Wearing the Cotopaxi Losdos Zip-off Pants for 1700 miles straight

When I decided to thru-hike the Continental Divide Trail and walk 3,000 miles through the heart of America’s wilderness, I wanted to look good doing it. Which, perhaps, is not the main focus for a thru hike. I should have been looking more at durability, weight, functionality, price, and honestly, anything else besides style. After all, I’d done my Appalachian Trail thru hike in a thrifted tank top and Walmart running shorts. Who was I to decide fashion? But when I found the Cotopaxi Losdos Zip-off pants, they hit every single check, and very quickly became my favorite pair of hiking pants since.

Quick review

As Cotopaxi says, “the mountains are unpredictable,” and that’s why these are now some of my favorite pants to wear ever. Loose-fitting so you never feel restricted, easily changing between pants and shorts, breathable, and best of all, colorful. I wish they were a bit more durable–but that being said, I did put them through some pretty hard days.

Review policy

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The Technical Details

What I like about the Cotopaxi Losdos Zip-off Pants

Things I’ve done in these pants:

• Hiked through waist-high snow over one of my first-ever 7,000 ft peaks as I learned how exhausting altitude can be when you’re not used to it. We weren’t expecting a snowstorm in the middle of June.
• Got lost four miles down a Montana dirt road, bushwhacked through the surrounding forest, found the trail, and accidentally walked another mile backwards
• Bled. Multiple times. (I’m clumsy.) And then washed it out without it leaving any stains. Actually, everything washed out of these pants. They’re magical that way.
• Crossed hundreds of ice-cold rivers without getting my pants wet since I could simply zip them off.
• Survived the mosquito-infested campsites without getting any bites on my legs… if i got the pants zipped on fast enough. (Trust me, I got good at that, and the color-coded zippers help!)
• Bushwhacked through sage, desert, forest, and more, without ripping them at all.
• Fit an entire day’s worth of snacks into my pockets, which is impressive when you consider that I was wearing women’s pants and my appetite was at the hiker-hunger level.

The flat waistband makes it perfect for wearing with a backpack. The pockets are massive. They’re roomy, comfortable, wicking, and stylish. To sum it up, I wore these pants every single day for 1,700 miles straight, and I never once regretted it. I would (and will) wear them again. In fact, I’m wearing them right now.

What I don’t like:

I pushed the Losdos to their limit, and maybe even a little further. As I speak, they’ve already been stitched up twice and have a patch across the back waistband where my backpack was resting.

(For comparison, though, I wasn’t the only one stitching up gear on this trip; other friends had gear rip, tear, and catch, and inevitably, someone was stitching something up.)

That being said, areas of reinforcement would be nice, specifically that back waistband right above the pockets, where your backpack will be rubbing.

Additionally, the strap on the pocket to attach the detached pant legs to your shorts broke on me fairly quickly.

However, that feature wasn’t quite as handy as it seemed in the beginning. They swayed and bumped as I walked, and honestly, I’d shove them in my pack when I took them off. Usually I used the carbineer for other things, like, my Kula cloth or something like that.

I did also need to exchange them for a size smaller. Keep that in mind when you’re ordering your own pair. 🙂

All in all, there’s not much to complain about with these pants.

My favorite things about Cotopaxi

I’m learning more and more to care about the brands that I’m buying from: who they are, what they care about, and how they interact with the world around them.

Cotopaxi is built on these simple ideas: do good. And that’s why they fight poverty, create ethically and sustainably, and hold themselves accountable. All of their products are made of fabrics and materials that are “repurposed (using excess industry fabric), recycled, or responsibly certified (by a third party).”

Their statement is “do good” and that’s exactly what they do. Add in the colorful splashes, well-designed products, and commitment to people and the planet, and you’ll see why I love Cotopaxi.

How to add the Losdos Zip-off Pants to your closet

Trust me. These are going to be your new favorites.