Australian Hiker | Kuhl Freeflex Roll-Up Women’s Pants

The scorecard

How it rated

Original assessment converted to /100 with equally weighted criteria.

89 / 100 Overall score

Criteria	Weight	Score / 10
Value for Money	20%	8.5
Comfort	20%	9.0
Fit	20%	9.0
Durability	20%	9.0
Weight	20%	9.0

We Like

Super soft fabric that is super stretchy
Plenty of gussets and panels to give extra movement
Lots of pockets – six in fact!
Great fit
They look good and don’t get dirty easily
They stand up to tough punishment

We Don't Like

Sourcing the right inseam length can be a challenge
The three most common colours are Koal, Dark Moss, and Flint

Kuhl Freeflex Roll-Up Women's Pants Review

I have been on the hunt for a new pair of pants for a long time. The backside of my old pants have been darned so many times now, the darning is starting to look like a bunch of flies I’m carting around!

I had heard so much about Kuhl pants that when I spied the Freeflex Roll-Up pants on sale I grabbed them with both hands. And a great choice they have turned out to be. Kuhl is a private company established in Utah that prides itself in sourcing responsibly, providing a higher quality of living for all involved, and making the ‘best damn product’ with the least amount of environmental impact. Not only is the name cool (pun intended) but so are their designs – Kuhl clothing is hardworking, functional and looks good.

The Freeflex Roll-Ups didn’t disappoint. They are promoted as being soft – actually ‘luxuriously soft’ and they are. They are super stretchy to the point that you forget you have them on. I have been clambouring over a lot of boulders and rock ledges and never felt that my movement was constrained by these pants. Recently I needed to slide down rocks in a few different places and despite the ‘softness’ of the fabric there was no impact on the seat of these pants.

Getting the right size helps and this is where it gets tricky. If you have a stick figure no problems but if you have larger hips or muscular thighs you will be pushed up a size as I was. Not such a problem because, in addition to the press stud closure at the waist there is a draw string which means you can pull in the waist if you’ve had to accommodate your hips.

These pants are ‘moisture wicking’ and UPF50 – not sure I agree with the ‘moisture wicking’ but then I was doing a deal of hard work on some very hot days. The SPF50 is a good feature but again I wonder if it contributed to my feeling very warm when the temperature is up.

Freeflex Roll-Up pants have lots of pockets – two on each leg and two back pockets all with press stud closures. They also have two front slant pockets. More than enough pockets and more than I ever need!

In Australia the only colour choices I have seen are Koal and Flint but the full colour range includes Bordeaux and Rainstorm. My pants are Koal which is a great colour for dusty dirty trails but it would’ve been nice to see the other colours.

The other limitation for those of us in Australia is inseam length. While there are three lengths – 30, 32 and 34 inches – the preferred import into Oz is the 32 inch inseam and occasionally 30 inches. My pants are 32 inches and being 165 cm in height, this creates a roll-up problem which is that the roll-up is very low and almost ankle length! I get around this by adding a couple more rolls – its bulkier but workable.

I have worn these pants non-stop for a week at a time and really, really like them! They are a great fit, really durable and look good.