Salomon Wayfarer Warm Pants review: the winter version of the UK's default hiking trouser

The Salomon Wayfarer is the trouser I keep calling the UK's sensible default: a stretch softshell that covers most walking, most of the year, without looking like technical kit. The Wayfarer Warm is that same idea rebuilt for the cold months. Salomon takes a denser four-way stretch double weave, brushes the inside for warmth, adds a DWR face and knee articulation, and sells it in three leg lengths for £110.

It took the top spot in our winter hiking trousers guide for a reason that has nothing to do with headline features: it is a hiking trouser that happens to be warm, not a specialist winter product you dig out six days a year. This review covers what the Warm actually is, and the more useful question, which is whether you need it at all when the standard Wayfarer 2.0 costs £10 less and covers three seasons.

Who the Wayfarer Warm is for

This trouser is for: walkers whose season does not stop in October. If you are out on cold, damp UK days from November to March, on the coast path, the Downs, moorland or low fells, and you want one trouser that goes on in the morning and works all day without a layering decision, this is it. The straight cut and plain looks mean it handles the drive, the walk and the cafe afterwards, and the brushed interior means a single trouser replaces the trouser-plus-legging system for most conditions this country produces.

This trouser is not for: anyone whose walking is mostly April to October. The brushed back that earns its keep in January is dead weight in June, and the standard Wayfarer 2.0 is the better buy for three-season use. It is also not a mountain winter trouser: for graded scrambles, Scottish winter days and freezing summits, the Rab Torque Vapour-Rise has the reinforcement, venting and warmth ceiling this trouser does not claim. And it is not waterproof, so sustained rain still means an overtrouser from the waterproof hiking trousers guide.

Specs

Fabric

92% polyamide, 8% elastane stretch softshell

Construction

Four-way stretch double weave with brushed back

Weather resistance

PFC-free DWR face, wind-resistant, UPF 50

Technologies

AdvancedSkin Shield, AdvancedSkin Warm

Weight

385g (size 50, regular leg)

Fit

Straight fit, knee articulation

Pockets

2 zipped pockets plus 1 rear pocket

Waist

Elasticated waistband with belt loops, button closure

Leg endings

Elasticated cuffs, short, regular and long lengths

Price

£110 at Salomon

Salomon describes it as a warm stretch softshell pant with a casual everyday look, and for once the marketing copy matches the spec sheet. Nothing here is exotic. Every line item is a standard hiking trouser feature made slightly warmer.

The fabric: brushed double weave, not a liner

The warmth comes from the fabric itself, not from a separate lining. Salomon weaves a double-faced softshell and brushes the inner face, so the surface against your leg is soft, slightly lofted and traps a layer of warm air. There is no fleece liner stitched in, no membrane, and no bulk between the layers to bunch at the knee.

That construction choice defines how the trouser behaves. Because the warmth is part of the weave, the four-way stretch runs through the whole garment rather than fighting a fixed liner, and the trouser moves like a normal softshell rather than a padded one. It also breathes like a fabric rather than a laminate, which matters when you are working uphill in December with a pack on: brushed-back softshell sheds excess heat far better than an insulated trouser does.

The face fabric carries a PFC-free DWR and meaningful wind resistance. Salomon's line is that it keeps out cold and moderate weather, which is an accurate description of the limit: light rain beads off, wind is largely blunted, and sustained heavy rain will eventually get through, as it does with every DWR softshell. The elastane content sits at 8%, enough for unrestricted high steps and stile crossings without the saggy-knee risk that comes with elastane-heavy fabrics.

Warm vs standard: who actually needs it

This is the real buying decision, so here is the direct version. The Wayfarer 2.0 is a lighter 85% polyamide, 15% elastane stretch trouser built for three seasons. The Warm is a denser 92/8 double weave with a brushed back, 385g against the 2.0's noticeably lighter build, and £110 against £100.

Buy the Warm if your walking year runs through winter. On a still, cold day the brushed interior is the difference between comfortable legs and the low-grade chill that unlined nylon gives you the moment you stop moving. It replaces the legging-under-trousers system for everything short of hard frost, which means one less layer to buy, wash and carry. The wind resistance of the double weave is the other half of the argument: on an exposed ridgeline in January, wind steals more warmth than temperature does, and the Warm blunts it where a light stretch trouser lets it through.

Stick with the standard 2.0 if you mostly walk between spring and autumn, if you run hot, or if your winter walking is short and low-level. A warm trouser you cannot wear for seven months of the year is worse value than a three-season trouser plus a £25 merino legging for the coldest weeks. The Warm earns its place when winter is a full season of your walking rather than an occasional cold snap.

