REVIEW – Travel pants are all the rage these days, And I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect pair for a few years now. It seems like dozens upon dozens of companies are offering their version of pants that are lightweight, stretchy, wrinkle-free, and have travel-handy design features. How did the TEREN Lightweight Travel Pants stack up? Let’s find out.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $129.95
Where to buy: teren.com
What is it?
The TEREN Lightweight Traveler pants, as their name implies, are Chino-style travel pants for men that are lightweight, quick-drying, stretchy, and include some unique features, all of which make them suitable for not only travel, but also for the office, around town, our out on the trail or campsite.
What’s included?
- TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants
- Thank you/info card
The pants were packaged in a simple and easily-recyclable cardboard box. I appreciate it when companies make their packaging simple and recyclable for sustainability and minimized waste.
Tech specs
Fabric – 88% Nylon, 12% Spandex
Insect repellent treatment – 0.52% Permethrin
Color options – Charcoal (reviewed here), Khaki, Black, Brown, Navy, Grey, CFC Blue
Sizing – Waist sizes 28″ through 40″, Inseam sizes in 30″ through 34″
Weight – 11 ounces (154gsm)
Warranty – Lifetime
Design and features
The TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are so loaded with features, I thought it would be useful to list them here first, then cover them in more detail below.
- 6 pockets (3 hidden zippered pockets)
- Dynamic magnet “button” closure
- Hidden internal drawstring
- Silicone grip waistband
- YKK Zippers
- Hidden side zip pockets
- Tanto-style front pockets
- Gusseted seat
- Subtle branding
Fabric properties
The fabric from which the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are made is loaded with features, including the below, which I’ll touch on in more detail below:
- 4-way stretch
- Sun protection
- Lightweight and breathable
- Anti-microbial and odor-resistant
- Stain protection and release
- Long lasting insect repellency
- Moisture wicking and quick drying
My first impression after removing the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants from their shipping bag was that appeared to be very high-quality. The fabric and construction of the pants both have a professional look and feel. They are cut in a modern take on the classic “chino” style of pants but with a more modern, tapered shape as you will see below. In the photo above, you can also see the gusseted seat, which, when combined with stretchability of the fabric, provides a bit of extra mobility and freedom of movement. More on this below.
The TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants have several rather interesting and unique features, a few of which are visible in the photo above. One of the more unique features is their hidden internal drawstring. It’s basically a drawstring like you would find in athletic shorts or pants, but it’s carefully hidden within the pants’ waistband of the TEREN lightweight travel pants. However, this seems to be a fairly unique feature on pants in this type. More on this feature below.
Additionally, the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants have a “dynamic magnet button” closure that takes the place of a button or a snap like you’d find on other pants. This allows them to be opened and closed quickly and even somewhat automatically. More on this feature below as well. Also, TEREN notes that these magnets are strong enough that they may stick to the inside of your clothes dryer, which could damage the pants and anything else you have in the dryer. This is why TEREN strongly encourages you to hang these pants to dry them after washing instead of drying them in a clothes dryer. Pro Tip: The magnets are strong enough to actually allow you to hang the pants on a metal surface to let them dry out after washing. Boom!
Another useful feature of the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants is the silicone grip waistband. As you can see in the picture above, TEREN accomplished this by utilizing their company logo “TEREN” and the phrase “MADE FOR ADVENTURE” (seen in a photo below) printed inside the waist band in a flexible silicone material, essentially turning them into a grippy silicone pad. The silicone grip waistband help keep your pants in place as you move, and if you choose to tuck in your shirt for a bit more of a dressed up look, the silicon grip waistband helps to grip your shirt tail and and keep it tucked into the pants.
Another feature of these pants is their insect repellent technology. Branded the “NO FLY ZONE” by Burlington, as you can see in the tag shown in the image above, the fabric of the pants is treated with 0.52% w/w Permethrin, which is an industry standard chemical insect repellent. TEREN claims this treatment “repels mosquitoes, ants, ticks, chiggers, flies, and midges” and the “active ingredient remains effective for 70 washings.” If you are wearing these pants in an urban or suburban setting, this insect repellent, technology may not seem to be a particular value to you. However, if you are outdoors in a park or even walking around town, this technology could come in handy. It could potentially be a lot more useful to you if you decide to wear these pants while hiking, camping, or doing other actual outdoor activities.
As mentioned above, the TEREN Outdoor Traveler Pants have been designed in a classic Chino style. This includes pockets that are essentially hidden within the pants rather than being sewn onto the outside like jeans style pockets. They also have five belt loops.
The right rear pocket has a hidden zipper which is handy for storing and securing a wallet, passport, or other valuable item. In addition, as seen in the photo above, you can see the one and only bit of branding that is visible on exterior of these pants—a subdued TEREN logo that is discretely stitched just above the right rear pocket in the same color as the pants. I’m a big fan of subdued, discreet logos on products, and TEREN has done an excellent job here.
