Mountain Hardwear Stretch Ozonic Pants Review

The Mountain Hardwear Stretch Ozonic is easily one of our favorite pieces of rain gear we have ever worn. They are constructed with a super stretchy waterproof fabric that allows for restriction-free movement - as much you could hope for in a rain pant. The Stretch Ozonic is so stretchy that most people think they are a softshell rather than a waterproof rain pant. Stretchy fabric aside, the Stretch Ozonic is lighter and more breathable than average and sports most of the high-end features that hikers, backpackers, and mountaineers look for - all while coming in at a below average weight.

Performance Comparison

The Stretch Ozonic has many advantages. It offered the best in review mobility and breathability but only offered so-so water resistance. It was hardly terrible, but this contender would wet out slightly quicker than some of the highest-scoring models in our garden hose test - as well as during extended rainy hikes.

Weather Resistance

The Stretch Ozonic pants have many advantages; in both our real-world use and in our side-by-side hose and shower tests, they offered decent weather resistant protection, scoring a 7 out of 10, slightly above average.

These pants use Mountain Hardwear's proprietary Dry.Q Active 2.5-layer fabric. While we list Dry.Q as an exclusive fabric as only Mountain Hardwear offers it, the material is a technology produced by General Electric, who also manufactures eVent.

The DWR featured on the Stretch Ozonic pant.

These pants feature small storm flaps and watertight zippers; while less substantial looking than most of the other models, our real world and hose tests revealed that the Ozonic Stretch lets very little water in. While these pants performed well, we didn't find them to be quite as storm-proof as other pants in a similar price range, such as the Arc Teryx Alpha SL and the Marmot Minimalist Pants which both featured Gore-Tex. The Ozonic Stretch were comparable to the Marmot Precip Full-Zip and the Outdoor Research Helium.

The Stretch Ozonic by Mountain Hardwear features two full-length zippers on either side that make donning these pants over any footwear (or skis, crampons, snowshoes, or Nordic skis) a quick and easy task.

Comfort and Mobility

This contender is comfy! As the name implies, the fabric is extremely stretchy, more so than any other rain pant we have ever worn. The Stretch Ozonic is comparable, regarding stretchiness, to a lightweight softshell. As you might imagine, the best four-way stretch rain pant we've ever put on offered unequaled mobility and sported the best overall range of motion of any pant we've ever tested (or ever seen).

The REI Talusphere Full Zip pant also features a stretchy material which offered excellent comfort and mobility. After practicing extensive yoga poses, pushing the maximum ranges of both pants, we felt the Stretch Ozonic narrowly edged the REI Talusphere out regarding mobility. While the Arc Teryx Alpha SL's well-designed and articulated pant legs were designed well, they're still a long way from the Stretch Ozonic which are on an entirely different level due to offering movement that is not restricted. If you're out and about on an adventure that requires a fair amount of mobility, these pants are tough to beat.

Our testers absolutely loved the comfort and effectiveness of built-in flat webbing waist belt featured on the Stretch Ozonic pant. This feature not only did a fantastic job at keeping our rain pants from falling down, but also remained very comfortable under heavily laden backpack waist belts.

These pants also featured other small nods to comfort like the built-in flat webbing waist belt, which did an excellent job of keeping these pants from falling down. They also sported a micro-fleece lining on the inside of the belt which feels exceptionally nice against your skin, especially when you're gone on a long adventure. Both features were rarely seen in other contenders.

Breathability & Ventilation

These pants featured the best breathability of any competitor in our review, topping even the Arc Teryx Alpha SL and the Marmot Minimalist Pant, which both feature Gore-Tex with PacLite technology, and taking home a perfect 10 out of 10. The Dry.Q fabric is air permeable; unlike Gore-Tex, it doesn't require the wearer to build up heat in order for the process of moving moisture from the inside to the outside to begin. The REI Talusphere Full Zip was close behind, scoring a 9 out of 10; ultimately, the Stretch Ozonic finished at the top, taking home the win for offering the highest performing pant in this metric.

These pants feature full-length side zippers. In light storms or after the rain stops, they offer great ventilation options. Ventilation capabilities are excellent, though not quite as crucial as breathability; if it's rainy or wet outside while traveling on a slightly overgrown trail, leaving your pants even slightly unzipped is going to result in a wet body.

Resulting from its incredibly stretchy fabric, the very appropriately named Stretch Ozonic offered the best mobility in our review, we well as some of the best range of motion of any shell pant we have ever tested.

