OMM Kamlieka Pants

One thing that has bugged me for a long time is finding waterproof trousers/pants/whateveryoucalltheminyourneckofthewoods, that work while running AND biking. I’ve recently been using Rab Latok Pants and Paramo Cascada Trousers, the first made from eVent fabric and the second from Paramo’s own Analogy fabric. As mentioned in a previous post, the eVent fabric on the Rab pants has been more than disappointing and I have to think twice before putting them in my pack. My old favourite lightweight Macpac pants have got a little cut up from some skiing crashes, and they just aren’t long enough for biking, so I’ve had to go with the Rab’s. The Paramo’s have been awesome but really are a winter choice – they’re just too warm for year round use, and I even find them too warm for really active winter use. Great for walking but running is a bit much for them.

So when OMM recently sent me some Kamlieka Pants to try, I was very interested in seeing how they lived up to some pretty tough standards to go in my kit bag.

Kamleika Pants
Kamleika Pants - £70

For starters they are a good athletic cut and are fairly figure hugging in the legs. Defintitely designed to fit over tights rather than looser walking trousers. The fabric is from Gelanots and is unusual in being a knitted fabric with a hydrphilic coating, meaning it stretches in use and therefore is perfectly suited to running and biking. In partcular on the bike it doesn’t ride up from the ankle anywhere near as much as other waterproof pants I’ve used, the close cut elasticated ankle helping with this too. Waterproofing and breathability seem ok so far but I’ve yet to really test them in bad conditions so we shall see and I’ll report back.  It’s just great to see a product that many neglect to put much effort into because it seems so simple, when in reality it’s quite a difficult mixture of compromises to get something that works for all mutlisports.  These have had some serious thought put into them and I appreciate that.