Forget what those “style guides” say about camo, or cargo shorts, or both. If you’re in the woods for any reason fashion takes a backseat to anything else, anyway.

So, with that said, let’s take a look at how you can use camo cargo shorts to ease your packing strategy and make accessing your critical gear easier.

Give Camo Cargo Shorts Another Chance: Why Packing Matters

When you’re packing for a hike or a camping trip (or even a day hike), there are two main things you need to consider. These are:

• Weight distribution: How the pack/your gear rides on your shoulders and hips, and how much weight you are actually carrying.
  
  
• Accessibility: how easy it is for you to find your gear.

If you pack everything in the pack on your back, you’ll enjoy pretty decent weight distribution, but by distributing some to the pockets in your pants (or even on your belt) you can take a load off (your back, literally) and also improve accessibility.

Let’s take a look at how.

It’s About Accessibility: What to Carry

If you have a good pair of camo cargo shorts, you can improve your packing strategy by shifting some weight off your back and into your pocket (or on your belt) and you can access it better, too.

Here are some things you should shift out of your pack and into your pockets:

• Knife: Does you no good in a pack, where you can’t reach it. Lashing it to one of your shoulder straps improves access as long as you are wearing the pack. A better strategy would be to carry it on your belt or in a pocket.
  
  
• Flashlight: Same deal; it won’t help you in your pack. Carry it clipped to your belt or in one of your pockets.
  
  
• Lighter/matches: These are light, so weight doesn’t matter here, but it’s easier to get them from your pocket than a pack.
  
  
• Chapstick/vaseline/lip balm: It’s easy to get dry and chapped on a hot (or cold, even) day. Don’t halt the hike to dig through your pack. Keep this stuff handy in your pockets.
  
  
• Sunglasses: Clip them to the belt loop of your camo cargo pants.
  
  
• Gloves: These are better stowed where you can reach them so keep them in your pants pockets, one on each side.
  
  
• Maps: If you need to reference where you are, it’s better to have it at arm’s reach. Throw a compass in there, too.
  
  
• Signaling device: If you are carrying one, it should be within easy reach at all times.
  
  
• Bug spray: The bugs won’t wait for you to be ready to pull out repellent.
  
  
• Bandanna: Has 101 uses, but only good if you can pull one out.
  
  
• A poncho: These are a bit bulky for cargo shorts pockets but if you have the room, it might be worth it.

Where Can You Get Camo Cargo Shorts Online

As you can see, camo cargo shorts are more functional than you might have imagined, and if you redistribute some of your gear in this manner you will actually get some use out of them, while improving packing and accessibility.

If you’re looking for your next pair, check out Fatigues Army Navy via the previous link or visit them at their shop in Hawley, PA. Your next pair is waiting there, along with a bunch of other outdoor gear you might be looking for.