Páramo Montero Men’s Trousers – Review by Rudolf Abraham
Páramo Montero Trousers are a lightweight, jeans-inspired pair of hiking or cycling trousers, which are intended to look and feel equally at home when worn around town as they are on a mountain trail or on two wheels. I first tried wearing them on some stages of the Juliana Trail in Slovenia’s Julian Alps, which I hiked in late September/early October while working on a new guidebook.
The fabric used for the Montero trousers is Nikwax Windproof Denim – yet another innovative fabric from Nikwax, which Páramo describe as windproof and highly water-repellent, and offers SPF 50+ UV protection. Water-repellent is not the same as waterproof, of course, so in a downpour they’ll wet through – but (unlike real denim) they’re very fast drying. To wash them, just chuck them in the machine with some Nikwax TechWash, which will also revive their water repellency.
Photo: Taking a break at Zelenci Nature Reserve in Slovenia, on the last stage of hiking the 270km Juliana Trail in October 2021. Páramo Montero Trousers rolled up to just below the knee, and staying there!
They’re extremely comforatable against the skin, and to walk in – thinner and much lighter than I was expecting, yet they still feel suitably hard wearing (and if my other Páramo gear is anything to go by, I’ll be wearing the Monteros for a while – I have a pair of Maui trousers which I’ve worn on every hiking trip for over six years, and they’re still going strong). The cut is quite different to other Páramo legwear I own – more fitting, although the degree of stretch in the fabric means the trousers never feel tight or restrictive. As with other Páramo legwear you can roll them up and they stay put, rather than unravelling.
There are some nice details, like the discrete mesh-lined ventillation zips on the thigh, and a small reflective strip on the inside seem which shows when the hem is rolled up. Pockets are quite simple, two at the front, two at the back. They don’t come with a belt included – I wore them with the webbing belt from one of my other pairs of Páramo trousers (these belts are fairly narrow, but the loops on the Monteros are wide enough to take something much wider).
All in all I really, really like the Monteros. Technically, they’re as excellent, and as comfortable, as I’ve come to expect from Páramo gear – and the fact that they’re so versatile (in Slovenia I wore them on the trail, then out in the evening for meetings with the heads of local tourist boards, and to dinner) means it’s potentially one less thing to carry, which I’m always in favour of. More recently I’ve worn them on long-distance cycling trips in France, for which they were ideal.
My only very slight criticism is the placement of the belt loops – specifically the two at the front, which are quite far apart rather than being closer to the button fastening. This means that when walking, I found the belt had a tendency to ride up off the trousers at the front – placing them closer together (as they are on the Mauis, and possibly adding one additional belt loop on either side to make up for this adjustment) would have prevented this, I’d have thought. But it’s a very small niggle, and doesn’t affect how comfortable they are to wear.
As with all Páramo gear, the ethics and environmental commitment are outstanding – the Montero Trousers are PFC-free (as is their entire supply chain), the company has a long-term partnership with the Miquelina Foundation in Bogotá, Colombia (which provides work opportunities, training and experience as well as homes and childcare for vulnerable members of the local population), and they’re fully recyclable through Páramo. The fact that the Monteros are made of Nikwax @Windproof Denim (which is 100% polyester) makes them a much, much more eco-friendly piece of clothing than denim jeans (more specifically the associated water pollution through using chemical dyes in denim, and the vast amounts of pesticides used on cotton crops, not to mention the extremely high water requirements for growing cotton).
Find out more about Páramo’s Montero Trousers here.
Review date: November 2021 | Updated: May 2023 | Back to reviews