When it comes to men’s shorts, we’re spoiled for choice right now: cargos and jorts are back; chino versions never left; linen numbers are keeping things breezy. But the best hiking shorts have something special to offer: freedom.
From the knee down, they offer ventilation. From the ankle up? Pure liberation. Great hiking shorts are built tough, of course—with featherweight nylon or ripstop blends, often with a touch of spandex for that crucial stretch factor. Reinforced stitching, gusseted crotches, and built-in belts add functionality. Add in UPF sun protection and DWR coatings, and you’ve got high-performance shorts built to go anywhere.
But the best hiking shorts are more than technical wonders—they’re also happy to hang out in the city with loafers and a loosely buttoned shirt as they are to notch a seven-mile out-and-back in Alltrails. We’ve rounded up a dozen pairs of the best hiking shorts from legends of the game (like Patagonia, The North Face and Gramicci) to newcomers like ROA, Big Rock Candy Mountaineering and 18 East. Grab a pair, then get out there—even if “out there” involves sipping pilsners by a lake.
If you were going to construct one of the most iconic hiking shorts, you’d probably start with some durable elastic on the inside and a tough, adjustable belt on the outside. It’d then be reasonable to add a pair of deep pockets at the front, and then probably a couple in the back that fasten shut in some manner. You would also want a bit of room, because of range of motion, and then you’d add a gusseted crotch for the same reason. Finally, you’d want to be able to buy them in a range of materials, because duh. Congratulations, you just built the Gramicci G Short, which was developed by a Yosemite-dwelling Stonemaster and can handle thousands of feet of vertical, as well as anything your weekend at sea level has to offer.
If you think we’re cheating by including the Baggies on yet another list of shorts, you’re kind of right but also you’re impossibly wrong because a) these are the slightly-longer sibling of the much-extolled-upon 5” pair and b) the Baggies are good at nearly everything and not including them on a list like this just because they’re on some others wouldn’t be doing anyone justice. And in regards to the 7″ inseam, not only do you get a little extra fabric for any bushwacking endeavors, it also flatters everyone. The elastic waistband is cozy without turning into a tourniquet, and the mesh liner keeps you fresh for the trail, tide, or taco truck. They somehow seem to get better the more you try to destroy them, too. Fair warning: once you go Baggies, it’s hard to go back.
To be very clear, these are good hiking shorts that can—and should—be worn whilst hiking. The featherweight ripstop is impressively rugged, you’ll find all the requisite pockets, and some and the internal belt is as secure and innovative as any in the game. But if you’re also looking to turn some heads in a setting more known for turning heads, these will keep ‘em on a swivel.
A pair of hiking shorts made with hyper-responsive technical fabric is always nice on the trail, but if you’re looking for something that wears as comfortably (and rationally) to the bar as it does in the backcountry, the Doubleback Short is as good as it gets. Allegedly inspired by one of the most iconic vintage styles in the game, these are (literally) the type you’d see scaling El Cap before people were really doing that sort of thing.
Pocket space might not be of the highest concern when considering a pair of hiking shorts—backpacks also hike well and have ample space—it can be nice to know you can load up your pockets without compromising comfort. Enter TNF’s Class V Pathfinder 7” Shorts, which take all the bulk out of your classic cargos by integrating two inconspicuous zipper pockets at the sides, allowing you to maximize carrying capacity without looking like a packmule. Oh, and these are as quick-drying as any in the mix.
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
Source: www.gq.com
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