as my pants were hard shells and had no such feature.

The pants were very versatile, both from the point of view of different conditions they were used in (from house to mountains), but also in that they were able to be layered with a base layer/ tights if the weather grew too cold.  Mrs Stick is 5'10" and weighs 125lbs, the pants fit perfectly and are a medium.  Even with her long legs there were no issues.

When we look at the price, the OR Cirque pants list with a MSRP of $125.  The pants we looked at in stores were as cheap as $100 on clearance, to several hundred dollars, but none of them fit and felt as good as the Cirque.  There is no question that these are well worth the price, and the more we looked at other pants, the more of a bargain these became.  My wife pointed out that even if the Cirque didn't have all the features, didn't block wind, didn't keep her warm and dry or weren't as comfortable, it still would have been worth the price to look good as opposed to "paying more and looking like a marshmallow".

We end this with 30 days of using the Outdoor Research Female Cirque Pants, and finding no negatives at all.  From lounging around the house, to being 6500' up on Mt Rainier, we've found no way to improve these pants.  When asked for a closing comment for the article, she happily said to let women know "its like wearing super comfortable pajamas you look good in".  In my mind, how can you really ask for more than that?

* Note* The pants appear lighter in the studio pictures than the do outdoors, that is a matter of how the images were shot.  In real life, they are a very dark gray or black.

Manufacturers information is shown below.

[nggallery id=527]

In Other News

How the government shutdown is affecting troops, families

The current effects of the shutdown on installation programs and services vary from base to base.

Financial resources for troops if the government shutdown stops pay

From banks and credit unions to the military relief societies, help will be available.

Here’s how a government shutdown would affect VA services

Veterans' health care and benefits processing won't be affected, but other services would stop during a government shutdown.

Senator ‘alarmed’ about barracks privatization, seeks answers from DOD

Given the Defense Department's history with family housing privatization, the Pentagon should "move cautiously," one senator said.

DOD needs to shore up help for troops with gambling problems, GAO says

More clarity is needed to define who's responsible for certain steps to prevent and treat gambling disorder among troops, government auditors said.

Load More