With a Scottish winter just around the corner, we had a fairly demanding expectation of what type of waterproofs we were looking for to keep our son warm, dry and protected from the elements which meant we could continue with adventures year round.
After a bit of shopping around, we decided on the Boardman Kid’s set from Didriksons, a leading Scandinavian outdoor clothing brand.
The Boardman Kid’s set includes fleece-lined separate dungarees and a fleece-lined jacket both brimming with well thought our design features including:
- Windproof and waterproof material.
- 4way stretch microfleece over the body and shoulders.
- Adjustable upper body using Velcro on shoulder straps.
- Detachable hood.
- Adjustable hood.
- Reflective on the legs, sleeve and waist both front and back.
- Elasticated cuffs.
- Additional reinforced areas on the knees.
- Under foot loop, especially handy when in back carrier and boots tend to fall off. We’ve also found straps keep boots from being ripped off in boggier muddy patches.
- Zipper with cover at front.
We haven’t been gentle with this set at all. It has endured every rough and tumble outdoors activity our son has thrown at it. With the UK weather being that changeable, we make sure he wears the dungarees as a matter of course year round, when we are out canoeing and mountain walking and as for when the snow gets here, we are more than confident that he is warm and dry in it.
The dungarees also offer added protection from falls and also protects against wind chill (priceless on full days out), not forgetting about the inevitable jumps in to any and every puddle he can find. He also wears it when he attends Forest School a few times a week and it is still going strong. During warmer weather, he wears the dungarees and a lighter fleece and/or jacket on top and in colder weather, we layer it up as usual in deepest darkest winter.
Looking at the website now, they have made one improvement to the dungarees which we know our son wouldn’t mind! There is now a zip garage on them which is a problem area for our son, who finds it digs in to him so we have to fold it over or make sure he has one of his other tops pulled up enough for it not to be too abrasive.
If you’re looking for a piece of waterproof and windproof gear that’s reliable and hard wearing enough to take pretty much anything and everything kids can throw at it, while keeping them warm and dry and is able to survive through to the following year, Didriksons is definitely worth considering. We bought our sons set in Autumn 2013, and after years of use from it, there’s still enough fit and durability that we are confident he’ll be able to use it again this upcoming winter. That’s 3 winters worth which is excellent value for money in our opinion.
UPDATE – October 2020
We’ve recently ordered a set for our youngest, just turned 2yo and there’s a change in design that Didriksons have made. While they’ve kept the basic design the same (it’s obvious it works so why mess with it too much?) the foot straps are now made of silicone and are replaceable too. Before they were a stretchy fabric, which in one sense were good because they fitted really well and we didn’t have any issues with it, but I can see how having the option of replacing the straps might be a winner. So far, even though they’re on the smallest fit for our youngest, they’re not quite holding on as well as the fabric straps did, but that could be just because he’s a bit younger than our eldest was when we first got the suit, so it’s there’s still space to grow in to it. I’ll let you know.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions are those of An Outdoors Family. We have not been paid any money from Didriksons for this review, it is simply our opinion of kids waterproofs that have withstood year after year of outdoor childsplay and survived for the following winter.
An Outdoors Family 