Athleta  Headlands Hybrid Cargo II Tights - Women's

I purchased these for a backpacking trip in the mountains, wanting a rugged bottom that could shrug off most small thorns and shrubs, give me a warm hike in cool/cold weather, and give me the movement needed for uphill, downhill, and some moderate scrambles. I sized up from my usual 6/8 to a size 10 because I wanted room for movement and "big steps" in the mountain terrain. It was a good decision. If you're on the fence about sizing-- order one size up. I found them to be really well adapted to hiking in the backcountry! A few items I thought were great: 1. The drawstring waist combats the "stretched out" feel of most leggings on day 2 or 3 of wear in the backcountry, avoiding any sagging. I had no need to yank them back up mid-hike, unlike some other styles. Great addition. 2. Super functional cargo pockets are low profile but large enough to hold what I needed - phone (in its case) on the right leg for photo ops, and a few small items in the left pocket like fruit leather and drink powder. Zippers have hardware large enough to use while wearing gloves, which was much appreciated, but fold flat against the pants for a no-snag and no-hassle flattened position when not in use. 3. Great color choices. The green is really nice. The durable fabric held up well to sitting on all manner of surfaces -- leaf litter, pea gravel, river rock, boulders, sand, and dirt with out becoming frayed, soiled, or that fuzzy look we all remember from swimsuit bottoms at the community pool. Remember that? That didn't happen. Good choice of material. It still has stretch, bit it isn't TOO soft. Changes I would recommend: 1. Reverse the zipper hardware on the front of the abdomen so the the "zipped-closed" position has the zipper head down and away from the waist. I had to hike with the pockets unzipped to keep the zipper heads out from underneath where the hip belt of my pack would pressurize them into being little hot-spots. 2. Incorporate a back-of-the-leg closure (zipper? Hook and loop? Or maybe simply more stretch?) so that I could have an easier time getting them up to (and maybe over) my knees for creek crossings. That was super difficult to slide them up over my calves and back down wet skin on the other side of the water. 3. I'd love to have this in a sedate rusty orange color - thinks Sedona Arizona rocks. Overall I was very pleased with the bottoms, and I think just a few adjustments could make them a really really excellent choice. Right now, they're a very good choice with almost no downsides.

The back of the pants is a different fabric. It is thin, stretchy and not water resistant at all. I'm afraid of sliding down the boulder on my butt with these pants. It would be great if Athleta made the pants out of the fabric in the front which is much more rugged. I'm 5'3", 26" waist, 36" hip. Both sizes 0 and 2 fit comfortably, but there is always some obvious bunching around the knees. Length wise, the petite is too short, the regular is 1/2" too long.