Airblaster Freedom Suit | Gear Review

Airblaster Freedom Suit available at evo.com

Overview:

Airblaster is one of the coolest makers of snowboard goods around. With three priorities: friends, freedom, and fun; not one piece of Airblasters line up it too serious or too boring to be part of snowboarding, because we all know snowboarding is all about having fun.

The Freedom Suit is no exception to the guidelines that our friends from Airblaster live by, in fact it’s a keystone item in their lineup. The Freedom Suit is one of the only one-piece outwear suits on the market and likely the only(and best) made by a snowboard company. With room the whip out a good method or do a backflip, the Freedom Suit is very adequate and agile when it comes to shredding hard.

By the Numbers:

6 SIZES: Extra Small – Extra Extra Large
10K mm waterproofing  External pockets
10K mm g/m2 breathability
1 Internal zipper pocket w/headphone wire hole
1 Easy access pass window on chest
4 Vents (pits and legs)
2-Way front zipper
350 Degree waist zip opening for bathroom breaks
Colours: Hot Coral (pictured), Black Hotstachio, Kahlua, Red Cheebrah
MSRP: $299.00 USD at evo.com

Airblaster Warranty:

All Airblaster products have a 1 year limited warranty. We offer this warranty against manufacturers defects. We warranty all Airblaster products to be free of defects in materials and workmanship. The warranty does not cover damages caused by misuse, abuse, neglect, accidents, the natural breakdown of materials over time, or problems that may be reasonably expected with normal wear-and tear.

Features:

• Full once piece ski suit – no pants no jacket, just all in one
• 350 Degree zipper around the butt for breaks that you actually need to do in the bathroom
• A number of pockets all for belongings including interior pocket
• Tailored fit; not to tight, not too loose just enough room for busting out the best moves
• Wrist gators and lace hooks
• Media pocket with internal headphone wire routing

Observations:

We were excited to check out the Freedom Suit because it is an original one of a kind product. The first thing we noticed was it’s exceptional fit. This isn’t you’re dads retro ski suit. The ‘Tailored Fit’ provides the fit I would look for in a pants/jacket kit: a little lower crotch, some bulk but not too much, and a narrowing in the knee.

Beyond the fit, the next thing that caught us was that it will only set you back three hundred bucks! Now this isn’t a top of the line GORE-TEX get up, but it does feature 10K mm of waterproofing and has you covered head to toe with outerwear with the exception of the hands. Considering a 10K mm waterproofed jacket or pair of pants will usually run you about two hundred dollars, this one-piece is a great deal and very affordable.

The key features make help the overall jacket become a functional piece of outerwear. The pass pocket located on the chest is worth noting as it provides easy access to your seasons pass but is in a place where it won’t be awkward or uncomfortable. The pit-zips and leg-zip are welcome features as a one-piece is more likely to hold in body heat despite the breathable material.

We would imagine the Freedom Suit to be a great one-piece for powder days or riding park or all mountain. Anything lift accessed you can have lots of fun and get some fun looks while doing it. We haven’t had the chance to test the Freedom Suit in the field yet but we would imagine it is probably not best suited for backcountry touring which involved hiking as the ability to layer up and down is important and usually you don’t remove both your top and bottom layer of outerwear at once.

Our Take:

A one-piece is certainly suitable for powder days at your favourite resort as it doesn’t allow any snow to enter your outerwear but it can be enjoyed almost any day of the season. Though we probably wouldn’t recommend it for splitboarders or ski touring, it is very capable in any skiing or snowboarding atmosphere which doesn’t involve a lot of hiking. The fit is perfect from a snowboarders perspective and we probably would have a lot of fun riding park, doing jumps and rails, or hitting some off piste pow lines in it. There are no features we felt were missing and few that seemed at all unnecessary and every feature was well thought out.

Although conventional outerwear is the norm, we’re planning on having a lot of fun in the Freedom Suit this winter and we hope to see more one-pieces on the mountain. Thanks Airblaster for helping to make the one-piece more appropriate for riding other than on gaper day.