Finally, waterproof, breathable outerwear in kid-approved sizes and styles.
For years now, my kids have been beating up ski jackets and pants from other brands. Most notably, the wear and tear happens on wet storm days, when their gear—clearly not as waterproof as mine—gets soaked through. (Which leads to whining or calling it quits early, neither ideal.) There’s also the shredding of pant legs from ski edges, the ripped jackets from tree skiing, and the overly insulated pieces that cause them to overheat and then promptly freeze in cold sweat.
Baker Jr. Bibs and Explorer Jacket
But I’m not here to complain about industry standards for kids’ winter gear. I’m here to point out the obvious: Kids are hard on their gear, which means they need outerwear that is just as tough as they are. (And can grow with them and last through a few hand-me-downs.) Also kids are down in the snow—building snow forts, sledding, rolling around on the ground—way more than we are. So, let’s give them the most waterproof fabric we can, no? And one more thing: Features like a hood that actually fits over a helmet, a pocket that can actually store a snack, and high-quality zippers that won’t wet out or get stuck would be really nice.
Flylow’s first kids’ line of outerwear—debuting this fall!—has been years in the making. It’s a gamble, of course, for a small company to make kids’ gear in a market that’s already saturated. But many of Flylow’s product designers are parents themselves, so they saw the shortcomings of kids’ gear personally and had specific visions for how to make kids’ gear that would hold up to the demands of little shredders in the mountains.
Huck Fleece and Baker Jr. Bibs
My kids field tested the new Flylow kids’ line all of last winter, and you know what? It held up. My son wore his Baker Jr. Bibs (mini versions of Flylow’s beloved Baker Bibs) every day to second grade, playing in the snow at recess, and then to ski team every weekend. My daughter wore her Explorer Jacket, which is lined up with a light layer of micropuff insulation, on ski trips to Utah and Mammoth and skiing every weekend all winter long in Tahoe. Both kids wore the Huck Fleece as a midlayer under their shell while skiing and as an outer layer to school, Nordic skiing, and on summer camping trips. The best part is the jacket and bibs have adjustability features that can extend the lifetime of the gear so your kid can actually wear something for a couple of seasons without growing out of it.
Kids from all over tested and gave feedback on the new gear, too. Kids on the Loveland Freeride Team in Colorado wore the gear on cold, windy days on the Continental Divide. A mini snowboarder grom from eastern Washington rode all winter in her kit. And all over Tahoe, kids of different sizes, abilities, and downhill styles wore the gear and gave their input.
I’m just a mom who loves to ski, but I can tell you this much: When my kids are happy out there, I’m happy. When they’re not freezing or soaked or too hot, that makes a big difference.
Youth Explorer Jacket
