Review: Flylow Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib

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In a nutshell

With a blend of low-profile recycled synthetic insulation and high-tech waterproof breathable fabric, Flylow’s new Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib offer both cozy warmth and all-day protection from the weather, a combination you don’t always see in women’s insulated outerwear.

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Intro

For the 23/24 winter season, Flylow has rolled out a lot of new outerwear pieces for women, including a robust line-up of insulated pieces. In the past it has sometimes seemed like outerwear brands sell insulated pieces, with less technology and fewer frills, as a budget option for occasional resort skiers. With the Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib, Flylow is offering premium insulated outerwear that’s also highly weatherproof, designed for long days of riding chairlifts in the wicked cold and wet.

Fit

In a size medium, the Flylow Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib fit me (5’5” and 140 pounds) correctly for the most part, but both pieces are very much on the freeride end of the bagginess spectrum. The Freya Jacket reaches my upper thigh and the arms are quite long–tall girls will probably be very happy with the fit of the jacket.

The torso of the Foxy Insulated Bib is not insulated, fortunately, because that would be over-the-top hot. I’m not sure anything about the torso could be improved upon; its flattering cut, ease of use, and good pocket placement made me understand why the original Foxy Bib has been one of the most popular women’s pants on the market for some time.

The insulation in the legs is relatively low-profile–this isn’t a marshmallow man pant. The thighs have an average cut that avoids the dreaded boxy butt found in so many women’s ski garments, but below the knee these are some wide, long pants. The plus side of that width is that the cuffs fit easily over ski boots and I could transition from walk mode to ski mode and back without pulling my pants up over my boots.

Pockets and Features

The Freya Jacket has all the pockets you could wish for and some nice additional touches, like a removable powder skirt and reinforced wrist gaiters (I love the coziness of a stretchy wrist gaiter but often rip through them, so the tougher thumb loop is very appreciated).

The Foxy Insulated Bib has two chest pockets, both of which are large enough to hold a beacon (but no integrated beacon anchor, tsk tsk), and two nicely-placed zipped thigh pockets that can fit a phone, snacks, ski straps, you name it. One unexpected plus of insulated pants is that I don’t need to tote around a drink koozie in my pocket to protect my phone battery from dying in the cold.

I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the all-important question that haunts every women’s ski bib: how is it to drop trou in the field? Happily, since most brands have introduced women’s bibs in the past five or ten years, nearly all models have some kind of easy-access mechanism (I believe that if you have to fully disrobe in bibs to pee in this day and age, the garment is basically unsellable). Flylow has this one dialed. Rather than a drop seat like some brands have opted for, the Foxy Insulated Bib has a left-side torso-to-knee zipper opening that doubles as venting. The flap of fabric folds far enough out of the way for easy, fast relief. I would recommend always using the button closure at the top of the vent, even though it adds a couple seconds to the process–otherwise the zipper tends to creep down your side over time.

Performance

This kit, with its slippery plush lining, felt luxurious in a way I’m not accustomed to, and in the dreaded in-between days of early spring I even reached for the Freya Jacket to run errands in, because I was so tired of feeling cold and/or wet after a long, snowy winter.

In terms of ski performance, it probably does not come as a surprise that this is a very warm jacket-bib combo.

One day when I was skiing inbounds laps on a partly sunny, mid-twenties day, I made the mistake of wearing a long sleeve baselayer and merino tights, which made the insulated kit way too hot, so I kept all the vents open the whole time. Every time I sat on a chairlift for longer than a minute, though, I appreciated that extra warmth, so I can definitely see these pieces being great resort wear on those lift-riding days when it’s so cold your nose hair freezes.

After I realized that the Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib don’t require much in the way of layering, I had some very comfortable resort days in the kit, wearing only a wool t-shirt under the jacket and no tights under the bib. And unlike some lower-end insulated pieces, this kit, which has a PFC-free DWR coating and 2-layer hardshell (on the jacket) or 3-layer softshell (on the bib) fabric, was very effective at keeping me dry on stormy days.

I know going uphill isn’t the intended purpose of this kit but curiosity compelled me to wear the bib and jacket out for a short tour on a clear, 15-degree March day. I put on the bib without a baselayer and crammed the honkin’ big jacket into my pack, noticing that it took up about as much room as my shell and emergency puffy jacket combined usually do, so that seemed like a fair trade.

These pieces are surprisingly breathable for their heft and insulation. In below-freezing temps, when I wasn’t putting a lot of effort into the climb, I didn’t get too sweaty in the insulated bib, and when I did start to feel warm, venting with the long outer thigh zippers was easy, although I felt a bit risque showing that much bare leg. I might opt to wear running shorts underneath in the future. The buckles on the chest straps did not overlap with my backpack straps like I was concerned they might. The jacket was too warm for me even on a backcountry descent, but that extra insulation did give me the sensation of having a lot more protective padding than usual as I was whipped by willow branches on the outtrack.

Who is the perfect skier for the Flylow Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib?

If you struggle to stay warm when you’re riding lifts, or mostly ski inbounds during bitter cold temps and gnarly weather, the Flylow Freya Jacket and Foxy Insulated Bib will keep you extra comfortable in the snow. This is a great kit for casual days–whether you’re herding a crew of hot chocolate-loving children around the ski hill or taking frequent breaks between runs to nurse an altitude hangover, the plush, fully-featured jacket and bib has you covered, literally.