TREW Bellows jacket & Trewth bibs

Arapahoe Basin, 5.07.11

A-Basin, 52 degrees, just a make-believe gorgeous spring day. Lots of women skiing in bikini tops (looking good, Summit County!) and lots of dudes in tank tops, or going shirtless. And there I was, rocking full bibs and a burly coat. (You see the lengths to which we go for our readers?)

Hiking up to North Pole, at nearly 13,000 ft., the Trewth bibs were unzipped, the Bellows jacket was open, pit zips were open…and I was fine.

Arapahoe Basin, 5.21.11

We were in a white out above End Zone in Montezuma Bowl. My inability to ski in poor visibility is becoming famous on this site, and I thought I would take an easy entrance and cut hard sideways, perpendicular to the steep, 12 foot cornice above End Zone. Well, the angle was steep enough that I sliced my right leg with the edge of my left ski, just above my knee.

Back at the lodge a couple hours later, the Trewth bibs showed zero sign of abrasion, but I had about a five inch cut on the inside of my leg, from knee to hamstring. No signs of any ski edge-to-fabric action. None. Can your ski pants do that?

So yeah, I’ve worn these in 60-70mph winds while being slaughtered by graupel, and I’ve boot packed upper East Wall laps in them when other people were comfortably skiing in bathing suits. Plus, they’re damn near indestructible. What else can I say?

Well, I haven’t actually said anything about the water proof properties of the jacket and bibs, because water has no hope against either piece. The seems are all fully taped, and the fabric is so burly, I remember sitting on chairlifts in huge storms during the season and laughing, thinking, it’s really not even fair to the elements. They have no chance. You will not saturate these fabrics. Two hours into a driving storm, you will be as dry as you were in your house before you left. And if you’ve worn gear that does saturate a couple hours into the day, you know how much that sucks.

Another thing: SuperFabric. This is the name of the material that TREW uses for their cuff guards, and it absolutely lives up to its name. This is the only fabric I’ve ever seen used on cuff guards that I would be willing to bet on against normal use.

TREW Bellows jacket & Trewth bibs, BLISTER
Seriously Super Fabric

BLISTER reviewer and telemark skier Robin Abeles is constantly thrashing his cuff guards, and he keeps asking me whether I know of anything out there that he won’t immediately destroy. This TREW SuperFabric is the only thing I’ve seen; I can’t say for sure that there is nothing else out there, but this is the only thing I’ve seen, and used, and can say with confidence: if he tears these up during normal use, I will be totally shocked.

Finally, and importantly, TREW will have you looking proper for après, too.

Whether you’ve got to square up against Pedro the Piñata…

TREW Bellows jacket & Trewth bibs, BLISTER
An under-appreciated application of technical outerwear.

Or just kick it after another good day on the mountain.

TREW Bellows jacket & Trewth bibs, BLISTER
Trewth Sombrero?

Conclusion:

In terms of quality, look no further. You might personally like the fit or style of something else better, but TREW isn’t losing any durability contests, and every last detail is solid.

We’ll have to see how well the fabric and the Gelanots membrane technology remains waterproof, but for what it’s worth, I’d be willing to wager heavily on TREW here, too.

While there are a lot of good pieces out there from various companies, I’ve never seen or worn anything that I would rank higher in terms of quality or durability.

Of course, time will tell, but if you told me to name gear that would hold up for five seasons / 500 days, I’d quickly name – and bet on – the TREW Bellows jacket and Trewth bibs.

8 comments on “TREW Bellows jacket & Trewth bibs”

  1. so after reading your and other reviews saying how quality Trew’s gear is, i’ve decided to invest in a Trew jacket (not totally decided yet between the Bellows and the Pow Funk). My only concern is that i’ve read a couple of people who say that, while very durable and totally waterproof, the gelanots fabric isn’t totally windproof, and skiing on the east coast (mostly sugarloaf) this is a bit of a concern for me. I was just wondering what you thought, in regards to this, from your experience.

    thanks a lot in advance for any thoughts you may have,

    • Hi Andy, I think it’s very important to be clear about which model year each person is referencing.

      My comments are about the 11/12 line, not earlier versions. All I can say is that, in 50+ days, wind was absolutely not an issue at all, and I don’t layer very heavily – often, a pretty thin wool base layer, then maybe a Patagonia Nano Puff.

      I also asked our reviewer, Will Brown, who spent a number of days in the 11/12 Bellows jacket and TREWTH bibs, whether he ever felt like wind was an issue: “No way.”

      In any case, that was our experience. Might be worth an email to TREW to ask, I’m sure they’ll give you a straightforward answer. Let us know what you decide to do and how it’s working out.

  2. I emailed the TREW guys earlier today, and got a response back within the hour saying that if I buy the jacket and don’t like it for whatever reason I can send it back no questions asked. Top marks for customer service in my opinion, looking forward to trying out the jacket for real.

  3. Thanks so much for the extremely informative review. I’ve been thinking about buying the Cosmic jacket and you’ve definitely convinced me to buy it. I do have question though – What’s the fit like for TREW jackets? I’m 6′ 2″ and I like my jackets on the longer side, but without too much baggage. Therefore I’m not sure whether to go for the xl or xxl.

  4. Hey Brian, these jackets definitely run on the freeride cut side – not an athletic / slim fit. I’m 5’10”, and I’m wearing a large Bellows jacket. I’m not sure how much length is gained by going to XL or XXL, but I’m sure the guys at TREW would be happy to tell you exactly that. Email them. As Andy can attest, they are good at getting in touch.

  5. I just broke in a pair of Trewth bibs at the Fairy Meadows Hut in BC last week and wanted to drop you guys a line with a couple thoughts:

    First, I’m 5’10”, about 180, and went with a large. As a general rule, I was stoked on the pants. Style’s great; zipper and pocket placement were on point; internal gaiter was great; cuff guards have absolutely no visible damage after a week of hard touring and skiing. That being said, I have two suggestions to make the pants (in my opinion) damn-near perfect. My first suggestion is the use of a way more breathable fabric above the waistband. No need for waterproof/breathable under your shell and I constantly found myself soaked with sweat while skinning or booting.

    Second, the bib straps could stand a bit of tweaking. I’d like to see a burlier material used for the straps themselves. If I set the bibs where I wanted them with empty pockets and such, it didn’t seem to take adding much (snacks, a pair of gloves while skinning, etc) to the thigh pockets to get the pants to start sagging down. I understand Trew’s looking to create technical gear with a more freeride-oriented cut than your average alpinist’s pants, but I hate having to pull the crotch of the pants up while high-stepping technical bootpacks or steep skin-tracks. On the strap note, I would also like to see the actual adjustment buckle moved further down the front of the bib. I started running into problems with the buckles sitting under my backpack straps when I tried to really tighten things up. It may be that those issues would be resolved by dropping down a size, eh? But there you have it, my two cents.

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