SheFly Go There Pants Review

My most embarrassing trail story? I have so many it’s hard to choose—but strong contenders include any of the myriad times I’ve been caught with my pants down, literally, while trying to pee near the trail. Embarrassment aside, pulling one’s pants down to pee in the woods leaves a lot of skin vulnerable to cold air, biting insects, poison ivy, etc. I’ve been looking for a way around this problem for years now.

That’s why I jumped at the chance to test a pair of SheFly Go There pants, which feature a female-specific fly. The entire crotch area unzips for easy pants-on squatting. On top of the innovative fly, these pants’ high waistline and booty-friendly cut appealed to me. It’s fair to say I pinned my hopes and dreams on the idea of these pants long before the package arrived in the mail.

Did they live up to the hype? Read on to find out.

SheFly Go There Pants At a Glance

MSRP: $168
Weight:
Materials: 93% nylon, 7% elastane, DWR coating
Size Range: 00 – 22

Circumstances of Review

I tested the SheFly Go There pants in size 6 in the teal colorway. Testing took place throughout late winter and early spring on the Appalachian Trail. Conditions ranged from sunny/subfreezing to cool/rainy and everything in between.

Who are these pants best for?

• Day hikers and backpackers
• Anyone who will be on-trail long enough that they’ll need at least one outdoor pee break
• People whose anatomy makes stand-up peeing with pants on impossible (not much point to the female-specific fly if you can whiz through a regular-size front fly)
• Anyone who hates the idea of using a pee funnel

READ NEXT – The Best Female Urination Devices for Backpacking

Fit

The Go There pants have a straight-leg fit with adjustable cuffs so you can wear them as joggers or capris on hot days. The mid-high waistline falls just below the belly button and features an integrated drawstring so you can adjust it for a snug fit without needing a bulky belt. The fabric has a decent amount of stretch for maximum range of motion.

The pee zipper is this pant’s main schtick, but I was more drawn to the cut of these pants: I liked the higher waistline and the curvier-looking fit. Most women’s hiking pants aren’t really designed for people with wider hips, so I always end up with trousers that are tight in the hips and loose in the legs and waist (or vice versa). Since the Go There pants were designed with women of all shapes and sizes in mind, I hoped they would fit better.

The verdict: They fit well in the leg but are snug in the hip: not so tight that they restrict movement, but enough to cause awkward bunching and whiskering. The waist area would be loose, except the pants have a clever shoelace drawstring that allows me to draw the waist in. So far, the pants haven’t stretched out or sagged after continuous use, which is a huge plus.

Comfort

Everyone’s first question about these pants is whether the pee zipper can cause chafing in delicate areas. Fabric flaps cover the zipper on the inside and the outside. The outside flap provides a measure of discretion (you can’t tell the zipper is there at a glance) and keeps cold wind and rain from soaking through, while the inner flap provides a smooth, soft surface to protect your skin.

The pants are comfortable with or without underwear; I’ve never experienced any uncomfortable rub or chafing. The flaps fall into place naturally. I’ve never had an issue with the inside or outside getting stuck to one side, exposing the zipper.

My biggest concern with these pants, comfort-wise, is the thickness of the fabric. The pants feel durable and have been great for cold-weather hikes, but they may prove too hot in the heat of summer. I wear pants year-round to protect my legs from sun damage and bugs and the like, so I need pants that breathe well in stuffy weather.

Can you wear underwear with these pants?

Yes. Commando works best, but stretchy underwear should be fine; pull them to one side when squatting.

SheFly Go There Pants Features

Adjustable Cuffs

A drawcord in each cuff allows you to cinch them around the ankles to wear as joggers. You can also roll the cuffs up and snap them in place as capris in warm weather.

Drawstring Waist

A shoelace integrated into the waistband allows you to cinch the waist tighter for a snugger fit without needing to wear a belt.

DWR Coating

Durable Water Repellent (DWR) is a fabric coating that causes water to bead and shed off the pants instead of immediately soaking in. This gives the pants light water resistance in mild misty/rainy conditions.

FIVE Pockets

Two zippered hand pockets, two rear pockets protected with flaps, and a zippered side pocket on the right leg—all big enough to fit my entire hand past the wrist.

