Silver Ridge Pants

We needed to buy pants. When we moved from Florida to Virginia in 2021 we left the land of year-round shorts and sunshine and arrived in a part of the country that had four seasons. For the first time ever we found ourselves in need of socks, and learned that zippers on light jackets do actually have a function. We didn’t need foulweather pants (we already had some Third Reef Foulies from West Marine), but we did need long pants that would be suitable for our small-boat adventures.

We both knew we wanted pants with a loose fit and made from material that would dry quickly. We also wanted versatility—we had taken up trail walking in our local park, so multifunctioning gear was on our list of wants. We had long had some Columbia-brand shirts and were happy with those, so when we visited our local sporting goods store we homed in on the Columbia clothing—and there we found the Silver Ridge Convertible Pants.

Photographs by the authors

Columbia Silver Ridge pants have an outer shell of nylon and an inner lining of polyester. They feature six pockets—four with secure closings—and a partially elastic waistband with an integral adjustable web belt.

Silver Ridge pants are lightweight—the men’s pants with waist 36″ and length 32″ weigh approximately 0.7 lb (a pair of denim jeans of the same size weighs 1.8 lbs)—and they roll up into a small ball, making them a great choice for stowing on a small boat. The pants are made of Columbia’s branded Omni-Wick fabric—100 percent nylon with 100 percent polyester lining. The breathable material pulls moisture away from the wearer’s skin and out to the surface of the fabric, speeding up evaporation. Thanks to the Omni-Wick technology the pants dry very quickly when wet, and we find that we stay dry, cool, and comfortable when wearing them. Even after a splashing in the river, our pants are usually dry within 15 to 20 minutes. The wicking also helps to keep us dry during hikes, and whether afloat or ashore, neither of us has suffered any chafing from the smooth polyester lining.

The pants have an abundance of pockets: two front, two rear with hook-and-loop tab closures, and one on the side of each thigh. The upper pockets—front and back—are lined with mesh fabric. The thigh pockets have secure closures—one with a nylon zipper, the other with a flap and hook-and-loop tabs.

Below the knee a nylon zipper connects the upper and lower portions of the pant leg. The lower portion can be quickly removed to convert the pants from long-leg to short-leg—still with six pockets.

A feature of the Silver Ridge design that we particular like is the convertibility. The lower portion of each leg is connected to the upper with a nylon zipper, and can be quickly removed to convert from full-length pants to shorts just above the knee. This is particularly handy for a small-boat user: you can unzip to wade through the shallows when launching, but re-zip to keep both sun and skeeters away from your legs. With its tight weave and modified fibers, Columbia’s Omni-Wick material offers Omni-Shade UPF 50, and we find that wearing the long pants is more comfortable than shorts with sunscreen.

The pants have a partially elastic waistband and an integral adjustable web belt. They come in styles for both men—from waist size 28″ to 54″ and inseam from 30″ to 34″—and women, sizes 2 to 18, in short, regular, and long. We both prefer a longer leg length so that the pants bunch a little on top of our shoes when we’re standing but still cover our ankles when we are seated.

The Silver Ridge pants come in a range of sizes for women and men, and their Omni-Wick (fast-drying) Omni-Shade (sun-blocking) fabric makes them an ideal choice for warm-weather use in small boats.

All in all we have been very satisfied with the Columbia Silver Ridge Convertibles. We have been wearing ours for four years and they have proved to be hard-wearing, comfortable, and ideal for all our outdoor activities—a good addition to our gear locker.

Audrey and Kent Lewis mess about in the Tidewater Region of Virginia. Their sea stories are logged at smallboatrestoration.blogspot.com.

Silver Ridge pants are available from multiple online outlets and high-street stores, and also direct from Columbia Sportswear, priced between $70 and $80 depending on size and style.

Is there a product that might be useful for boatbuilding, cruising, or shore-side camping that you’d like us to review? Please email your suggestions.

For more clothing reviews see…

The Newport Coastal Jacket and Pants serious foulweather clothing from Helly Hansen; reviewed by Christopher Cunningham

Ankle Deck Boots from Xtratuf—short boots that are comfortable and worn by fishermen and fashion-conscious teenagers alike; reviewed by Jenny Bennett

Airflo Sun Hat Tilley’s timeless classic that first appeared in marine stores in 1980; reviewed by Audrey and Kent Lewis