Arc’teryx Gamma AR Pants,  $199;  arcteryx.com

The Good: Athletic fit with tapered legs.

The Bad: No rear pockets, chintzy belt buckle.

The Awesome: Wind and precipitation resistant with supreme breathability.

It’s cold but you still want to run outside or take your mountain bike out on the trails without getting frost bite. You’re comfortable in your manhood but you’re not a big fan of tights. Ski pants are too bulky to wear while running or riding. Jeans get soaked and do almost nothing to stop cold winds. Traditional hiking pants are usually made of too thin a fabric to do much good in truly cold weather.

What to do?

Enter the Arc’teryx Gamma AR pant. Arc’teryx’s AR series of clothing are designed for “all-round” use. The Gamma pant fits that bill perfectly: they’re durable, breathable, wind and moisture resistant and designed for alpine climbing. our founder wore a pair ice climbing in Chamonix, and he loved them. I know they work well for running and mountain biking in cold weather. They’re abrasion-resistant - the briars and brambles through which I’ve ridden and run haven’t bothered them a bit. I even slapped the traction pins of the platform pedals on my fat bike into the back of my calf while wearing these pants. No signs of any damage at all.

The front zippered pockets and zippered right thigh pocket are all very nice. Back pockets would be nice too. I plan to wear these for cold weather adventure races and you can never have too many pockets in an adventure race. The absence of back pockets isn’t a big deal but there is room for improvement on these pants. They’re almost perfect.  Almost.

The one gripe I have is the integrated belt. Once tightened, the excess belt feeds into the waistband of the pants – albeit not very easily. Moreover, the buckle seems rather poorly designed. It’s come unbuckled more than once during strenuous activity.

On the good news front, the four-way stretch fabric and gusseted crotch allow plenty of articulation. Running and riding are very comfortable. And, the breathability of these pants is incredible. I have yet to find any perspiration on the inside of them after a run or ride even when my upper layer (which is of a similar, supposedly breathable, material from a different manufacturer) is soaked in perspiration.

One other nifty feature that I haven’t had the chance to fully test is the static cord closure on the cuffs. Supposedly, this feature negates the need for gaiters. We’ll see ….

One final note: I would like to say a special thank you to Canfield’s Sporting Goods of Omaha, NE where I purchased the reviewed pants.