Craghoppers Kiwi Pro Stretch (Pro Active) Trousers Review

I'm not sure whether there's a shortage of material worldwide, but with 2014 fashion continuing in its skinny, figure-hugging, breath-defying trend it's great to have a pair of walking trousers that actually don't restrict your movement.

The other extreme of this is the well-respected Craghoppers kiwi original polycotton trousers. These British classics have been worn by no doubt many thousands over the years by many: from myself across the Moors - to my friend while out in the Asian subcontinent and Africa (zip-off version) - to some friends wearing them for a canoeing trip. But to me they are a bit heavy and very restricting in movement.

Cue the Kiwi Pro Stretch trousers - now replaced for men at least by the 'Pro Active' trousers...

Fit

Anyhoo, mine are in black and fit very true to size. They dry out fairly quickly - as quickly as anything else to be honest. Material is polyamide elastene so that means pretty hard-wearing and with enough stretch for you to move without restriction (unlike the baggier and less well fitting kiwi classics).

Pockets

As you can see from my top quality photo, the right hand side pocket fits a map well but the downside of this (compared to the kiwi classics) is that while the map fits the pocket and while the pocket has two 'clickers' on either side of the top of the pocket, there is a problem... On the kiwi classics you can stash the map and be sure it will stay there. On the kiwi stretch, you can't guarantee the map will stay there. The pocket isn't 'long' enough (down the leg) to take enough of the map to store it well enough. My view is they should lengthen the pocket by an inch or two. Nor do the poppers give enough security to anything else you'd want to store in there.

Another issue is that the kiwi classics give you three 'waistline' pockets - one on the left and on the right pocket - an inner one with zip and an outer one. The kiwi stretch gives you just two pockets but they do both have a zip which is good.

Stretch

I've found the amount of stretch is perfect. One thing is that if you are between trouser sizes in terms of your waist, you may want to consider going up a size (check first). I am a 29ish waist and have the 30" waist version. There is lots of stretch in the material on the waist but it can be a little uncomfortable putting them on and I have had to re-sew the top button with double thread. And as I say it's not because my waist is too big or because there's not enough excess room in the trousers!

The stretch coming in useful on a mini climb

Overall

These are my go-to trousers. No, they don't have the extra reinforced patches that the much more expensive Montane Terra pants have (or the Bear Grylls ones). But I love the stretch and the cut. These (or the replacements) will be my go-to trousers for most of my walking. Only when climbing and scrambling more seriously will I use other trousers. These also have UPF40 properties, keeping out the UV rays that would ordinarily pass through clothing. With a couple of improvements to the pockets (and the button!) and possibly a small bit of reinforcement around the knees they'd be perfect!