Didrikson, getting outside whatever the weather

Didrikson are a Swedish company who have been around since 1913 and have a full range of both adult and children’s waterproof outerwear. The boy was asked to test out a coat and trouser set from the new and innovative adjustable  range. With a few Cub hikes in the coming months I thought the boy would benefit from the chance to see if the Didrikson Nera Set would keep him warm and dry.

As I would expect with a clothing company from Sweden the Nera set of coat and trousers is extremely well made, with an outer water-repellent shell, breathable coating and lining. There are too many details to list on this set but include loops for attaching gloves, and soft lined cuffs, and not forgetting the reflective safety strips. The boy was instructed to put the Nera set through its paces. At first he was not all that impressed, “Yuck! its clothes” as you can see here, but after a bit of persuasion he tried them on.

The Didrikson Nera coat is a lovely shade of blue with a pattern called Pool waves, which at first I thought the boy might find too childish. He hasn’t said anything and actually the pattern is very neutral, so would suit girls or boys. The trousers are a dark navy with the addition of reinforced knees with a rubber textured material. These are a dungarees style and even though they looked huge, once the boy had adjusted the elastic braces fitted very well. I like the details of this set with adjustable under foot straps, high wasted and contrast elastic. The coat is zipped and poppered with a removable hood with a drip guard.

Having only ever purchased high street coats for the boy in the past, I know these are not always waterproof, or even windproof, but with the boy growing so quickly investing in full waterproof has not been an option till now. Didrikson have come up with the idea of extending the use of your coat and trouser sets with their hidden seam system.The arms and legs of this set each have a hidden tacked seam, in a contrast cotton it is easy to find and when the set starts to look a little shorter you can extend your use by releasing these seams. Children grow so fast, and this is a winning idea with me as I would want a coat to last at least one year, if not a little longer.

We had a long discussion about how to test the water-proofing of the Didrikson Nera coat set, and decided squirting the boy with a hose was not the best option. Some ideas included water rides, but it was decided a cub hike would possibly be more enjoyable. The boy set off all zipped up on a sunny spring evening, complete with hard-boiled egg. The experiment for the evening was going to be who could roll their egg down the hill without breaking the shell. Ok the boy didn’t manage to keep his egg undamaged but he did manage to get the award for the furthest rolled! The prize we got to bring the aptly named ‘smeg egg’ home. Nice!

The Didrikson Nera set fared well, the boy was dry, and kept warm as the evening had turned chilly. The trousers have shown signs of muddy puddles, but this easily brushed off. The coat is still looking new, and the boy has been wearing it everyday in the hope that it might rain. He even offered to wear the set to bed to test it out! I’m not sure this was needed so we have stuck to daytime wear.

I have been very impressed with both the quality and wearability of the Didrikson Nera set, and would consider investing the RRP £80 when the boy finally grows out of this one. But we will keep you updated as to how we get on when we extend the legs and arms later on in the year!

To find your local Didrikson stockist, or purchase online follow the link to the Didrikson website, they also have a Facebook page where you can find out more about the story behind the firm.

Disclaimer, we were sent this set to review the opinions remain our own and have not been altered.