Review: Arborwear Ascender

Maybe it’s just me, but good hunting pants seem more elusive than a seven-point bull on opening day. They’re always too tight, or too loose and floppy, or too much cotton, or they fall apart after a single season. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across Arborwear’s Ascender Pants. Although made for climbing, they work great for hunting, too—the stretch nylon allows a full range of motion without binding, and the abrasion-resistant, reinforced knees hold up when crawling through underbrush. Angled front pockets offer easy access to small items, while suspender loops help secure your pants in place after a long, hard day of scrambling up rocky hillsides. What I like most is the Teflon coating—raindrops and splashes of creek water just bead up and sluff off. If Arborwear can make hunting pants this good by accident, maybe I’ll get lucky with that big bull elk after all. $190; arborwear.com.