I have to admit that I was pretty cynical about these. And I have to admit I was wrong. They're goooooorgeous, and I will be stealing a pair as soon as I can. The Bib Dry Pants are kinda like a pair of salopettes, and indeed they work really well as such, for open boating, sea kayaking, fishing and the like. But when teamed with a quality drytop, they make a whitewater combination that rivals using conventional dry pants, but with a few significant advantages.
First, they don't have the wide neoprene waistband, an area that some people find restrictive, and is certainly quite sticky and sweaty. However, the Bib Pants still keep you warm around the middle with the high waist made predominantly from breathable fabric and nylon mesh, but with neoprene stretch panels to ensure a snug fit. Check out the photo. They do look cool don't they?
The double bit works with the waist of any shell, and doesn't cause bulk around the cockpit area. And makes it a lot easier to pull on your spraydeck/skirt without getting in a tangle!
BDM® brass relief zip with protective cover. Full spec dive zip, basically.
Fabric tunnel socks with adjustable neoprene outer cuffs
The anatomical cut is straight from our best selling dry trousers. Sitting, standing or kneeling, it's unrestricting and looks good.
Enduromesh reinforced seat and knees. Enduromesh was developed in the motorcycle industry. In hot climates, bikers needed something that would allow more airflow than the waterproof breathable fabrics we are all familiar with, but it needed to be tough
enough to protect them as they slid and bounced at speed over asphalt or gravel.
Sound familiar?
We realised that the reinforced areas on kayaking apparel were messing with the breathability. We also know that double layers need to be drained or they trap annoying water pockets. Enduromesh quite simply takes care of all these issues - abrasion resistance, breathability, and drainage. And it does so better than Cordura,
Kevlar, or any of the other fabrics we have used in the past. Furthermore, its soft handling flexibility belies its toughness. This means that stress is not concentrated along the edges of panels, something that causes a lot of wear and tear on waterproof fabrics reinforced with other, stiffer materials.
Bamboo Herringbone 4ply fabric. Drysuits are big, unwieldy things. We searched the planet for fabric that could make our suit a nice thing to wear, while still being super-tough. And there wasn’t any. So we asked our favourite breathable fabric factory to help us make one. This is not some off-the-shelf branded fabric designed for another sport, or an end of roll from a big outdoor jacket manufacturer. This is a fabric made especially for us. Every aspect of it was considered, made and then tested with the Assassin suit in mind. The soft handle of the bamboo mix herringbone belies its incredible abrasion resistance. The twin breathable layers (one hydrophilic, one microporous) optimise breathability. Whether wet, dry, frozen or submerged this fabric will deliver. And the nylon N6.6D mesh lining has shown itself to be the best system for kayaking, out-wicking, outperforming and outlasting traditional tricot liners. Anyway, it’s so awesome we started using it for other tough-talking products too, like these Bib Pants. 20000mm/15000g/m2/24hrs if you're into the geek stuff.
Check them out online, on nookie.co.uk/bibpants
