Blaven Organic DV Trousers

The trousers are excellent for what I bought them for, dog walking and photography in all weathers. I haven't had them out in really torrential rain yet (just haven't been out when that happened) but I have had them completely soaked, they've been in some short sharp showers and some longer mild rain with no problems. I can now kneel down wherever I like (taking photos) when it is wet under foot without getting up and being wet on the inside, that goes for sitting down too. I had to do some jet washing and thought I should wear these for that job, again they were really excellent, they got competely soaked on the outside for three or four hours and nothing came through, I even found I had puddles in some folds in the trousers and still nothing came through. The big surprise was how fast they dried out after that jet washing, I took then off and left them on a chair in the sun, an hour later they were completely dry.
So why only 4 stars ? Well they took forever to be delivered, about double the 6 weeks I was told, I wasn't in any rush for them and I prefer to wait for something of this quality made relatively locally rather than buy an off-the-shelf product made in Asia and have it immediately, but they were also too big for me so the delivery time was an issue in the end. I had phoned before ordering and asked about sizing and was told the sizes are as stated. In general I find that trousers suffer from 'vanity sizing' these days so I try and ask about this if ordering on-line, I ordered 36" which would be just slightly generous for me (I'd buy smaller for jeans), but these 36" trousers actually measure 38" at the waist so they are big. If the delivery time had been two or three weeeks I would have exchanged them, but after waiting nearly three months I thought I'd just tighten my belt, I am not entering any fashion contests in them.
I will not hesitate to buy more products from Hilltrek, these are really excellent trousers and do keep water out, they feel really hard wearing so I expect I'll have them for a very long time. I just wish I'd ordered a smaller size now.
Highly recommended by me, just order a size smaller than you measure and then sit and wait.

Purchasing these has been part of my quest to find an alternative to synthetic waterproof/breathables (e.g., Gore-tex). Breathability and durability on these garments is over-rated, in my experience--and that's not for want of splurging on top-of-the-line products. I was pretty happy to stumble on Ventile fabric and Hilltrek garments. Here's what I found:

Testing day was around 16 degrees (C) and raining hard--typical Pacific Northwest spring! My activities are cycling, sailing, hiking and occasionally skiing. Today was cycling, 45 minutes home from work, with a forecast of 10-20 mm of rain. On arrival, my cycling shoes were swampy, my shirt was soggy from some combination of sweat and a leaky Gore-tex jacket--but my legs were definitely dry! The fabric on the front upper legs was pretty wetted out, but nothing leaking through, and negligible damp from any perspiration--worlds away from that clammy synthetic feel. And they dried pretty quickly, too, after a couple of hours hanging at room temperature. I'm impressed, and I've already ordered a Hilltrek Ventile smock.

Of course, they are also beautifully designed and crafted, and the fit is superb. I do worry about the crotch area wearing out from the bicycle saddle. Extending the reinforced seat into this area by a couple of inches would be great. Also, for those of us in between waist sizes, it would be great to have the drawstring system that e.g., North Face uses--just a simple internal drawstring in the waist fabric. But otherwise, I'm super happy and can't wait until it rains next ... Thanks, Hilltrek team!

They seem really well made and fit very well. I have not had the weather to test them properly yet but I have no doubt that they will perform well.

A bit of a snug fit. I take a 38 inch waist in Craghoppers which are a generous cut.

Fantastic quality and attention to detail. Haven't been able to properly use them yet (it's been too dry and hot!) but I know they will stand up to scrutiny. Excellent service by the team at Hilltrek.