Inclusive Sizing

The outdoors is for everyone—not just those who fit some arbitrary stereotype of an outdoorsy person. SheFly’s inclusive size range (women’s 00 to 22) is a win for diversity on the trail. It’s worth noting that the full size range is only available in the grey and black colorways, while the jade and teal pants are available in sizes 2 – 14. SheFly delves into the economic reasons for this in this Instagram post. The cliffnotes version is that large factory order minimums make it economically infeasible for the small company to carry a full stock of all sizes. The company hopes to expand size availability, so here’s hoping that can happen at some point.

Long Fly

The pants have a regular-length fly in front, and then directly underneath that is another fly that zips from the front of the pants almost to the back waistline.

SheFly Go There Pants Pros

The pockets: Lack of functional pocket space is probably the most-reviled feature of typical women’s pants, even technical outdoor pants. In contrast, the Go There pants don’t lack storage thanks to the FIVE giant pockets. All five are deliciously deep, and most of them have zippers (the only ones that don’t are the rear pockets, which have gravity on their side and a flap enveloping the top to keep things from slipping out).

Stylin’: I love that these can be modified to wear as joggers or capris. Also, so few pants have colorways outside the grey/black/tan trifecta (if they have even that many color options). These pants come in standard grey and black, but also teal with green accents and jade green with grey.

Keeps the legs warm and protected: No one wants to pull their pants down when the trail is cold and rainy or, on the other end of the spectrum, hot, buggy, and oozing poison ivy juice. You will still have some skin exposure in these pants, but it’s vastly reduced.

You can do the doodoo: I spoke to some other SheFly users who all said they’d never tried going number two while wearing these pants and never would—I suppose many find it too risky and the consequences of failure too calamitous. But it hasn’t been a problem (the pants unzip much further than needed, so the disaster risk is minimal).

I actually think it’s one of the greatest features of these pants. There are other ways to pee with pants on, even for women, but there’s no other way to stay warm and protected while pooping. Sorry for the overshare, but the people need to know: it’s a game changer.

High Waist: Well, medium-high. But compared to the hiphugger style of many hiking pants, the higher waist on the Go There pants looks better (I think) and does more to prevent hipbelt chafe. Even if your hiking shirt rides up, the pants will still be in place to protect your tender skin.

SheFly Go There Pants Cons

PFOAs in DWR treatment: Like most DWR treatments, the one on the SheFly pants contains PFOAs, a class of toxic and highly persistent chemicals with troubling implications for human and environmental health. More and more brands are moving toward PFOA-free treatments, and I hope SheFly will join the party soon.

Expensive: At $168 per pair, the Go There pants are at the expensive end of the pricing spectrum compared to other women’s hiking pants. That said, most pants don’t have the special zipper, and SheFly is in line with other brands with this feature.

Takes time to adjust: Squatting and peeing with pants on doesn’t come naturally to most of us. Many users report needing time to adapt to this new world order before enjoying the pants’ full functionality. I kept forgetting the secondary fly was there and pulling down my pants to pee for the first couple of days. On the bright side, that’s a testament to how low-profile the zipper is.

Pee funnel is still more discreet: If your primary motivation for buying these pants is to avoid the embarrassment of getting caught with your pants down while peeing, know that when you squat with the fly open, it forms a large hole out of which your bottom hangs. Which is great because there’s very little chance of aiming so badly that you get pee on the pants themselves, but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable using these in view of other people.

In contrast, a female urination device, aka a pee funnel, is lightweight, cheap, and truly discreet (and gives you the flexibility to pee in a bottle overnight so you don’t have to get out of your tent). Especially for those who have a hard time squatting and crouching, a funnel is a better choice.

Overall

I liked how these pants looked and was impressed by the deep, functional pockets. The pants’ big claim to fame is the ability to pee with pants on, but was not my favorite feature. It works, don’t get me wrong, but I find a pee funnel + regular pants more functional for much less money. The Go There pants are well-made and ought to last for years. I’ll keep them in my hiking clothes rotation, but I wouldn’t call them my forever pant (though they might make that cut if they fit me better through the hips).

Shop the SheFly Go There Pant

Comparable Pants

Zip Hers Trailblazer Pro Pants

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Elira Baret Pants

MSRP: $165
Materials: nylon, bamboo

The SheFly Go There pants were donated for purpose of review.