Kuhl Renegade Cargo Convertible Review

If you are looking to carry as little as possible without compromising safety or comfort, convertible pants — pants that have zippers that allow you to remove the bottom half of the legs to wear them as shorts — are a good option. These weigh a little more than regular hiking pants but save you from carrying an extra piece of clothing in your pack. The Renegade Cargo Convertible pants also feature double cargo pockets that can hold snacks, a phone, a map, lip balm, and whatever other items you want close at hand while hiking.

Performance Comparison

Comfort and Mobility

With their gusseted crotch and articulated knees, the Renegade Cargo Convertible offers a more spacious fit than the many slim or straight-legged pants in this review. The waist and pelvis region also fit comfortably without any hint of constriction. We were also pleasantly surprised by how soft the nylon fabric felt against our skin. The one strike against these pants in the comfort metric is that the convertible zipper seam, which encompasses the lower thigh, creates an obvious rub point against the skin as the wearer moves their legs. This situation is not uncommon for convertible pants, but we still think it detracts from their overall comfort.

Venting and Breathability

To facilitate ventilation, this model comes with mesh liners in both its two front handwarmer pockets as well as the two rear pockets. Though it does not have mesh vents in the two cargo pockets on the side of each leg, the slightly looser fit made us feel cooler when the temperatures rose. Of course, as a convertible model, these pants also feature removable lower legs. Without undergoing the full conversion, though, we found that we could unzip the convertible zippers partway for added ventilation and that we could also wholly unzip the vertical lower-leg zippers, designed to make it easy to take off the pant legs while still wearing boots or shoes. However, the predominantly nylon fabric itself was not super light or breathable in our testing.

Weather Resistance

In our shower testing, these pants were effective enough at repelling a light spray for a short period, but it seemed as if much of the DWR coating had worn off during our three-month test period. Low-wear areas like the lower legs were doing a pretty good job of helping the water runoff without soaking in, but in the thighs and butt, water absorption started taking place almost immediately. The good news is that the 95% Duralux nylon didn't absorb very much water. This low absorption meant they dried out fairly quickly after being hung up to dry. By no means did this pant match the performance of models in the top tier of this review, but we wouldn't call their performance a distinct liability.

Features

This pant is one of the highest performers when it comes to features. Not only did it have more features than any other model, but we were pleased to discover that they performed as advertised.

We have already mentioned most of the features included on these pants, including the vertical zippers at the bottom of the pants that allow them to fit over a pair of boots or shoes and the snap buttons on the cuffs that will enable you to keep them closed with the zippers open for ventilation.

The dual cargo pockets, found on each side of the leg, each have different compartments within them to aid in organization and to keep small items from getting jostled. The only thing we didn't love was that the front snap button sometimes came undone on us during activity. Whereas other Kuhl pants have the “French flap” interior button that helps the waist fit well, this pant lacks that feature which makes it easier for that snap to come undone.

Versatility

These pants have decent versatility. While hiking or backpacking, these pants set you up for success with plenty of pockets for storing all of your necessities as well as the option to convert them into shorts. With their UPF 50+ rating, they will protect you from the high-altitude sun, and their tight nylon weave and DWR coating will also keep you reasonably dry in gentle rain — as long as you regularly reapply it. We also found them to be durable enough for heavy outdoor work, and we wore them with success on many nights of camping in the dirt. They look decent enough to wear around town as well.

Should You Buy the Kuhl Renegade Cargo?

The Kuhl Renegade Cargo Convertible pants have a great combination of useful features. For those who like the convenience and functionality of plenty of pockets, as well as zip-off legs, this model is worth a look. Though they weren't one of the most comfortable pairs that we tried on, overall, most people would find them sufficient for the most common day hikes and around-town wear.

What Other Hiking Pants Should You Consider?

For convertible pants, we also recommend looking at the more comfortable and more breathable REI Sahara Convertible. If you're not set on the zip-off legs, but do want plenty of comfort and mobility, check out the Outdoor Research Ferrosi and Patagonia Quandary. For more situational and weather versatility, the Arc'teryx Gamma Pant is also worth a look.