Greatest Bang for Your Buck

Finding women’s hunting pants that actually fit and perform can be a nightmare. With even minor shifts in weight, many women are left scrambling to figure out what new pair will fit where their former pair no longer does. This is the path that led me here.

Enter the DSG Bexley 3.0 Ripstop Tech Pants: The Bexley is the most comfortable pair of pants I own (short of sweatpants). And, despite scouting, hunting, and packing out in an area of very intense blowdown and thick vegetation, they made it out of archery season with no more than one small hole and a few picks. Outside of my hangups about pocket configurations and camo patterns, these things are legit.

In short: For women looking for a warm-to-hot weather pant that’s easy on the wallet, the DSG Bexley 3.0 offers extraordinary warm-weather comfort, sizing to fit literally anyone, and surprising durability. As long as you’re OK with limited pocket space and no solid color options, they deserve a spot in your closet.

DSG Bexley 3.0 Ripstop Tech Pants Review

DSG: The Company

In 2010, Wendy Gavinsky founded DSG (Doing Something Great) after years of frustration over the lack of women’s snowmobile and ski clothing. Seven years of hard work later, DSG released its first line of women’s hunting clothing. DSG’s goal is to design women’s clothing that’s both highly functional as well as feminine. The offerings include everything from base layers to extreme-weather outer layers available in sizes ranging from petite to plus.

Bexley 3.0 Overview

The Bexley 3.0 is billed as an early-season, warm-climate pant designed to offer maximum comfort and breathability for hot days in the field. It’s constructed from an extremely light ripstop fabric with a water-repellent finish. The pants are available in sizes XXS through 5XL and feature an adjustable inseam. The five camouflage patterns offered cover a broad range of field and forest environments.

Testing

Let me tell you a little story about low expectations. When I began elk scouting last year, I had my backcountry clothing figured out … or so I thought. Between several life factors I won’t bore you with here, I unintentionally lost around 10 pounds between January and August.

I hate buying pants, and with thighs a size larger than my waist size, I never buy without trying on because most pants don’t fit me. I live in the middle of Nowhere, Colorado, so I made the 2-hour trip to my closest Scheels, hoping to find something off the meagerly stocked rack of women’s pants.

Many trips to the dressing room later, I walked out with the DSG Bexley 3.0 pants — literally the only thing in the store that a) fit and b) was light enough for warm September hunts. Given their $90 price tag and the featherweightness of the fabric, I fully expected them to be held together with Tenacious Tape and prayers before the first of October.

I was wrong.

In the Field

The areas I had scouted were subjected to a devastating windstorm several years ago. The result? Large, intermittent swaths of downed trees resembling a God-sized game of pick-up sticks. Additionally, the lack of canopy shade in those areas resulted in dense undergrowth. While scouting, I managed to find game trails that avoided the most intense areas of deadfall, thorns, and whippy young aspen trees, but it was far from perfect.

It boils down to this: When you’re hunting a notoriously crowded OTC Elk unit, you either rub shoulders with other hunters and take on the challenge of spooky, call-shy animals, or you go places where other hunters simply won’t go. I’ll be the first to admit that how and where I hunted 100% qualifies as “misuse” for any ultra-lightweight article of clothing. I found a helluva bull out there, though.

Fabric

I’d originally set out on my emergency shopping trip looking for a lightweight pair of pants with thigh zippers. However, the inherent lightness of the Bexley 3.0 fabric negates the need for such ventilation. The breathability is extraordinary in these pants.

Temperature-wise, I was comfortable hiking steep terrain on the hottest days (around 70 degrees in the mid-elevations of the mountains). I did not have any opportunities to test the water-resistant treatment. The only precipitation I encountered was one thundersnow, necessitating the immediate use of waterproof rain pants.

Despite wearing the pants in brushy environments they were never intended to see, the ripstop fabric had a nearly magical ability to maintain its structural integrity. The pants literally suffered less visible damage than my skin underneath. I came out of my hunt with one small hole and a few pick/runs in the fabric.

DSG Bexley 3.0 Ripstop Tech Pants’ Camo Pattern

I’m slightly ashamed to admit, but I’m a camo snob. While I know that the camo patterns don’t matter to any of the animals I hunt, I personally don’t find any of the Realtree or Mossy Oak patterns used in the DSG lineup visually appealing.

I will say, the pattern I ended up with (Realtree Excape) is the one I like most out of the five available. It actually blends in well, too (though I could do without the cheesy turquoise stitching), so I really shouldn’t complain. Unfortunately, solid colors (my usual go-to for pants) are not offered.

Sizing and Fit

My measurements fall squarely into “small” on the DSG size chart, and I found that size to fit perfectly. The multi-panel construction of the pants is roomy enough in the butt and thighs to allow for totally unrestricted movement.

My somewhat-related rant of the day: I find that most women’s hunting pants usually prioritize a “flattering” cut (read, overly tight in the thighs and butt) at the expense of function and comfort. You’ll find “flattering” in the description of nearly every piece of women’s hunting clothing on the market and zero men’s clothing. If that’s your thing, you could definitely size down in these to achieve that fit. (Thanks, elastic waist!)

Personally, I wholly welcome a pair of pants that allows me to layer comfortably as well as climb downed trees and big alpine boulder fields without binding up or squeezing my buttcheeks together. Call me crazy, but the last thing I’m thinking about when I’m stalking an animal or elbow-deep in gutting it later is whether or not my ass looks good at the moment.

The Bexley 3.0 pants also feature two unique additions that allow them to fit literally all shapes and sizes of women. Multiple rows of snaps in the pants’ cuffs allow for inseam adjustments from 29.5” to 33.5” in length (with an extra row in between).

They also integrate two short elastic sections into the waistband, eliminating the need for a belt and providing a more tailored fit for different waist sizes. I think elastic is a game-changer for ladies in my predicament of large thighs and a small waist, and I wish it was in all pants.

Yes. I said it. I want elastic waistbands in everything. OK, Grandma, let’s get you back to bed.

Pockets

This is one place where these pants fall painfully short. The Bexley 3.0 is constructed with one cargo packet as well as two front and two rear pockets. While I appreciate the single snap-shut cargo pocket and its ability to easily hold an iPhone XR, I hate that there is no left-side cargo pocket (my favorite spot to stash an extra pair of gloves).

The front pockets are extremely shallow and inspire no confidence that whatever is inside won’t end up on the ground. The rear pockets are much deeper than the front. But I personally tend to avoid using rear pockets. I just don’t like how full rear pockets feel when I sit down.

DSG Bexley 3.0 Ripstop Tech Pants: Conclusion

The Bexley 3.0 is, hands down, the most comfortable pair of hunting pants I own. (Did I mention the elastic waist?) They seriously feel like a pair of yoga pants on steroids. “Punches above its weight class” is the cliché that comes to mind here.

Will these endure my preferred terrain like a pair of true brush pants? No. Did they absorb misuse better than I expected for a pair of sub-$100 pants? I’ll just say this: I have a pair of all-season pants from a popular boutique brand that I wore for a handful of cooler hunting days and ripped three holes in them.

Limited pockets and solid color options aside, these things are my new jam for warm weather.