These pants have full side zips, which makes them an excellent choice to use while hiking. I need to wear bulky boots and the other rain pants that I tried on would not make it over the boots either at all, or only with much difficulty. I wear a size 6 pants usually, which would be a Small, but I also tried on these, a Medium. While the Small's fit if I was not wearing them over other pants, with pants on, the Small pants bound on my legs when I lifted them knee high, something that happens frequently while hiking. So I opted for the Mediums. The seat is slightly billow-y, but in this case I am favoring function over style. As others have noted, the waist is secured with velcro, which we all know wears out with time and use. When that day comes, I'll replace the velcro myself. If that's not something you know how to do, or don't want to pay someone to do that for you, then you should consider the velcro in your purchasing decision. I like that the ankles have snaps to secure the zipped closure, plus they each have an interior elastic to snug them in for either rain or to shorten them if needed, so they don't drag, depending on which shoes I'll be wearing with them. After all, I intend to wear these where big hiking boots aren't required. The zipped pockets are nice. They are not huge, but they are more than adequate to fit in a phone, keys, etc. Plus, with the full zip sides, you can zip down from the top to reach your pant's pockets. These pants are not heavy, but know that they are not ultralight, either. But they likely won't snag or tear easily, either.
