7 Best Hiking Clothes for Men 2026

Zippered hand pockets are the difference between carrying a phone and losing it on a scramble, and this pair has them where it counts. These are the shorts we take on hot, humid trails: thin fabric that dries fast, an elastic waist that moves with you on steep ground, and a cut loose enough to keep chafing off the inner thigh.

The fit is the part to think about. It’s an above-knee active short rather than a tailored hiking short, which is why it works as well at a beach or a gym as on a trail. The waistband sits flat under a pack hipbelt, the pockets swallow a phone and keys, and there’s enough stretch that you stop noticing them on a climb.

Where these give up ground is warmth: there isn’t any. They’re a summer short, and on a cold morning you’ll want a longer leg or a liner underneath. For everything from a humid day hike to a swim, that’s the right call, and a second pair for the gym costs little enough that it’s an easy yes.

A rain jacket keeps your torso dry. This keeps your torso, your thighs and the pack on your back dry, and it costs a fraction of a shell. The ANYOO is a loose, sleeveless hooded poncho in 210T ripstop polyester with a PU 8000 mm coating and taped seams, and it’s the rain protection we pack for summer trips where rain is a maybe rather than a certainty.

Coverage is the whole point. Because it hangs loose and long, it goes over a full daypack instead of fighting it, and the side snaps let you open it up on a climb and close it down when the wind picks up. It weighs well under a pound, folds into a corner of the pack, and dries fast enough to shake out and stow still damp.

It isn’t a shell, and we don’t treat it as one. The loose cut flaps on an exposed ridge and it won’t replace a jacket in sustained wind and cold — but in changeable three-season weather that’s a fair trade, because rain cover you don’t mind carrying beats a jacket left in the car. The corner grommets let it double as an emergency tarp if the weather turns worse than forecast.

Warmth and thickness are what these socks are for, and they deliver both: a soft merino crew that keeps feet warm on cold walks and stays up on the leg instead of sliding into your boot. Three pairs in one pack makes them the least expensive way into wool socks here, and for winter walking, cold-weather work or a chilly night in a tent, that’s a useful thing to have in the drawer.

Thickness is the design decision worth understanding. These are a proper boot sock, pillowy underfoot and warm enough for winter, which suits a roomier hiking boot or a well-broken-in pair. In a snug trail runner the same padding turns into crowding — we keep these for the boots with room in them and reach for a thinner sock the rest of the time.

The fit is generous and stays put, which is most of what you want from a sock under a pack, and the wool feels soft rather than scratchy on skin. They run warm, so they’re a poor choice for summer hiking; this is a cold-weather sock from the ground up, and we judge it that way.

These are the socks we reach for on long days: a hiking-specific merino crew with cushioning under the foot and a fit that stays put inside a boot. Where the Alvada pair is about warmth, this one is about the walk — padding where a boot presses, wool that moves moisture off the skin, and dry feet at the end of a hot climb.

Merino earns its place here. It wicks, it doesn’t hold odor the way cotton does, and it stays warm when damp, which matters on a trip where the weather turns. Three pairs cover a multi-day trek if you rinse them at night, and the weight sits in the three-season range rather than deep winter.

The trade is longevity. Soft merino is comfortable and odor-resistant and not especially abrasion-proof, and the heel is where a pair usually wears first — the same bargain every wool hiking sock makes. Buy them for the comfort and the dry feet rather than as a sock you’ll still be wearing in five years.

Order these a size up — that’s the most useful thing we can say about this thermal set. Sizing is the weak point, with a clear run-small pattern and the same nominal size coming up tighter in one color than another. Buy from somewhere with easy returns, or size up and accept a slightly loose fit under your shell.

Get the fit right and it’s a lot of warmth for the money: a fleece-lined long john set that holds heat under a shell without feeling bulky under hiking pants. The inside is soft enough that it doesn’t itch, the outside slides under other layers instead of bunching, and it works as a sleep layer in a cold hut as well as a hiking base layer.

The limit is the season. This is a cold-weather layer — fleece-lined and warm enough that you’ll overheat on a mild day’s climb — so pack it for late-season trips, winter walking and cold mornings rather than as a three-season base layer. Within that window it earns its place.

What you want from an inexpensive pair of hiking pants is that they dry fast, don’t restrict your stride, and don’t look like gym wear when you stop for lunch in town. These manage all three: a light, water-resistant fabric, an elastic waist that moves with you, and zippered pockets that keep a phone and keys where you left them.

Comfort is where they punch above the price. The fabric is light and stretchy enough for steep ground, it doesn’t turn into a sauna in heat, and the straight, casual cut sits closer to a walking trouser than a running pant — the pair you can wear on a hike and then into a pub without feeling underdressed.

The inseam is the catch: it comes up short, close to an inch under the listed measurement, and tall hikers find them cropped above the boot rather than breaking over it. Measure against a pair you already own before ordering.

For everyone else they’re the value pick of the guide: a light, quick-drying, comfortable hiking trouser you won’t mind getting muddy. They aren’t a softshell and won’t carry you through a cold, wet day, but as a summer and shoulder-season pant they do the job.