The wrong reason to buy it is waterproofing. Neither trouser is waterproof, and the Warm's DWR is the same light-rain protection as the standard version. Winter rain still means overtrousers.

Fit, pockets and leg lengths

The cut is straight, with articulated knees keeping the leg shaped for movement so the fabric does not pull tight on step-ups. Straight rather than tapered means room for a baselayer legging underneath on the coldest days without the calf going drum-tight, and it keeps the silhouette plain enough that Salomon pitches this as a city pant that performs like a mountain pant. The elasticated waistband with belt loops and a button closure is old-fashioned in the best way: it fits without a belt, takes one if you want it, and puts no buckle under a pack hipbelt.

Pockets are two zipped plus a rear pocket. That is enough for phone, keys and a snack bar, and the zips mean nothing leaves when you sit down on a wet bench. It is not a cargo-pocket trouser, and if you carry OS maps in your pockets rather than a pack you will want more storage than this.

The detail that matters most is the one almost nobody offers any more: short, regular and long leg lengths. Winter trousers ride up over boot cuffs, and a leg that is 5cm too short turns every stile into a cold-ankle event. Elasticated cuffs seal the bottom of the leg over a boot, and the correct length keeps them there. If you sit outside the average inseam in either direction, this alone separates the Wayfarer Warm from most of the market.

Wayfarer Warm vs Rab Torque Vapour-Rise

The Rab Torque Vapour-Rise at £165 is the winter mountain trouser the Wayfarer Warm is not. A Matrix double weave outer sits over Rab's zoned Vapour-Rise lining, with zipped thigh vents, reinforced knees, ankle zips with an expansion gusset and three leg lengths, at 473g for a medium. It has a higher warmth ceiling, better moisture management under hard effort, and the mountain details: vents to dump heat on the climb, ankle zips that open over winter boots.

The decision splits cleanly on terrain. If your winter includes proper mountains, graded ground or Scottish conditions, the Rab is worth the extra £55 and the extra 88g. If your winter is Dorset mud, the South Downs in a north wind and cold lowland miles, the Rab is more trouser than the day requires and the Salomon is the better-looking, better-value answer. The full head-to-head is in the winter trousers guide.

The budget alternative: trousers plus leggings

The real competition at the bottom of the market is not another lined trouser, it is a system: an all-season walking trouser with a thermal legging underneath. The Berghaus Ortler 2.0 is the current standout for that job, a proper 340g all-season twill with articulated knees and a PFC-free DWR that Blacks has been selling at clearance prices, around £35 at the time of writing. Add a merino baselayer legging and the whole system costs half a Wayfarer Warm.

The system wins on adaptability: legging in, legging out, one trouser all year. The Wayfarer Warm wins on simplicity and comfort, one garment with the warmth built into the weave, no waistband stack, no legging to peel off in a car park when the afternoon warms up. If budget leads the decision, buy the system. If you walk all winter and want the single-garment answer, the Salomon is what the system is imitating.

Pros and cons

• Brushed-back double weave puts the warmth in the fabric, so it moves and breathes like a normal softshell
• Wind-resistant face with a PFC-free DWR handles cold, damp UK days as claimed
• Straight fit with knee articulation takes a baselayer legging underneath and still looks like a normal trouser
• Short, regular and long leg lengths, which almost no rival offers
• Two zipped pockets keep valuables secure, with a rear pocket for the everyday role
• UPF 50 and four-way stretch carried over from the standard Wayfarer formula

• £110 is a seasonal purchase: too warm to be a year-round trouser
• Not waterproof, so winter rain still means an overtrouser on top
• Three pockets is light on storage for map-in-pocket walkers
• No thigh vents or ankle zips, the features that separate it from true winter mountain trousers

Verdict

The Wayfarer Warm is the best kind of winter product: a proven trouser made warmer, rather than a specialist garment looking for a use case. The brushed double weave, wind-resistant face, straight fit and three leg lengths add up to the cold-weather trouser most UK walkers should own, and the reason it tops our winter guide is that it asks for no compromise beyond the price.

It rates 4.4 rather than higher because it is a seasonal buy with modest storage and no answer to sustained rain, and because the £110 asks you to be sure you will use it: a walker who hibernates from November to February should put the money into the standard Wayfarer 2.0 instead. For everyone still out when the ground freezes, this is the one to get, and the leg-length options mean it will actually fit when you do.

Wayfarer Warm FAQ