How to Choose the Right Hiking Shorts

If you are at all serious about walking or hiking, sooner or later you will want to get yourself a good pair of hiking shorts. Looking fashionable isn't as important as feeling comfortable, when it comes to hiking shorts and outdoor clothing in general.

Perhaps the most important feature of hiking shorts is that they should be comfortable; you may be walking in them all day and in all sorts of adverse weather conditions. It's important to have shorts that are comfortable and loose fitting; you may even want to consider buying a pair that is a size too big for you, as long as they are not too loose around the waste.

The material is all important as well - consider shorts manufactured from material that is both light and easy to dry, especially if you routinely hike a long distance or in bad weather. Cotton generally isn't a good choice of material, as it can easily become heavy and uncomfortable, once it becomes wet with water; or even from heavy sweating.

If possible, choose shorts made from synthetic material, which most serious hikers will tell you is the best thing. Synthetic material is good at absorbing sweat and moisture and is also a little bit lighter than some other materials - a major consideration whether you are wearing them or carrying them in your backpack. Synthetic material can help to minimize the heavy feeling that wet cotton often creates. 

Shorts with several pockets that zip or fasten closed are useful, although you don't want your pockets weighed down with so much stuff that the shorts then become heavy or uncomfortable. Being able to carry such basics as a map, compass and flashlight is ideal and is advisable anyway, in case you somehow lose or damage your backpack while hiking.