Airblaster Women’s Sassy Hot Bib Review: Warm and Comfortable, Lap After Lap
The Airblaster Sassy Hot Bib is a functional, comfortable, and fun snowboarding bib for resort laps and lady shredders.
Founded 20 years ago, Airblaster introduced the iconic Ninja Suit, which remains one of the most popular base layer onesies for snowboarders ever. The crowd favorite was followed closely by a highly acclaimed bib design featuring a functional drop seat, for guys and gals, paired with matching jackets in a fun sweep of color options.
A snowboard apparel brand, Airblaster has long been known for producing technical, functional outerwear that’s packaged in playful tones and a high-five vibe.
Within today’s lineup of bibs, the Airblaster Sassy Hot Bib ($290) is a step up in weather protection and overall technical features, making it one of our favorite options for riding at the resort in any and all weather conditions, especially in the high-altitude Rockies.
In short: The women’s Airblaster Sassy Hot Bib is a snag-free design with an easy-to-use drop seat, ample and well-designed pockets, and soft exterior fabric that protects against snow, wind, and cold. As a bonus, these bibs are designed to be paired with a matching, equally functional jacket, the Airblaster Sassy Beast Jacket.
Airblaster Women’s Sassy Hot Bib
Specs
- Shell: 2-layer Eco-Vortex stretch fabric with FC-free DWR
- Waterproof/Breathability: 30K waterproofing/20K breathability
- Weight: 862 g
- Insulation: 40g synthetic insulation
- Pockets: 5
- Seams: Fully sealed
- RECCO: No
- Zippers: YKK
- Fit: Tailored (but not tightly fitted)
- Gaiters: Yes. Elastic leg gaiters with lace hook
- Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL
- Our favorite perk: 350-degree waist zipper for drop seat
- Best for: All-day resort laps
Airblaster Sassy Hot Bib Review
The women’s Airblaster Sassy Hot Bib ($290) is a top-notch set of bibs for snowboarders to wear while riding all over the ski area, especially if the weather conditions beg for high waterproofness against wetness and snow.
While these fashion-forward bibs are well-designed with excellent attention to detail and materials, they also don’t cost as much as outerwear that’s more technical and backcountry-focused.
I put these snowboard bibs through testing rounds at Crested Butte Mountain Resort this spring in a range of conditions from sunny to blustery, frigid single-digit temperatures, and snowfall.
Fabric
The fabric feels smooth and substantial with 40 g of synthetic insulation. These bibs aren’t as thin as other shell snowboard pants we’ve worn — the construction feels up to the challenge of sitting on snow rollers to adjust my bindings, tree branches on dense adventures, or the occasional snag of my snowboard edge against my pant leg.
The interior is lined with a silky, black taffeta fabric, which is also printed with bats! Airblaster lives for those silly accents.
The bibs have a super-high level of waterproofing compared to many other snowboard pants, sitting at 30,000 mm of waterproofing plus 20,000 g/m breathability. Furthermore, the two-layer Eco-Vortex fabric is treated with an FC-free DWR (durable water repellent) to help moisture bead off the surface.
Fit
We really like the articulated knees and tailored fit. The bibs don’t ride up and aren’t too baggy. They offer enough room for a wide range of movement on the slopes from bending over to fasten my bindings to taking a tumble in deep powder.
They’re also easy to pull on, thanks to a centered zipper that reaches from the chest to the lower-hips level. A snap sits at the top of the zipper to prevent it from sliding down. There’s also a storm flap.
The wide elastic bib straps are smooth and easy to adjust before and after pulling on the bibs.
Drop Seat
The drop seat on these bibs is unique in that it wraps nearly entirely around. The zipper goes 350 degrees and functions seamlessly — we’ve never had it get hung up on the interior liner or jam. A storm flap also covers the zipper, which adds style points. So svelte.
For the uninitiated, the drop seat is super convenient in the backcountry setting as well as at the resort. You don’t need to take off your jacket in a stuffy stall in order to pull down your snow bibs to relieve yourself. Instead, you snug up your jacket a bit, pull the zipper around, and follow your normal routine.
Pockets and Vents
We love the pockets in these bibs — there are so many choices. Up front, there’s an external zippered chest pocket, which is a nice spot for a snack bar.
Two deep zippered hand pockets are near the top of the thigh, including a fleece lining on the side that brushes the back of your hand — nice touch, Airblaster. A key clip is in the right side. On the backside, two deep external pockets have zippers and storm flaps with Velcro.
If the day heats up or you get extra worked on a powder day, there are super-streamlined mesh-lined vents on the interior of each leg. The zippers are small, and the vents are 8 inches long, so the airflow is fair.
Cuffs
I like that each leg has elastic gaiters with a lace hook. Each cuff also features a narrow strip of sticky rubber to help grip and hold your pant leg to your boots.
Furthermore, there’s an elastic cinch, so you can snug up your pant bottoms while walking around to make sure they don’t get ripped up by the commute from the parking lot or bus to the lift line.
While the cuffs fit very snugly over the neck of our snowboard boots, we wish there were a zipper or snap to help widen the opening, quicken the process, and allow us to wear gloves while pulling down our pant legs.
Conclusion
For ladies who want a pair of drop-seat bibs that are built by snowboarders for snowboarders, here they are. The Sassy Hot Bib is eye-catching and cozy throughout a range of weather conditions. And it fits so well you don’t even notice you’re wearing them while carving huge S turns down the groomers, jibbing in the park, or hanging out on the tailgate at the end of the day.
Plus, the price is relatively moderate, and the matching jacket is a nice option, too. Ultimately, the Airblaster Sassy Hot Bib is a solid choice for ladies that want a quintessential, protective snowboard kit.
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