Initial Impression
Before ordering the Waypoint All-Season Hunting Pant from Pnuma, I remember reading about them on the website. To paraphrase and summarize, they were described as pants that were extremely versatile, allowing you to wear them in unpredictable weather in just about any environment. Once the Waypoint pants arrived, custom tagged and secured in the signature Pnuma dry bag as usual, I pulled them out and honestly my first thought was they would be way to warm for almost any hunting I would do from the Midwest and into the Rockies. I do extremely well in cold. I grew up hunting in a cold, windy, and unforgiving climate and it seems I adapted and carried that with me. Very seldom do I wear anything heavier that the Pnuma Tenacity pants. If it gets down to subzero wind chill I generally wear the Pnuma IconX base layer system under the Tenacity pants and I am comfortable 99% of the time. (Side note- if you aren’t family with the Tenacity pants or the IconX base layering system you are missing out. Check out my reviews on each and get some ordered!) Although I was concerned that the pants would be too warm I was otherwise extremely impressed with the details of the Waypoint pants. The inner thigh ventilation zipper, half-zip legs for easy access to boots, and the quality of the Pnumagrid fleece lining was extremely impressive. Unlike most of the lined pants I have seen where the fleece is very similar to a thick and fluffy bathroom rug; the Pnumagrid is fairly thin and sleek, yet still very soft and strong material. The Waypoint pant fit as I expected and true to Pnuma’s usual athletic fit, the removable knee pads were barely noticeable as they stayed in just the right spot, and overall the pants felt like they were thick enough to keep the wind out yet light enough to not hinder movement. Although still slightly apprehensive of how toasty they would be due to my polar bear-like love of the cold, I was very impressed that Pnuma had yet again figured out how to make such a comfortable and what I assumed would be a very functional piece of gear.
Testing
I figured it was best that I found some extreme cold to first try out the Waypoint pants in case my hunch about how hot they would be was right. Subzero winds and blowing freezing rain seemed like a fair testing ground! I put on the Waypoints without any base layers and headed out to try my hand at some windy day coyote calling. If you haven’t spent any time calling coyotes in eastern Colorado and western Kansas in the fall and winter you probably can’t imagine the misery it can inflict if the wind kicks up. It is the kind of cold where, if you aren’t dressed appropriately, will chill you to the bone and require about 20 minutes in a steaming hot shower to bring you out of the shivering. That was this day. As I sat or proned-out over several different stands of calling, the wind gradually increased as the temperature continued to fall. I never once felt the wind cut through the pants and, even though some of the freezing rain began to stick to the pants, I was completely comfortable underneath. Not too hot, not too cold, just well-maintained comfort. Pnuma’s claim that the Waypoint pants would stop the wind was spot on.
Probably the most noteworthy testing I did of these pants was during the 2017 Colorado bear season. My wife and I set out with the goal of getting her first bear and I had a good area in mind. We spotted a giant bear on our first morning out that I had seen a year prior and we spent all of our hunting days chasing him around his stomping grounds. The weather during the days (around 10 total) we spent bear hunting was either deep-freeze cold all day (low single digits to mid-teens at the warmest) or variable (mid-teens to 50’s and back to teens by dark). There were days we worked hard while covering quite a bit of distance and there were days we spent sitting and glassing from high shaded positions which required little exertion. Never once did I feel too hot or too cold from my waist to my ankles, although the rest of my body was another story a few times! I spent quite a bit of time crawling around on the edge of granite fields on my hands and knees. There is absolutely no way I could have done that without the knee pads in place. They were a life saver and I honestly couldn’t tell I was on rock at all. We also did quite a bit of bushwhacking through thick blowdown timber, areas that I have previously ripped up clothing and even a backpack, and the Waypoint pants came out without a mark.
Summary
The Tenacity pants have been my go to pants since the first time I put them on. I constantly wear them hunting and I have a solid pair I wear for work at least once a week. Incredible pants because they are bomb-proof and more comfortable than any other pants I have put on in my life, hunting pants or otherwise. After testing over 30+ days in the field in every weather situation I hunt in, the Waypoint pants are tied across the board with the Tenacity pants as far as comfort, durability, function, features, and fit is concerned. I was absolutely wrong when I thought the Waypoint pants might be too warm for me. They seemed to be magical in their ability to regulate temperature in every weather scenario I put them through. The Waypoint pants give you peace of mind knowing that you can push yourself to your limits and beyond, from the mild days of early fall through the coldest days of winter, and be comfortable while doing so. These pants will now be on my packing list for every hunt I go on.