Outdoor Research Contour Short : Vedauwoo Tough

I took a weekend trip lately to Vedauwoo, Wyoming, a surreal landscape of jumbled granite boulders that are covered with sharp little crystals. Rock hopping is painful enough; climbing there is another story entirely. Climbers must wear taped gloves, and many tape their long sleeve shirts to their wrists to protect their forearms. Vedauwoo, in other words, was a great place to test the durability of my new Contour Shorts made by Outdoor Research.

The Contour shorts are OR's climbing-inspired soft-shell short (also available in a pant). They're made of a fabric that's a blend of Cordura, nylon, and stretchy spandex. I love the fabric because it offers the best of all worlds: Cordura is bombproof and highly wear-resistant -- a necessity for places like Vedauwoo -- while the spandex helped the shorts stretch a lot. That's great for climbing because it gives me a lot more freedom of motion than normal cotton shorts. The fabric is also highly breathable, which I love. Wyoming was hot, but the shorts kept my body dry and cool. I actually took a cool-off swim in a little lake, and the shorts dried really fast.

The fit and finish on the Contour shorts is outstanding. The waist is true to size (the size medium fit my 32" waist perfectly) and the inseam, at 10 inches, is an ideal length. I loved OR's attention to details, too. The shorts have four pockets, each with a welded waterproof-style zipper--the type found on many backpacks. This zips keep the shorts trim; there's no extraneous pocket fabric to get caught on things. I've actually destroyed shorts running through thick brush before because stray branches have snagged the pockets and caused big tears. Also, when thrashing around hopelessly on some heinous Vedauwoo crack, it was nice being able to zip up the pockets and not have to worry about my climbing gear finding its way into them. That's happened before! I also really like the fact that the waist band has no elastic, so it fits flat under my harness or backpacking hip belt. That means all-day comfort and no chafing.

All in all, I say 10 out of 10 for the new Contour shorts. I think I'll be picking myself up a pair of the pants as well.

Bottom Line : Stretchy, abrasion-resistant, all purpose outdoor short - N.W. (May '08)

Price : $75

Price : , e-omc.com ,

Manufacturer's Site:  www.outdoorresearch.com

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