Arc'teryx Sabre Pant Review

These pants offer excellent weather protection, top-notch comfort, style, and ventilate well.

Performance Comparison

Weather Resistance

The Sabre is built with Gore-Tex in the shell for top-notch weather resistance. All seams are sealed, and the zippers are all waterproof. The sleek design of these pants means that there are no extra flaps of fabric that can catch snow or wind, and they easily shed all precipitation. Powder cuffs prevent snow from entering the legs of the pants, and the powder cuffs also feature two slits for the boot's power strap to be fastened over the powder cuff. This allows easy transitions for backcountry skiing. The thick shell fabric easily protects against the wind. The weather resistance of these pants is only surpassed by bibs.

Fit and Comfort

We have come to expect excellent tailoring from Arc'teryx, and the Sabre upholds this reputation. These pants fit like a glove. They are perfectly cut through the hips and legs and allow a full range of motion, although they can feel a tad tight in the crotch to some testers. They are also comfortable to wear. The interior of the shell fabric has a fleece-brushed liner, which prevents the fabric from feeling plasticky, as other 3-layer pants often do. In a testament to their comfort, we found the burly and resort-specific Sabre was also excellent for backcountry touring, as long as the pace isn't too fast.

Ventilation

Ventilation in the Sabre is provided by long external leg vents. These vents don't have mesh backing, which is great for maximizing airflow. The Gore-Tex fabric is somewhat breathable, but the brushed fleece lining will trap some heat and make the pants feel hotter. We took these pants into the backcountry, where the vents provided excellent airflow for hot uphill travel, but the thin fleece lining added some heat and made these pants feel a little more stuffy than we would have liked. On warm uptracks and bootpacks, these pants aren't as breathable as we want them to be.

Warmth

These pants don't provide much in the way of warmth or insulation. We don't mind this, as we prefer shell pants that allow us to layer underneath as necessary. Our lower bodies aren't as sensitive to cold as our upper bodies, and as such, most skiers prefer a shell-only pant for their lower legs. These pants also feature a brushed fleece lining, which provides a minimal amount of insulation power as warm air will be caught between the fleece fibers. On the coldest days of winter, layer properly, and these pants will keep you warm.

Features

The Sabre is decidedly light on features. These pants offer two zippered leg pockets, each located on the thigh. One pocket has a loop for attaching car keys or a transceiver leash, and the other has a mesh slot for a cell phone. For what it's worth, we put our cell phone in the mesh pocket, and it died quickly in the cold. There are also powder cuffs that keep snow out of your ski boots. Other than that, these pants are pretty bare-bones in terms of features.

Style

The Sabre pants have a neutral yet refined style. They are cut just on the snug side of average, but open up enough to fit easily over ski boots. The zippers are clean and discreet. We wish other pants would take style cues from these pants. We think these are among best-looking ski pants on the market.

Should You Buy the Arc'teryx Sabre?

These pants are not cheap. For the high performance and durability that Arc'teryx guarantees, the cost is worth it for the most hardcore and serious skiers. Many other pants on the market almost match the performance of the Sabre and cost a lot less. But for those who want an excellent pair of pants that will perform day in and day out through many winters, these are worth it.

What Other Ski Pants Should You Consider?

We love the performance of the Norrona Lofoten Gore-Tex, which is very similar to the Sabre, but with more useful features. If you want good hardshell pants but don't want to spend a lot of money, the Outdoor Research Skyward II Pant nearly matches the performance of the best hardshells, but comes at a much lower price. And if you're looking for a hardshell better suited for backcountry skiing, the Patagonia Stormstride is our top choice for users who spend most of their time away from the resort.