The left rear pocket is open with no zipper. I found this pocket to be handy for sliding my phone into it easily and being able to retrieve it quickly.
As mentioned above, the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants include classic vertical Chino-style front pockets but with some modern updates. First, the main front pockets have a “Tanto” shape, which in this case means they have a long opening, with a slightly exaggerated angle at the bottom. TEREN did this to provide a spot for people who are into EDC (Every Day Carry) and carry a knife, flashlight, or other clip-attached item in the bottom of their pocket. More on this below.
The second updated feature of the front pockets is a semi-hidden zipper pocket located essentially within each main front pocket. I say “semi” hidden because, although the zipper pulls on these pockets are visible if someone is looking for them, they are about as small as they could possibly be and still be fully functional. And functional they are, as a great place to store a wallet, passport, or other small valuable items. Speaking of zippers, all zippers on the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are YKK Zippers and are all of very high quality.
The photo above shows the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants turned inside out so you better see some of the internal features of the front of the pants, like the internal drawstring waistband. You can also see both sets of front pockets, the slightly shorter ones in teh foreground being the zipper pockets, and longer ones behind these being the main pockets. Both sets of front pockets are quite generously sized in both width and especially depth, which provide good storage capacity for items.
The photo above shows the internal rear features, including the back pockets, which, like the front pockets, are generously sized for storing and securing items.
Printed on the inside of one of the back pockets is the information shown in the photo above, which lists the size of the pants as well as the materials that make up the fabric. The TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are made from a fabric that is a combination of 88% Nylon and 12% Spandex. Most men’s pants these days that tout a level of stretch have a Spandex percentage in the low single digits, so this relatively high percentage of Spandex provides the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants pants with a very high 4-way stretch capability, and as a result, these are some of the stretchiest travel-type pants I’ve ever worn. Also shown are the cleaning and care instructions. The fabric’s composition of synthetic fibers gives them quick dry properties that allows you to easily give them a hotel or campsite sink wash and hang them up to dry in just a few hours (maybe event quicker in a breeze)–a very handy feature when traveling or camping.
The fabric that the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are made from has an interesting texture. When viewed up close, it is not smooth, but has more of a dapple appearance and feel. This is texture means the pants have a matte appearance with none of the sheen characteristic of many other pants made from synthetic materials.
This fabric is also anti-microbial and includes odor resistance, allowing you to wear them more between washes, which can come in handy when you are traveling. In fact, I did a low-level test of this when I wore these pants for two full days of traveling and there was zero funk at the end of the second day.
Fit and feel
As mentioned above, I found that the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants have a “chino” fit, but in a more modern cut with a tapered fit that narrows toward the leg opening, which I think you can see in these pics. I train with weights regularly and as a result, my thighs and calves are a bit larger than the average adult male of my height. Because of this the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants fit me a bit more snug in some places than I typically like. However, due to the 12% Spandex giving these pants a generous 4-way stretch capability, the areas that were a bit snug on my didn’t really feel snug at all.
In these first six photos, I wore the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants with a pair of dress shoes and a tucked-in golf shirt to give an idea of what the pants can look like when dressed up a bit. I think they do quite well in an outfit like this and in fact I wore this exact outfit into the office a couple of days and really liked the look and feel. [For anyone curious, the other items I’m wearing in these photos are the Nomad Goods Rugged Case for my Apple Watch Series 6, and my Groove Life Groove Belt, both of which have been among my regular EDC items since I reviewed them].
That said, I have to admit that, based on the product photos on the TEREN site and some of the TEREN ads that I’d seen pop up over the past few years, I was a bit surprised that these pants had as slim of a cut as they do. Due to the athletic, tapered fit of the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants, if you are a guy who is on the thicker side, these may be a bit more of a slim cut than you would like.
Another aspect that I should mention with regard to how the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants feel is that they somehow feel as though they are heat-wicking. I’m not sure if this is due to the breathability of the fabric, or some other factor, but the lower half of my body just feels cooler when wearing them, as most as if the pants were a heat sink that is drawing heat away from my skin and venting it into my surroundings. While this is a handy cooling feature on hot days, I’m left wondering what this phenomenon might be like in the dead of winter.
For the photo above, I wore a pair Chrome Industries Truk sneakers and untucked my shirt tail, and I think the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants works great for a more casual look too.
In the above photo, I wore my GORUCK MACV-2 Mid-Top boots, and I think they pair well with the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants too. So whether you wear them to the office, out for an evening of drinks or dinner, or out on the trail, these pants have a high degree of versatility.
Just to keep this train rolling, in the photo above, I’m wearing my Salomon trail shoes with the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants, and I liked the look here as well. Sidenote: This is a pic from the trip I mentioned above, during which I wore the pants for two full days while traveling and they were comfortable the entire time.
