The lightweight 100% cotton ripstop pants are very comfortable, but in 90F+ weather I’m always going to go with shorts even if they are made of heavy material.   Protecting your legs from bug bites is also something to consider when wearing shorts and clearing out woodlands because you never know what is going to be swarming around you when you start sweating up a storm.   There are some bug repellents that can be worn on a belt, but with the work I will be doing, I prever to bring a spray bottle with me and store it on the cargo pockets.   Since I am also always carrying flashlights, radios, guns and other items, not having enough pockets means putting more on the belt line.    I find wearing too much on the belt being a real pain when having to do a lot of lifting so just about everything except my Glock 26 is stored in my Woolrich Elite Pants.

I have another trip up in the sticks where we have to do some land clearing.   The State is asking us to clear out a mountain range for fire prevention.   Working in emergency management we get everything from clearing car accidents and hostage situations.    One thing we also never know from day to day is what type of clothing we’ll be needing.   Most of us started out wearing 5.11 Tactical clothing because they pretty much held the market for years and there wasn’t much else out there.   A few years ago Woolrich Elite Series clothing arrived on the market although Woolrich has been in the clothing industry for over 150 years.  Woolrich Elite cargo shorts style 4905 are made of a cotton canvas material which makes them very hard to tear.   Unlike many of the lightweight style shorts out there, these have side cargo pockets which are great for storing lighters, bug repllent, hand wipes ect.   Due to the fact that wearing pants in certain hot weather means unnecesary sweating and water loss, you really have to think about how much clothing is necessary.    I’ve had shorts on in hot weather and felt comfortable until I came home with poison ivy.