SOS Ski Pants and Jacket

Looking at picking up new pants and jacket.

Can't search for SOS as it is too short and their corporate website is under construction.

I haven't had to look at buying ski clothing for almost 4 years so I am not really that familiar with manufacturers or what I should be looking for.

We get a lot of wet snow (Rain) in Oz so waterproof rating is important.

I think the pants and jacket I am looking at are rated above 20,000.

So basically is SOS a reputable brand?

How does it rank alonside Arcteryx or Marmot or Columbia?

Is SOS still in business? They had some cool stuff in the States during the late 80s and early 90s but I have not seen anything from them since.

Apparently it stands for Sportswear of Sweden.

I did a swedish google search (very carefully - NSFW) for SOS and got this;

SOS Sportswear

The pants and jacket I tried on in the shops were very good, much better than columbia stuff - not much of a surprise.

I have not seen any SOS gear in Nth America in the last ten years.

I still have some SOS shirts and a ski jumper form the early 90s, and they have lasted very well if quality counts for anything.

It is available in the shops here in Melbourne. You can not find any Arc'Teryx stuff here and very little Marmot/TFN (and the little you do see is hideously expensive)

I would say they are reputable, but I am never buying any ski gear in Australia again. The pricing is ludicrous in comparison to Canada/US

If you are not going there soon, just eBay it and chance on getting away without paying duty. I have ordered 3 jackets and a pair of pants and been stung once.

hth

In Japan it is a top brand cause of the mogul market.

SB,

You may have seen an obnoxious pair of red pants I own, they are SOS. I think they are the freeze pant. It doesn't seem to appear on the website, but they were pretty much top of the line when I got them. I've had them 2 years and they are holding up great. The scuff pads on the lower leg were shite though so I had them beefed up with thicker cordura as they were getting a little ragged (thats what you get with a baggy steeze ;-) ! )

They are a Dermizax Entrant I think, but they still aren't as good for Oz conditions as Goretex XCR. When touring I wear some Goretex Mont pants, they seem to handle camping better, but they aren't as stylee. The SOS had nice lined legs, good pockets, etc, and make a much better ski resort pant than the Monts. On a really wet Oz day I will still suffer wet daks, although a mate wears Marmot and suffers the same fate. I honestly think our conditions can be the hardest of anywhere I've been.

I reckon SOS is pretty good, I would buy again probably.

tjb

SOS is still making great stuff which all works real well.

they are way better than Columbia, but the amount of abuse that the arcteryx stuff can take put them in another league - although that is above just about every other manafacturer out IMNSHO! (I used to work for TNF before any JONGing starts! :wink: )

If you go for it, you won't be disappointed thats for sure - it does what it says, and the cut etc is usually real nice too. If you can afford it, buy it!