Men's Powder Town Pants vs Men's Brilliant Pant: which is safer?

Patagonia Men's Powder Town Pants is our pick, better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.

Our pick

Patagonia Men's Powder Town Pants

Patagonia

Men's Powder Town Pants

PFAS grade

Poor 45/100

Overall grade

Poor 33/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

nylon blend with water-repellent coating water-repellent treatment

Confidence

45%

Possiblewater-repellent coating chemistry (unspecified)

PossibleFormaldehyde-resin finishing agents

PossibleMicrofiber shedding from coating degradation

Salomon Men's Brilliant Pant

Salomon

Men's Brilliant Pant

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 12/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 2

Material

Polyester blend with water-repellent coating (water-repellent coating) finish

Confidence

45%

PossiblePFAS in water-repellent coating finish

PossibleCoating degradation and particle shedding

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag DWR coating chemistry (unspecified), Formaldehyde-resin finishing agents and Microfiber shedding from coating degradation on the Patagonia and not on the Salomon.
  • We flag PFAS in DWR finish and Coating degradation and particle shedding on the Salomon and not on the Patagonia.
  • The Patagonia is nylon blend with DWR water-repellent treatment where the Salomon is Polyester blend with DWR (durable water-repellent) finish, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 25 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Patagonia is the one to buy.

Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More snow pants, see the full ranking