Volcom L Gore-Tex Pant Review

The Volcom L Gore-Tex Pant, like all Volcom Pants, are well built for many body types but these are also at a very good price point for a Gore-Tex Pant.  It’s also not featureless with 3 pants like pockets, one bigger leg pocket, and good venting. It’s great for the mountain as well as those who like to venture out of bounds on occasion.

Ethics Statement: We don’t get paid by the manufacturer to write these reviews.  No one is perfect and we do make money from the “Where To Buy” links below, but this is our best attempt at an honest and objective review from an average riders’ perspective.

Size Tried: Medium
James’ Specs:
Height: 5’10”,
Weight: 185 lbs,
Waist: 32”
Hips: 42”
Inseam 30”
Upper Thigh 23.25”
Middle Thigh 21.5”
Calves 17”

Size Tried: Medium
James’ Specs:
Height: 5’10”,
Weight: 200 lbs,
Waist: 33”
Hips: 42”
Inseam 30”
Upper Thigh 24.5”
Middle Thigh 22”
Calves 17”

Size Tried: Medium
James’ Specs:
Height: 5’10”,
Weight: 195 lbs,
Waist 33”
Hips 42”
Inseam 30”
Upper Thigh 24.5”
Middle Thigh 22”
Calves 17”
Turn On’s: Size M pants that fit well around my thighs, Riding with Friends, Open Roads, new gear and especially my wife.
Turn Off’s: M Pants that I can’t get up over my thighs, traffic and people who can’t park inside the lines.

Fit: I love this fit for my body type.  Such a great pant for layering underneath, getting your keys/wallet in and out and also not looking too baggy.  Volcom really knows how to build one type of pant around many body types while making us all look good. I really like these pants.

Construction: So the pant is well made and all outerwear I’ve owned and my friends have owned from Volcom last a long time.

It does have one unique feature to Volcom which is a zipper jacket to pant interface.  It’s patented so no one else can use it. This means you have to use the pants with a Volcom jacket to utilize it but you have a better seal than almost every jacket to pant interface. If you don’t pair it up with a Volcom Jacket you can usually still loop their storm skirt to the pants so it’s not Volcom only.

There are Gore-Tex inserts and Gore-Tex Laminents.  The Volcom L-Gore Pant has a Gore-Tex Laminate. What does that mean?  We aren’t 100% sure.  The laminate is in between the layers and its supposed to have the same or better reliability as the Membrane since its better bonded with the material. It’s very hard to do a Laminate vs. Membrane test with any certainty so who’s to know for sure.

Insulation/Warmth: Very much a shell and not even the warmest shell that I’ve ridden.  However it’s got great layering potential thanks to the normal fit.

Waterproofing: Not sure how a laminate plays out against a membrane when it comes to Gore-Tex but even their lowest waterproofing tech is not really low.  It seems to be just as repellant as the insert tech we are much more familiar with so wet snow to rain shouldn’t be an issue.  We’ll report back after a good season that wasn’t dry 90% of the time.  If you have been living under a rock it’s been pretty dry in the Sierras where we do most of our testing so it’s been hard to tell how good new tech is.

Breathability: Felt pretty breathable.  Not sure if it’s the Gore-Tex tech or the extra room in the pant but I never overheated.

Overall: Really solid pant at a great price point for people who ride a lot or people who see wet weather when they do ride. Hard to go wrong with this pant.