BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short Review

BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short Review by Erin Trail The BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short is a solid all-around adventure short. Details UPF 50+ PFC-free DWR fabric 94% Nylon / 6% Spandex Relaxed fit 4-inch inseam Webbing waist with buckle closure plus zip fly Two front hand pockets Rear zippered pocket Fit I am a…

Erin Trail

June 3, 2026

4–6 minutes

active wear, BlackStrap, hiking shorts, shorts, womens shorts

BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short

Review by Erin Trail

The BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short is a solid all-around adventure short.

Details

UPF 50+
PFC-free DWR fabric
94% Nylon / 6% Spandex
Relaxed fit
4-inch inseam
Webbing waist with buckle closure plus zip fly
Two front hand pockets
Rear zippered pocket

Fit

I am a women’s size large on the BlackStrap size guide and I needed to size down to a women’s medium. This may due to the short’s relaxed fit or it may be due to the size chart being wrong, but I’ve found the size guide to be a full size too big for me in tops and bottoms. The women’s medium is still relaxed, but fits nicely.

Performance

I’ve been wearing the BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short for hiking, hanging out, and running errands over the past month.

The feel of the fabric is on the stiff side, especially when compared to the men’s equivalent of the same short. Despite the stiffness, the shorts move and breathe well, and I ended up getting used to how they feel after a few wears.

The BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short has a 4-inch inseam, which for me, is pretty darn perfect. The leg openings are also in that “just right” category, and once I found the correct sizing, the shorts overall feel great when moving around in them.

The shorts feature both an webbed waistband and a traditional buckle closure with fly. The buckle is made from a lightweight plastic or nylon material and clicks together. The waistband is also a bit stretchy, so you don’t need to have the waistband cinched down tightly for the shorts to stay put.

The front pockets of the BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short are drop in and are generously sized. I had no problem storing my phone and had confidence that it would stay in place. The rear zippered pocket is not big enough for a phone, but is sized well for your ID or a car key.

For hiking, the BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short are great. The inseam stays in place (no dreaded inner thigh creep) and the shorts never got sweaty or uncomfortable. I also didn’t experience any chafing from the seams.

I imagine that the BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short would also be ideal for use on and around water: SUP, kayaking, or beach adventures.

Closing Thoughts

The BlackStrap Women’s Utility All-Purpose Short are a great overall short option for those that want something versatile this summer. The shorts are great for hiking, water sports, and hanging out.

The shorts are available for women in sizes ranging from XS to XL and come in four different colorways (cherry, black, spruce, and canyon).

Erin Trail

Trail Boss of Stoke

Erin Trail’s hobby is collecting hobbies. She’s a 5th Generation Coloradan and grew up exploring the outdoors on family camping trips and hikes. Her first backpacking trip was at eight years old to Grizzly Reservoir – she proudly carried all of her own gear those 3 miles from the main parking lot to the Reservoir.

Erin is an adult-onset athlete who started as a Masters Swimmer and then developed into a triathlete. She has completed 5 Ironman races and nearly 20 x 70.3 distance Ironman races, including the World Championship in Lahti, Finland, in 2023. In 2025, she raced for Team USA in Pontevedra, Spain for the World Triathlon Cross Tri World Championship. She placed 9th in her age group and was the 1st American woman in her age group.

Erin Trail on her mountain bike at the World Tri Cross Triathlon World Championship race

Erin Trail on her running at the World Tri Cross Triathlon World Championship race

Somewhere along her triathlon journey, she picked up deep love of cycling. Cycling encouraged her to see landscapes in a new way, learn new skills and to develop self reliance; now she often goes and does Type 2 rides just to see if she can do it. She’s got all the bikes: gravel, mountain, fat bike, time trial and road.

She is even known to combine her love of camping and cycling and go off on solo 24 hour overnight bikepacking trips in the mountains of Colorado. In addition to bikes, she teaches yoga, lifts weights, skis, SUPs and has recently purchased a campervan.

Erin is a former Montana park ranger with a degree in environmental engineering. She loves getting into technical details while putting her gear (and herself) through the paces. She shares her home in Colorado with her husband, Will, and her 3 cats (Zipper, Brewtus, and Simcoe).

Fall and winter 2025 will bring Erin to the “Adventure Side”, with many camping, vanlife, bikepacking, and mountain bike rides. Once the snow flies, she can be find resort skiing, fat biking, and triathlon training (inside and outside).

In 2026 Erin took the National Championship in her Age Group for the USA Triathlon Cross Tri. She’s also racing the a National Championship Road Sprint and Olympic Distance race in Milwaukee and a few other off road triathlons and bike races. In 2027, she will represent Team USA at the World Championship Cross Triathlon in Edmonton, Canada. She’ll also save lots of room for adventure time with her friends and husband.

When not adventuring, she can be found on a sunny patio somewhere, drinking beers with her husband.

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