Durable Enough to Climb a Mountain (After a Long-Haul Flight): UNIONBAY Rainier Travel Pants Review

Some travel pants earn their versatility by dressing up. UNIONBAY’s Rainiers go the other direction. Underneath the chino styling is a durable nylon fabric that pushes these pants out of the airport and surprisingly capably out onto the trail.

When I inherited the men’s travel pant buyers guide, UNIONBAY’s Rainier Travel Tech Chino ($70) was already listed as the best bargain pant. Since then, I’ve stepped into over 275 pants, and every year I’ve looked for the next great bargain to dethrone the Rainiers. And every year, the Rainiers return to their rightful place — the top 5 of our travel pant list, holding firm as our men’s “Best Bargain” travel pant for nearly a decade.

In short: Three security pockets, a DWR finish, UPF 50 protection, and a durable fabric check all the boxes we look for in a travel pant. But the Rainiers go further. Strip away the chino styling, and underneath is essentially a hiking pant, with a stout nylon-spandex shell that can take legitimate trail abuse. Retailing for $70 but frequently on sale for just under $30, the Rainiers remain one of the most capable bargains in our travel pant guide.

Looking to expand your travel wardrobe? Check out GearJunkie’s Best Travel Pants For Men Buyer’s Guide to see more of our favorites.

UNIONBAY Rainier Travel Tech Chino: Review

There is nothing inherently “travel” about a pair of pants. A good pair of chinos or well-heeled hiking trousers can belly up to the Delta Sky Club lounge. But after years of leading the travel pant guide, I’ve learned a few accouterments shape the landscape enough to warrant defining the category.

Elastic hems and reflective hits inside the leg are nice, but security pockets are a must. Travel pants should be light and breathable, have a light DWR, and be capable of drying out from a quick sink rinse before your morning checkout. And for the GearJunkie audience, it’s a plus if they are made from capable materials that can transition between activities.

Keeping it classy, a good travel pant doesn’t need to suit up with a blazer, but a chameleon-like ability to shift from light backcountry excursions to more well-mannered pursuits means one less pair of pants in the carry-on.

The Rainier Travel Tech Chinos hit all the requirements I look for in a travel pant. But they go above and beyond, specifically in one category: materials.

Materials

Fabric can make or break a pant. Miss the mark and pants hold wrinkles, weigh too much, take up precious packing space, or take too long to dry out. Worst case, poor materials can fail, shortening the pant’s lifespan. Compared to most travel pants we review, the Rainier’s foundation is a robust nylon fabric.

94% nylon, 6% spandex is a thoroughly proven outdoor-pant recipe and on par with the best pants in our best hiking pants for men buyer’s guide. If I slipped the Rainier into a pile of our best hiking pants buyer’s guide, and asked our editors to pick them out from the bunch, they’d be hard-pressed to pick them out by materials alone.

In fact, the 94/6 ratio is identical to what REI uses in its Trailmade pant (coincidentally, our Best Budget hiking pant, boasting the same DWR and UPF as the Rainiers).

Nylon supplies the abrasion resistance and fast-drying performance, while the touch of spandex supplies plenty of mobility. The blend breathes well, dries quickly, and offers light protection from wind, sun, and brush. You get where I’m going. Strip away the chino styling, and the Rainiers are essentially a classier hiking pant.

With this in mind, and a family trip slated for Mount Borah (Idaho’s tallest peak), I pulled the Rainiers off the shelf for 48 hours of adventure travel.

A Comfort-First Fit

UNIONBAY offers the Rainiers in both a fixed and expandable waist. Both come in sizes 30 to 40, and 30-, 32-, and 34-inch inseams.

I’ve been wearing the fixed waist in a 32/32 for 5 years now, and in my experience, the waist holds better than most travel pants. The spandex blend carries over into the waist, and the rise lets the waist naturally settle over the hips.

Appropriately fitting, the pants don’t stretch too much, bag out, or drop off the hips. Just in case, UNIONBAY bar-tacked belt loops to the waistband, but the pants fit well enough that I never needed to string a belt.

UNIONBAY describes the cut as slim, but I found that the chino-style pants wear closer to a traditional straight cut, with about an inch difference in the taper from knee to cuff. I did find that my 32 length ran long and would recommend considering trying on a 30-inch inseam.

Sure, I could take the time (and cash) to hem them up, but that would be an extra $15 on what is currently a $30 pant.

Pocket Architecture

A basic travel pant needs at least one security pocket to make it onto our travel pants list. Overperforming, the Rainiers sport a whopping three.