And finally, the photo above is from one of the days that I wore the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants to the office, this time paired with my Groove Belt Max Leather belt and a pair of vintage Doc Martens 1460 boots. So whether you are wearing the TEREN Ligthweight Traveler Pants on your urban (or suburban) commute and into the office, out for an evening dinner, or out on the trail and campsite, these pants have a high level of versatility in pairing with a wide range of outfits.
Function and performance
For this final section, let’s check out some of the functional features of the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants. First up, in the photo above you can see the left front zipper pocket. As mentioned above, these pockets have fair amount of space for securing small (and especially flat) items, like a thinnish front-pocket wallet, passport, or key. These pockets are supper low-profile and TEREN designed them to blend right into the seam along the side of the pants, so other than spying the their tiny YKK Zipper pulls, they are nearly undetectable by would-be pickpockets.
Although you can’t see it well in the above photo (my bad), I’m sliding my SlimFold Soft Shell wallet into the right rear pocket of the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants. Like the front pockets, the rear pockets have a generously capacity, so they can easily accommodate a wide range of wallet types and sizes, and the zipperless left rear pocket is great for holding a phone.
The “gusseted seat” as TEREN calls it (though more commonly known as the gusseted crotch) is a feature that is becoming more common on all sorts of men’s pants, and I have several pair of my own with this feature. By distributing tension and stress and across multiple seams, the gusset minimizes strain on the fabric, reduces chafing, and allows for greater freedom of movement. I have to say that TEREN’s version of this feature is one of the best I’ve worn, because of its generous dimensions, which give additional stretch. In fact, I can do air squats in these pants rather easily.
One of the more unique features of the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants is the dynamic magnetic button. TEREN has replaced a button or snap as would typically be found in most pants with a pair of opposing flat, disc-shaped magnets. They hold your pants together (though not as securely as a button or snap), and automatically link together when putting your pants on, saving you a step (which you can exchange for tying the internal drawstring).
Initially, I thought this feature was a bit gimmicky, thinking, “So they made the traditional button or snap a bit more “techy”–kind of neat but what’s the actual point?” However, as with every other feature on the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants, this feature has a clever purpose, in this case for comfort. Say you’re at dinner and you’ve just polished off an extra large slab of ribs with sides of cole slaw, baked beans, and potato salad after having devoured the artichoke dip and chips and washing it all down with several pints of Guinness. When your belly starts to expand with the contents of your stomach, the dynamic magnetic button halves can separate for a bit, then automatically re-attach themselves again, and provided that you have tied the internal drawstring, you don’t have to worry about your pants falling down.
As mentioned above, the front pockets of the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants feature a Tanto-style shape. This means they have a slight angle near the bottom that is a good spot for a clip-on EDC item, like I’ve done in the photos above and below with the WESN Allman Titanium knife.
Is this feature 100% necessary? No. However, I typically EDC a clip-on knife like the one shown here, but it always sits a bit awkward in classic chinos with traditional pockets, and this angled Tanto shape helps alleviate that a bit. Also, this feature is a nod to the EDC enthusiasts out there from the folks at TEREN.
The TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants really are lightweight, and they can pack down into a small volume. In the photos above and below, you can see that these pants can be rolled down very small to take up less space in your gear bag or suitcase. This comes in all kinds of handy, from when you are packing a change of clothes in your gym bag to when you are trying to accomplish that challenge “1-bag travel” for a vacation or work trip.
And at just 11 ounces, the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are not only thin, but very lightweight, another great feature when you are trying to literally pack light.
Final thoughts
The TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are some of the best pants I’ve ever tried, for multiple reasons. First, they are comfortable due to their stretchy fabric, gusseted seat, and athletic cut, and their modernized take on the classic Chino style gives them a lot of versatility to wear them in many occasions and for lots of different activities. Second, they are packed with well-considered and useful features, from the internal drawstring, to the three zipper pockets, to the dynamic magnet button and more. I have to say that they are a bit on the pricey side at $129.95, however, considering that they are so loaded with features and the quality of their fabric, and comparing to similar traveler/tech pants, the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants are absolutely worth serious consideration as a versatile, useful addition to your wardrobe that might just replace a few pairs of your other pants. In fact, after trying these Lightweight Traveler Pants, I’m very curious how they would compare to TEREN’s Daily Driver Pants, which are similar but with a slight difference in their fabric makeup.
What I like about the TEREN Lightweight Traveler Pants
- Packed with clever, useful features
- Comfortable
- Versatile style fits with many occasions and activities
What needs to be improved?
- Consider making them not quite so slim and tapered for bigger guys
Price: $129.95
Where to buy: teren.com
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by TEREN. TEREN did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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