Gear Review: PrAna Halle Straight Pant
“If I could just say to these designers, finish strong! You were so close! You almost made a really good women’s performance pant! So why give up on these bits that are so easy? Give us regular pockets and keep your dumb buttons!”
Performance pants are all the rage these days. Who wouldn’t like pants that you can travel, hike, bike, walk through a river in, and then not look like a kook when you stroll into town later? The Prana Halle Straight pant says it can do all that, and I’m here to let you know if it lives up to the hype.
If you know me or have read my other reviews, you know that items marketed to female identifying folks are not usually my jam. There are a few reasons I am reviewing these pants anyways. Firstly, this was a pro deal situation where you had to pick a gender, unfortunately. I have tried Prana’s men’s items and generally feel like they are past my threshold for ginormous. Secondly, the straight cut makes these pants an acceptable fit for me. Thirdly, gear is gear. Sometimes you just gotta give it a go.
So, let’s get into it!
The Nitty Gritty:
Quick drying
Ultra light
Upf 50 (I personally never get this because I have never sunburned through a non-upf pair of pants, but if it means something to you, then wooo!)
4-way stretch (these are 97% nylon and 3% elastane)
Articulated knees
Straight cut, no flaring or tapering or any other thing pants can do these days
Can be rolled and snapped below the knee into capris
Many a color to choose from (for some reason I was very attracted to the “earthbound,” which really reminds me of a job I once had feeding sick calves for reasons you can probably infer)
They have an internal drawstring so you don’t have to worry about belting up.
Available in sizes 00 to 22W
The Good:
Lettie rocking the Prana Halle Straight pant in the wild.
The 4-way stretch is real, and they don’t bag out. So hit the check on that.
They are very light weight and pack down super small. I wore these backpacking through Southern Utah in the heat and they were a good choice. They hit the mark on both counts.
The quick dry is real, peeps! You can happily walk through a river or get rained on, and it won’t be too long before you are in dry pants again.
I still haven’t burned through my pants, so thanks upf?
I sized up one size to ensure I wasn’t going to be having tight pants, and so as someone who does not like feminine fitting clothing but also doesn’t want to swim in pants, these can work. If you do prefer more form fitting clothes, these could also work for you in the correct size, or they have a few different versions of these pants made with the same fabric, that might do that better.
The wrinkle resistance is pretty good. You can have the shoved in a little ball in your pack and they won’t be too wrecked when you whip them out.
They have held up very well through many adventures and farm work, with only a little bit of wear in the knees. They are acceptably durable, especially given how lightweight they are.
Most importantly, these are very comfortable pants. The seams don’t rub, the stretch is oh so nice, and the fabric feels good. The rise is high enough to keep your rear covered when doing just about any sort of movement.
They are rather long pants, which being 5’8 I appreciate, but if you don’t hike your pants up to chest level and are 5’6 or under, perhaps consider getting the “short” length. I even wore a pair of the short length pants and it was not humorous. They fit pretty well.
The bad and ugly:
The buttons, the cursed buttons! Between two pairs of these pants, three buttons were lost. Prana, come now, the buttons are simply not good. Why bother having double buttons (first of all, why) if they can’t even hold up half as well as one single button should?
My personal opinion is that the buttons are ugly anyways. No one needs that many bits of metal in front of their nether regions unless they are doing rodeo fashion.
I have the same thoughts on the back pockets with the snaps. Why do I want snaps on my back pockets? To make it impossible to use them? To have little bits of metal dig into my buns when I sit on my hindquarters? To heat up in the sun and give me a little burning thrill on my tush? No thank you! It’s like the people who made these pants were like, hey, we have to do something to let everyone know these are actually women’s pants! How about some useless snaps and buttons because, pretty?
NOOOOOOOO!!!!! Don’t add pointless things to gear just to make it feminine!
Finally, I’m sure you all knew this was coming, but, pockets. Why, why is it always the pockets? It is not going to make your pants any less feminine to have functional pockets. The whole point of these pants is to be functional, and yet you cannot even store a single nut in these sorry excuses for pockets without it slipping out when you squat down. If you have hands the size of a doll’s, you may find these to be the right size pockets for you. If you need a space just large enough to store buttons that can’t stay on pants, well, these pockets can do that.
If however, you have full sized human hands, or like to put anything of substance into a pocket, these simply will not do. Also, there is a welted pocket on the leg, which I just want to smack my own face over. Why would I want to store something on my thigh, creating a protrusion above my knee, instead of just having normal sized pockets in the normal pocket area, you know?
Also, this is not a complaint, just my personal opinion, but I’m not going to wear these if I want to be in public and feeling decent about myself. I don’t think this will be true for all people, but if you are masc or masc-leaning, you may feel similarly and be better off saving your dough for a different pair of pants.
All in all, if I could just say to these designers, finish strong! You were so close! You almost made a really good women’s performance pant! So why give up on these bits that are so easy? Give us regular pockets and keep your dumb buttons!
Final Thoughts:
So, are they worth the $90 price tag?
In my opinion, no. Almost, but no. If a pair of pants costs $90, I want them to be closer to perfect than these are. I don’t want to be sewing on three buttons within six months. I have to believe there are better pants out there for this price point.
That being said, there are a lot of good things about these pants. The fabric is great, they are packable, comfortable, and lightweight. If you like the looks of them, or you have a pro deal, or you can find them used, and you don’t mind sewing the buttons back on, you may find they fit the bill for you.
For all my complaints, I do wear them and find them useful. I will keep doing so until I find a similar pair of pants with better pockets to replace them with.
