Arc'teryx Gamma AR Pant

So close, SO CLOSE; these pants are amazing. The fit, the mobility, the stretch, the sizing, but why couldn't you just put the littlest back pocket on there for before and after the wilds? -when I need to stick a license, credit card, and twenty bucks somewhere accessible?!

The pants in the field:

Whether hiking, backpacking, nordic skiing, snowshoeing, or even wearing these pants under my ski pants on a quick, lunch-break-tour of my favorite alpine trails around our resort, these pants rate an excellent in fit, performance, and comfort.

On long, mellow hikes in New Hampshire's White Mountains, these pants move with my natural gait, breathe well (with pockets unzipped and ventilating), and even integrate nicely with my gaiters to avoid riding up with my high steps. As an unintended base layer, when I get a sweet forty-minutes to throw on my spare ski gear and rip some hot groomer-laps, while nobody is looking, these pants are never sweaty, never bunch up, and actually, when encased in hard shell bibs, offer a lovely bit of comfort and insulation while riding the quad to the mountain top.

The pants all the rest of the time:

Now, here is where I run into a versatility issue: these pants look super cool, right? We know Arc'teryx has always had mountaineering-models providing input on their gear design since the late nineties, when we all first fell in love with their high-dollar, but high-awesome, gear. Now that I have established myself, and can semi-comfortably self apply the title, Outdoor Professional, I wear my Gamma AR's as my everyday work pants too. The integrated belt can be a drawback when seeking to tuck in a v-neck baselayer and call it business casual, but fortunately, the outdoor industry remains relaxed about presentation.

The ultimate drawback, and really only drawback (unless you want to argue price, but honestly, I have run Arc'teryx gear through all the ringers—the equipment simply holds up), -the drawback is the lack of back pockets. Now I have been mocked far and wide for having, what some pants-connoisseurs refer to as a "Frog Butt." (see image below) This is true. I have too little butt for my height and weight. I can do very little about this (trust me, it's not for lack of squats). Despite the hard efforts toward shapeliness that these pants provide for someone in my condition, they still offer me nothing in the way of wallet storage.

Arc'teryx, can you hear me? Please, slap a patch pocket on there for us everyday folks. When I am in the field, my wallet is in a ziplock that I have had for three seasons. It holds my big three: license, credit card, and cash. When I am hitchhiking back to my car, grabbing pints after a day in the field, or just working my tail off at my job, I require a place for my front-country equipment. A back pocket, even a simple one that neither decreases mobility, nor increases the price, would suffice beautifully.

All in all:

Buy these pants. They are amazing. You just may have to wear a fancy backpack with them, at all times, if a lack of pocket volume and quantity hangs you up. Perhaps we can all wear those travel purses around our necks or the ones that hide, softly, like a whisper, behind our belts, inside our trousers... Of course I kid, but if you don't want fanny packs and neck wallets to be a thing at your next apres gathering, well Arc'teryx, the balls are all in your court.

Background

I am an outdoor professional in the ski and hike industry. I work in management as well as in the field.