Security pockets aren’t just good marketing. I’ve watched a pickpocket lift a wallet in the Paris Metro. Three security pockets stack the odds decidedly back in your favor and are above average for a travel pant.

Two drop-in–style pockets are sewn out back and zip shut as you pull them toward the side. Instead of hiding the security pocket inside a patch pocket, the zippers close the pocket itself, reaching across the pocket’s full 6 inches.

Though a seemingly minor detail, many security pockets are recessed inside a patch pocket. While this keeps the zipper out of sight, it limits the opening to 4.5 inches. A narrow welt tucks the zipper out of sight.

A third zipper pocket closes the device pocket shut over the right thigh. It’s “just big enough” and can be hard to wrestle closed with one hand, but it gets the job done.

Two hand pocket styles reign supreme in pants: chino style and slash pockets. The Rainiers borrow a slash, field pant–style hand pocket, but with deeper wells. This makes it easy to reach in to retrieve contents while limiting contents from inadvertently getting pitched out.

Both the hand and rear pockets have a protective nylon liner facing against the skin, with an outward-facing mesh liner. The nylon protects the skin from pokes (like keys) while the mesh simultaneously reduces bulk and allows airflow out of the pants. Given the pants use a liberal dose of nylon, it’s a welcome addition.

The Tradeoff

There’s a penalty for all this durability. Compared to lighter, more refined travel pants, the Rainiers feel decidedly more substantial. At 13 ounces, you can feel the heft in the hand. It’s robust and not particularly soft or luxurious. It won’t disappear against the skin like a light pant, and it carries some swoosh with your swagger. It wears structured over drapey, and holds creases longer than softer, more pliable material like polyester.

And the straight cut doesn’t walk off the Fashion Week runway. It’s relaxed and traditional. The Rainiers wear almost generic. And for travel, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

A tradeoff in price, not materials, is the construction. To really get a sense of the quality of a pant, I like to turn them inside out. And on the Rainiers, you quickly see where UNIONBAY saves a few bucks.

The construction is fast and cuts some corners. The overlocked seams are less precisely finished and have begun to fray over the years. Reinforcement tape beneath the rear pockets is peeling away. None of this is detrimental to the longevity of the pants. But it reveals where money was saved (and where more dollars get allocated on other travel pants).

48 Hours; Road to Summit

Pockets and fit dialed in, the real test of the Rainier Travel Tech Chinos is beyond the scope of travel and reaching into the heart of adventure.

At 12,662 feet, Mt. Borah is Idaho’s tallest peak, gaining roughly 5,300 feet inside 4 miles. Though hundreds hike it each year, calling it a hike undersells it. The aptly named Chicken-Out Ridge is a Class 3 scramble of talus and a knife-edge ridge before reconnecting with the summit trail.

On the drive in, the Rainiers breathed well and didn’t bind in the hips, keeping me comfortable for hours behind the wheel. At the trailhead, I strapped the loaded pack over my shoulders and started climbing.

I usually don’t put my travel pants through a hiking regimen, but cinching a loaded pack over the waist can reveal chinks in the fit. The nylon-spandex weave in the waist has some give, but not so much that it bags out under load. Even with the pack pushing down on the waist, and even without a belt or internal drawstring, the pants stayed planted over my hips.

As I shared, the 32-inch inseam runs long. As the temperatures climbed, I rolled the cuffs for relief. A dedicated hiking pant often adds an elastic cord at the hem to help keep scree out or keep the hem up.

Finally came the fabric stress test, and I didn’t hold back here. I took every opportunity to kneel in the talus, sit on rough granite, and ramble through brush in the descent. And this is where the Rainiers overperformed. When I returned home, I simply threw them in the wash and dried them in the dryer. No holes, no tears, no blown seams. They returned ready for work on Monday.

While I won’t ever reach for the Rainiers to tackle Rainier’s Disappointment Cleaver, I’d have no reservations taking these out on side adventures while traveling.

UNIONBAY Rainier Travel Pants: Conclusion

Some travel pants justify space in your bag by looking good enough for dinner. The Rainiers justify it by being capable enough that you don’t need to pack another pair of pants for adventure. As our bargain pick, you aren’t paying less because UNIONBAY gives you less pant. You are paying less and getting, in some ways, too much pant.

In spite of their city styling, the Rainiers are a hybrid pant that flies under the radar. Out on the town, they look relatively… normal. They don’t shout travel, hike, or anything really. But they are entirely capable of almost anything. Which ultimately elevates the value of these $70 bargain pants.