Best Paddling Pants for Women
Trying to find the best paddling pants for women? Whether you’re planning to kayak in the spring, summer, or fall, this article has our recommendations for women’s pants for kayaking.
A Note About Our Choices
We don’t recommend gear we wouldn’t personally use. As a family of four, our focus is on high quality, affordable and versatile gear that is well made and will hold up well.
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Why Choose Paddling Pants?
It wasn’t long after we started kayaking that we started stretching kayaking season out more into what we Canadians affectionately refer to as shoulder season. Our Canadian summers are pretty short – mid June to end of August, and we wanted to get out earlier and paddle into the fall. We’ve done some beautiful spring trips, exploring spots like the Wainfleet Wetlands and we loved our trips to Big Creek and Point Pelee National Park in September and early October.
The main rule for picking paddling clothing is to Dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature. Even if the air temperature is hot, the water temperature may be cold enough to cause hypothermia. This may surprise many Canadians, but many of our bodies of water don’t get above 20C at any point in the year, and are only above 15C for a couple of months. If you end up in the water, the choice in clothing can be a choice between a happy paddle and an uncomfortable and even dangerous paddle.
So that said, while almost anything will work for kayaking clothes for a short paddle in the heat of the summer, in the shoulder seasons you’ll be far more comfortable in paddling pants rather than a bathing suit. Women’s pants for kayaking will protect your lower body from the sun, wind, and cold. And paddling pants don’t need to be specialty, single use articles of clothing. May of the best paddling pants for women are incredibly versatile, and can be worn for hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities beyond kayaking!
Please note that the recommendations we’ve highlighted below as the best paddling pants for women are focused on recreational kayaking. More experienced kayakers intending to tackle white water, sea kayaking or coastal waters will require more specialized gear and clothing as water is colder and risk of submersion for extended periods of time is higher.
What Materials Make The Best Paddling Pants for Women?
The best paddling pants for women are made out of synthetic materials. Most of the materials will be either polyester or nylon with a small amount of lycra, making them stretchy and breathable. They may be treated with a UPF sun treatment and possibly even a durable waterproof repellant (DWR) to help repel water. What you want is a quick-drying fabric that won’t get cold and uncomfortable when your paddle drips on your lap.
Don’t wear jeans or other cotton pants! You don’t need to fall in to get wet – and once cotton gets wet, it stays wet for a long time. If you’re wearing wet cotton, you’ll quickly lose body heat, which can create a risk of hypothermia, even in the summer! Plus if you do fall in, cotton is very heavy when wet. This video from the American Coast Guard provides more details on why to avoid cotton.
Below are some of our favorite women’s pants for kayaking.
Board Shorts
Great for summer, and more comfortable than women’s bathing suit bottoms.
NRS Guide Shorts for Women are made with a sturdy nylon and elastane blend fabric with a 40+ UPF. With 5 pockets (and 3 of them zippered) and a 9” inseam, these are comfortable, practical, and also look professional.
Level Six Taiva 5 is a Canadian option. I haven’t tried these particular shorts myself, but wanted to link them as a second option. I’ve purchased lots of gear and clothing from Level Six.
Quick Dry Capris
Eddie Bauer’s Women’s Guide Capris are my #1 go-to bottom all summer long, for gardening, hiking, camping, and wearing around town – but most of all for paddling. On a regular summer day, these capris are my #1 go-to bottom for kayaking. They come in 4 lengths, and a wide variety of colors, have 50+ UPF and DWR coating, and feature bluesign fabrics. I love that these bottoms are highly breathable, keep my knees protected from the sun, have extra pockets, and are water resistant, dry quickly, and are light enough to be comfortable even when wet. On a sunny day, these dry within a couple of minutes.
Quick Dry Pants
Quick dry pants are a very versatile outdoor staple for me. Below are some of the pants that I wear year round for hiking and camping, and that do double duty for me as kayaking pants during warmer weather, starting from late spring until early fall. My preference is for 4-way stretch nylon. As a Scout leader, I also love pockets, and am always looking for hiking pants that have a zippered thigh pocket for my cell phone. Finally, I prefer pants that have belt loops as well – I find they do tend to stretch out a bit when wet and if I have keys and a cell phone in my pockets, the belt will make sure they don’t fall down!
My favorite two hiking and paddling pants are the ones by Patagonia and Eddie Bauer below, but I’ve also linked a couple of others I really like that may be more accessible for you and are definitely still good options that are in regular use for me!
Patagonia Quandary Women’s Pants of the pants featured here, I find these are the lightest weight fabric. They feel silky smooth and honestly are so comfortable that they remind me more of leggings, though they look and fit like hiking pants. I love the inseam gusset, which makes them very forgiving for sitting down and standing up without getting all bunched up in the crotch! These are also available in 2 lengths, and several color options, and have a 40+ UPF treatment. While pricy, Patagonia uses bluesign approved fabrics, and I love to support businesses that do business better for the planet.
