HikingNimsdai StoreTrekking Trousers

Nimsdai Store Trekking Trouser review: comfortable, quick-drying and clever at the ankle

Stretchy, fast-drying and encouraging in the wind, with a concealed lace clip that turns the hem into a neat gaiter. The concealed lace clip is the clever bit. The one thing we’d change is the lack of reinforcement where trousers tend to wear first.

The best hiking kit is the sort you stop noticing, and for most of our testing that’s exactly what happened with the Nimsdai Store Trekking Trouser. We wore it on Dartmoor, Woodbury Common and the South West Coast Path, and it stayed comfortable, dried quickly and coped well with a stormy day. The concealed lace clip is the clever bit. The catch is a £120 price tag and a lack of reinforcement where trousers tend to wear first.

✓  RecommendedNimsdai Store Trekking Trouser Weight406 g (M)PocketsFiveRRP£120 The good✓  Comfortable four-way-stretch fabric
✓  Dries very quickly
✓  Encouraging wind resistance
✓  Practical five-pocket layout
✓  Lace clip anchors the hem like a gaiter
✓  Double stitching, no problems so far
The not-so-good✗  £120 is towards the pricey end
✗  No reinforced knees or high-wear panels
✗  Fiddly belt and narrow zipped hems
Check out the Nimsdai Store Trekking Trouser →

At a glance

Overview

The Nimsdai Store Trekking Trouser is a lightweight, stretchy hiking trouser designed for three seasons of walking and general outdoor use. It pairs a flexible nylon-stretch fabric with practical storage, an integrated waist belt, adjustable hems and a concealed clip that anchors the trouser leg to your boot. Light construction, quick-drying fabric and a comfortable regular fit make it particularly well suited to active days on the trail, where freedom of movement and versatility matter most.

The brand behind it is worth a word. Nimsdai Store has a strong identity rooted in high-altitude mountaineering and expedition equipment, and in some ways it brings to mind a brand such as The North Face, which pairs everyday outdoor clothing with a more technical offering like Summit Series. The expedition heritage is established, while the brand’s position in the wider hiking and outdoor-lifestyle market is still developing. Within the range, the Trekking Trouser is the three-season option, and the Baltoro Trousers are the more winter-oriented choice. The selection isn’t yet as extensive as that of some long-established outdoor brands, but it is adding to its lineup frequently, with the Cargo Trouser launching at the time of writing.

A note on price

At £120, the Trekking Trouser sits towards the more expensive end of the general hiking trouser market. Other brands such as Montane and Berghaus may offer similar functionality for less, depending on the model and current retail price. That said, it does its job well. The material is comfortable and flexible, the pockets are genuinely useful, the lower-leg adjustment is thoughtfully executed and we have no significant complaints from the testing so far. At this price we’d like to see either a slightly lower figure or extra features that make it more versatile on demanding terrain, such as reinforcement in the knees and other high-wear areas.

How we tested

We started with hikes across Dartmoor, where we judged comfort, mobility and general suitability for walking on varied terrain. The stretch fabric gave us good freedom of movement and the trousers stayed comfortable throughout. Walks on Woodbury Common followed, which gave us more time to assess everyday comfort and pocket placement over sustained walking, and the lightweight, flexible material suited that kind of outing well. We also wore them on a stretch of the South West Coast Path to see how they coped in another environment.

Across those outings the trousers were comfortable and dried very quickly. We also wore them in stormy conditions and found their wind resistance encouraging, without wind chill becoming a problem. We haven’t tested them as waterproof trousers, and a few outings aren’t enough for us to make long-term durability claims.

Features and performance

Comfort, stretch and fit

The four-way-stretch fabric is the foundation of the trouser. It’s a 70D nylon with elastane (88% nylon, 12% elastane), listed by the manufacturer at 153 gsm, and it moves with you. The regular fit strikes a good balance between comfort and practicality. We tested a size Medium in a regular leg, and with a waist of around 32 to 34 inches the fit was comfortable throughout.

At 406 g for a Medium, the weight is sensible for the features on offer. The stretch fabric, five pockets, integrated belt and adjustable hems add useful function without making the trouser heavy. The thin fabric packs down easily alongside the rest of a hiking kit. It isn’t an ultralight specialist garment, but it’s a sensible balance of features and packability for general trekking.

Pockets and storage

There are five pockets: two standard hand pockets, two generous thigh pockets and a zipped rear pocket on the right. The layout is practical, providing useful storage without making the trousers feel cumbersome. The thigh pockets stood out, because carrying items in them doesn’t noticeably interfere with movement during normal walking. The zips are SBS-branded with simple cord pulls.

