Friday, June 5, 2009

Rail Riders Jammin' Shorts








The Rail Riders company claims to have the toughest clothes on the planet....well, through my experiences wearing their clothing, I tend to believe their claim. The company's name comes from the yacht racing sports in which the crew "rides the rails" to increase speed. The founder of the company didn't like the chafing resulting from wearing water logged canvas pants for the length of a 24 hour race, so he created the Rail Riders line of clothing.

One piece of their line that I've had the pleasure of wearing and testing is the Jammin' shorts. The first thing I thought would be a problem on these shorts was the included belt. It's a nylon web belt that's got a front release buckle. Any pants I've had with this type of belt have always been a pain because the belt would loosen up and I end up typing a knot in the belt to prevent it from slipping through the buckle and loosening. Well, I've worn these shorts as much as possible in the warm weather and the belt hasn't loosened at all. It really shows that Rail Riders puts quality control up front in their designs. This belt works great, and is much lighter than any other belt I may have worn with the shorts.

Speaking of light weight, these shorts are made of some really great material. They are made of allure textured nylon, which is soft to the touch, repels a light mist or rain (helping with stain repelancy), and is light weight for hot humid days. With this comfort you'd almost expect a loss of durability. Not with Rail Riders. These shorts can take a beating!!! Stitching on the Rail Riders clothing is great as well. Bar tacked at stress points and no loose stitching.

OK, and on for the features, which these shorts are full of.

Pockets - These shorts have plenty of pockets to tote your stuff around in.
- 2 J pockets (hip pockets) that are made of mesh on the inside and have large enough openings to get your whole hand in easily. They are nice and deep as well so you don't lose items, and the mesh is nice for draining water, lighter weight, and letting out heat.
- Right side J pocket also features a velcro closed change pocket.
- Left Side J pocket has a hidden zippered pocket along the seam....I like to call this the "secure" pocket as it's harder to tell it's there and requires unzipping to get into.
- 2 side bellowed cargo pockets. These pockets close with Velcro and have a pull tab to help in opening. These pockets also have 2 drain holes in them. They're nicely sized for shorts, but harder to get your hand into to get smaller items out from the bottom. Not a huge issue, but maybe another inch in width would have been a little help.
- One rear pocket with a velcro closure.

Elastic waist that has several inches of give. This makes these shorts really comfortable!

Gusseted crotch for better range of motion. I recognize this feature from martial arts uniforms I've worn in the past. This is an added piece of fabric in the crotch that allows the legs more range of motion by having more material in this area.

Zippered fly.

9 inch inseam. I like this longer inseam on a short meant for outdoor adventure use!

They're also very packable. They roll up into a very small package and take up practically no room in a pack.

I've used these shorts quite a bit....to test durability I try to use them as often as possible and they look just like they did the day I got them. I have a feeling they'll last for quite some time. The features are great and very user friendly, and the fact that you can use and abuse them and after a washing they look brand new is absolutely great, whether camping, hiking, or just enjoying a day at the beach.

100% Nylon

Colors: Dark Stone, Granite, Grey Green, Natural
Sizes: Sm - XXL

MSRP: $59.00




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