The North Face Meridian Convertible Pant

A lightweight, packable pant that you can wear in the market in a foreign country, or scrambling across rocks in a state forest.

Sure, the cargo pocket's a joke (no bellows), the zippered pocket's only easy to access when you're kneeling or sitting, and the back left pocket is closed by Velcro (which means it's never closed at all — if you've ever had a Velcro pocket like this, you'll know what I mean). But this is a great pair of pants.

Let's start with the lengths. In one pair of pants you have pants, shorts, and clam-diggers, for when you're crossing that stream, or when you've donned your rain pants and don't want the cuffs underneath to get wet.

Let's continue with the back right pocket. Why more clothing doesn't stuff into itself, I will never know. But the Meridian does. Stuff the whole banana in it's own pocket, zip, and there you go: perfectly packed pants.

They're light, and dry fast, with just the right blend of nylon. They don't come with a crappy, good-for-nothing faux-belt (hallelujah, and are you paying attention, Paramount Pant?)

Unfortunately, they also seem to be out of stock (or season), so get 'em while you can. I know I am.

I'm a tall guy, but the regular length suits me just fine. And the shorts aren't an embarrassing Boy Scout length when you zip off the legs.