Gear Review: Kuhl Jeans

June 7, 12:59 PMSalt Lake City Outdoor Recreation ExaminerJared Hargrave

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Testing out the Kuhl Jeans on the trail in Southern Utah.

Kuhl Jeans may be the most awesome pants ever invented. That's a bold statement, but after wearing them for the last few months, I can genuinely say that right now they are my favorite pants. Trying to find a good pair of technical outdoor pants has been a challenge. Most look too... well... technical, while others claim to be water resistant or quick-drying, but really are no better than something that can be bought at Target (only much more expensive.)

Kuhl is a Salt Lake City based clothing company that is dedicated to creating unique and different outdoor products, and their clothes do seem to have an original style. Their proprietary blend of fabrics called Kuhldry is an “evaporative comfort technology” that, according to the company, “gives quick-dry benefits of a technical fabric with unmatched breathability and comfort.” In a nutshell, these pants breathe, dry quickly, are wrinkle resistant, and are really comfortable.

I've been wearing the Kuhl Jeans to work, as well as outside while camping and hiking. Since my job requires me to be outdoors, the Kuhldry fabric really does dry fast whenever I get caught in the rain. In fact, water even beads up and never gets my legs wet when a light rain is falling. The pants are also very cool (or Kuhl) on warm days. The fabric is thin and breathable and I don't feel overheated or sweaty when it's 85 degrees outside in the sun. I also appreciate the large cell phone pocket.

As for how they perform while recreating outdoors, on a recent trip to Southern Utah, the Kuhl Jeans were my go-to pants while hiking around Escalante, or just hanging out by the campfire. But overall, I think the main reason I like these pants is they they are downright comfortable. They almost feel like I'm wearing pajama bottoms, especially because of the soft nylon inner-layer that feels very smooth against the skin.

If I had only one gripe about the Kuhl Jeans, it would be that they are a little baggy. It seems that Kuhl does this on purpose, supposedly because they assume all outdoorsy-types have tree trunks for legs. They even have a name for it, calling baggy an “athletik fit designed to accommodate skiers and mountaineer's thighs.” Unfortunately, I am cursed with skinny chicken legs and even 50 ski days a season won't get me the massive legs required to fill Kuhl's “athletik fit.”

Despite the roomy thighs, I'm such a fan of the Kuhl Jeans that I went out and bought a second pair. They come in four different colors, are available in size 30-40 with inseam lengths of 30, 32 and 34, and retail for $58.