Eddie Bauer First Ascent Women’s Guide Pro Pants are one of my all-time favorites because they are super versatile, very comfortable, and well-made. I had the capris first, and have added a few pairs of their pants to my collection over the years. I love their zippered cargo pockets. These are available in short, regular, tall and plus sizes, and are made with bluesign approved nylon-spandex fabric with 50+ SPF and DWR finish. I hang mine to dry to extend the life of them, and several years in, they’re still looking great. Eddie Bauer also offers a lined version (with lightweight fleece) and a jogger version too.
Arctix Women’s Convertible Pants are available on Amazon. While I prefer the fit of the Eddie Bauer pants more, I have these in a regular rotation, particularly on cooler days that are expected to heat up. Start out with pants, end up with shorts as the day wears on! Made of stretchy nylon blend, these pants have 50 UPF treatment, and the lower legs zip off to convert to shorts. They come in short, regular, and LONG! length, and the bottom cuff has a bungee cord that helps keep them in place.
Wind River Women’s Water Repellent Hiking Pants, available from Marks, are another option I’ve tried. I really like the fit of these pants, the zippered side pocket, and the fact that they have belt loops. The fabric is a little bit sturdier, making them a great option for spring and fall. With their deep cargo pockets they’re great for stashing all sorts of stuff – I’ve worn these all day at Scout Camp. They come in 2 lengths, and a wide range of sizes, and can often be picked up on sale. The main drawback I’ve found with these is that a couple of years in, they’ve started to look fuzzy (the spandex is breaking down and is visible around the seams), while my Eddie Bauer ones have been worn more and have held up better. I also find these stretch out more between washings, and so I definitely need a belt on them by day two.
Underwear
Remember how I mentioned above that cotton is very uncomfortable when it gets wet? Well, what should you wear under your paddling pants then? While some people wear a swimsuit bottom, I find these bulky and also quite uncomfortable when wet, so I switched to merino wool undies for paddling, and haven’t looked back.
Ridge Merino bikini briefs feature comfortable flatlock seams and 85% merino wool fabric with a touch of nylon and spandex for durability. Wool naturally wicks moisture away from your skin, and offers temperature regulation so they don’t feel cold when wet. Wool is also supposed to naturally resist odors. I also find they dry quickly, so you’re headed into the back country, these can be rinsed at the end of the day, rung out in a towel, and dry again before morning. They also offer boy short and thong versions, and bras and bralettes.
Neoprene Pants
While wet suits can be a great paddling option for extending your kayaking into the shoulder seasons, I have gotten a lot of use from the versatile NRS Women’s HydroSkin 0.5 Pant that are made with 0.5mm neoprene to lock in your body’s warmth. Unlike most neoprene which is incredibly bad for the environment, NRS uses neoprene that is made from limestone rock instead of fossil fuels. I love these pants for spring and fall paddling. They offer a light insulation and feature a stretchy, mid-rise waistband that sits comfortably against your kayak’s seat back. With kids, I often have to get out of my kayak to assist them with re-entry or to move foot pegs, and these are great for keeping me warm and comfortable during early spring cold water conditions.
Paddling Pants
Remember how I prefer outdoor clothing that’s versatile? While, paddling pants may seem super specialty, but I’ve actually worn them more for winter hiking and tobogganing than I have for paddling! Paddling pants are more affordable than a complete dry-suit, but are not considered waterproof. That said, they can be an affordable and versatile option for early spring, cold/rainy days, and fall paddling.
NRS Women’s Endurance Splash pants are made of HyproTex 2.5 material, which is light weight and breathable while repelling ater. They feature hook and loop ankle cuffs and a wide neoprene waist band designed to keep water out, and are meant to be combined with a base layer against your skin. I love that the seat and knees are reinforced with a second layer of the same durable fabric, which is part of the reason why I’ve found these work great for tobogganing!
Base Layers
The best base layers to go under a paddling pant are light or medium weight polyester leggings. You can put most leggings underneath, but stay away from cotton.
My favorite base layers are also made by NRS. NRS Women’s Expedition Weight Leggings (a heavy poly fleece with a bit of stretch and a spandex ankle cuff) and NRS Women’s H2Core Pants (a lighter weight stretchy, grid-like fabric that does a good job of insulating and breathing). Both feature the same great yoga-style waistband that I love in the Hydroskin Neoprene pants I mentioned above and flat-lock seams and cuts that are designed to avoid friction in uncomfortable places. Both of these base layers are also incredibly versatile, and I wear these regularly in the colder months as a base layer for hiking, and also always pack them for pyjamas when camping.
The Best Paddling Pants for Women
This article has highlighted what I feel are some of the best paddling pants for women, based on my own experience. Many of the options available today for outdoor gear and clothing can be incredibly flexible and versatile, doing double duty beyond your kayaking trip.
Return to our Gear Guide for more kayak, hiking and camping gear reviews and recommendations.