Features

Our testing team loved the integrated waist belt! It kept the pants snug around our waist and resulted in being one of our favorite features out of any contender tested. While the Stretch Ozonic fit snugly around boots, the Arc Teryx Alpha SL offered a better fit. A handful of folks didn't particularly like that the pocket that was in the middle of the front thigh; after extended real-world use, we determined that as long as the item wasn't too heavy (which is true for most shell pant pockets), the pocket provided convenience and was easy to access.

Packed Size

The Stretch Ozonic is one of the most compressible models in our review.

In fact, it was the only pant that packed down smaller than the micro Outdoor Research Helium Pant, taking up just over half the volume of this pant. The Stretch Ozonic packed down smaller than the Arc Teryx Alpha SL and the Marmot Minimalist Pant and was far more compact than most of the other pants in our review. It was roughly half the volume of the REI Talusphere Full Zip.

The Stretch Ozonic's front pocket was okay for storing small items as long as they weren't too heavy. Heavier items tended to annoyingly swing around and its position in the center of our leg wasn't the most comfortable. This was only a very small downside as most of our testers preferred to carry items in our jacket pockets because it was often more comfortable, regardless of rain pant design.

Weight

The Stretch Ozonic Pants are nearly the lightest rain pant in our review and are certainly the lightest to feature a full-length zipper, weighing in at 10 ounces on our OutdoorGearLab scale. The only contender that was lighter was the 6.5 ounce Outdoor Research Helium Pant; however, unlike the Helium, the Stretch Ozonics feature full-length side zippers. While close in rankings, the Stretch Ozonic remains a few ounces lighter than our other award winners like the Arc Teryx Alpha SL (13 ounces) and the Marmot Minimalist Pants (11 ounces). We found it particularly amazing that when compared to the similarly designed REI Talusphere Full Zip (19.5 oz), the Stretch Ozonic is nearly half the weight.

Durability

We used our testing pair over nearly a dozen days, which has resulted in a positive outcome, as we did not tear any holes in them despite rugged use. We do believe that this model is not as abrasion resistant as others like the REI Talusphere Full Zip, the Marmot Minimalist, or the Arc Teryx Alpha SL, though it's important to note that these pants are lighter and feature full-length zippers.

Ease of Use

The full-length side zippers made pulling these pants on over any boot, snowshoe, or crampon a breeze. However, our testers found the Velcro flaps at the top of these zippers weren't the most secure and came undone unexpectedly more frequently than other contenders; this performance was comparable to that of the Marmot PreCip pant. We liked that the Ozonic's flaps were smaller and less bulky than most, which resulted in a higher level of comfort when using a backpack's hip belt. Overall, while marginally less secure than the REI Talusphere Full Zip, the Stretch Ozonic's Velcro flaps were more comfortable than the Talusphere or the PreCip Pant.

Best Applications

The Stretch Ozonic rain pants are a very versatile contender that can pull some double duty for most rainy day outdoor activities. Due to their low weight, excellent freedom of movement, easy on/off design, and smaller than average packability, these pants are great for backpacking, hiking, at home mountaineering, Nordic skiing, and snowshoeing. Their cuff isn't incredibly wide and won't fit over very many ski or snowboarding boots, making it a poor choice for these activities. The cuffs are big enough to fit over super warm mountaineering boots.

Value

All things considered, at $150, these pants are a solid value. Offering a higher price point, these pants took home our Editors' Choice award and are on the less expensive end of shell pants in general. They are $25 less than the Outdoor Research Foray Pant ($175) or $15 less than the more durable but less featured Marmot Minimalist. If you like these pants but aren't ready to shell out $150, we would recommend the stretchy REI Talusphere Full Zip which costs$109 (the downside is they are heavier and bulkier).

The Stretch Ozonic is an awesome rain pant: it's among the lightest and most compressible of all contenders and it offers the best breathability. It also has the most unrestricted movement by far. It's a sweet option for any rainy day activity.

Conclusion

This is a rad rain pant that took home the second Editors' Choice award, as our review staff found it nearly impossible to only choose one. While the Arc Teryx Alpha SL just barely edged out the Stretch Ozonic in our scoring, we do think that its MEGA stretchy fabric is a cool enough difference that for some folks could be more worthwhile. While it only offered average storm worthiness and did wet out faster than other models, the Stretch Ozonic remains the most breathable pant in our review. It also weighs less and is more packable than the other Editors' Choice winner, the Arc Teryx Alpha SL.