The belt and waist

The waist fastens with a popper and zip, backed up by an integrated webbing belt with a metal buckle. The belt is stitched in rather than removable. It works well once adjusted, but the adjustment is a little fiddly. There are no conventional belt loops to secure the loose end, so the webbing has to be tucked back into itself. That’s perfectly workable, just slightly less intuitive than a traditional belt.

Hems and the concealed lace clip

The hems are where the Trekking Trouser is at its most thoughtful. Zipped openings let you widen the leg opening, although the cut stays fairly narrow, so widening it doesn’t always mean you can zip it back up over bulkier boots. Elastic adjusters give further control over how the trouser sits around your lower leg and the tops of your boots.

“The concealed lace clip anchors the trouser leg to your boot, so the hem works like an integrated gaiter.”

That clip sits inside the hem and attaches to your boot laces. It’s discreet and comfortable, and we haven’t found it catching or causing irritation. It keeps the trouser leg positioned around your footwear without a separate gaiter, which is exactly what you want from a feature like this.

Construction and durability

Construction is reassuring, with double stitching across much of the garment, and we haven’t hit any construction or durability problems so far. Longer-term testing is needed to see how the trousers stand up to extended use. The lightweight fabric and lack of reinforcement are the trade-off. For sustained, demanding scrambling we’d want a trouser with reinforced knees and other high-wear panels.

Cold, damp and wet: the catch

The DWR finish is there to repel light moisture, but it shouldn’t be confused with waterproofing, and how long it lasts will depend on wear, care and washing. In damp conditions, especially when the temperature drops, the legs can feel cold, and sustained rain calls for waterproof overtrousers. With a bamboo or merino-wool base layer underneath, though, the trousers can form part of a colder-weather system, depending on conditions and activity. The thin fabric also wasn’t a problem in the wind. In stormy conditions we found wind chill wasn’t an issue, which adds to their versatility for UK hiking, where the weather changes quickly.

How it compares

The Trekking Trouser sits in a crowded corner of the market. The Montane Terra Stretch range targets the same need for mobility and comfort in the hills, and the Berghaus Ortler 2.0 Pant is another established alternative. With both, check the exact model, current price, weight, pocket layout and lower-leg adjustment, because we wouldn’t assume they match the Nimsdai on construction or performance. For rougher ground, our own review of the RevolutionRace Nordwand Pro makes a useful contrast. We wore those on winter walks and on a three-day wild-camping trip in the Cairngorms in January, and their reinforced panels and adjustable ankle cuffs make them the more heavily featured option. Of the trousers we’ve tested, we’d pick the Nimsdai for general three-season hiking, where comfort, quick drying and that lace clip count for most, and the RevolutionRace if you regularly tackle rougher terrain.

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Our verdictA comfortable, capable three-season trouser that gets the fundamentals right.The Trekking Trouser is a comfortable and capable hiking trouser. The stretch fabric works well, the pockets are practical, and the adjustable hems and concealed lace clip are thoughtful details that make a difference in use. Comfort, mobility, quick drying and useful wind resistance are its strongest qualities, and a suitable base layer underneath gives it extra versatility when temperatures fall. The lace clip is the standout, anchoring the trouser leg to your boots so the lower section works like an integrated gaiter.The trade-off is that the fabric is relatively thin and the trousers lack the reinforcement that would make them convincing for sustained technical scrambling or rough terrain. The belt and narrow zipped hems have minor quirks, though neither is a deal-breaker, and at £120 the price deserves thought against other brands' offerings. It’s also a transition time for the Nimsdai brand and communities, with the loss of Nims deeply felt, and it will be interesting to see how his legacy shapes the brand as it builds on its high-altitude expedition heritage. For now, this isn’t trying to be a fully reinforced technical mountain trouser, but within its intended role it performs well.Check out the Nimsdai Store Trekking Trouser →

FAQs

Are the Nimsdai Store Trekking Trousers waterproof?No. The DWR finish is intended to repel light moisture, but it isn’t waterproofing, and how long it lasts depends on wear, care and washing. For sustained rain we’d wear waterproof overtrousers.

What size and fit did we test?We tested a size Medium in a regular leg. With a waist of around 32 to 34 inches the fit was comfortable, and the regular cut leaves plenty of room to move.

How durable are the Trekking Trousers?We haven’t found any construction or durability problems so far, and double stitching is used across much of the garment. They have no reinforcement in the knees or other high-wear areas, though, so they aren’t our first choice for demanding scrambling.

How does the concealed lace clip work?A discreet clip inside the hem attaches to your boot laces and anchors the trouser leg in place, so the bottom of the trousers works like an integrated gaiter. We haven’t found it catching or causing irritation.

Are the Nimsdai Store Trekking Trousers worth the money?They’re comfortable, quick-drying and well-detailed, but at £120 they sit towards the pricey end of hiking trousers. We’d expect either a slightly lower price or extra features such as reinforced knees to make the cost easier to justify.