You Won’t Find a Warmer Kids’ Snowsuit: Reima Stavanger Snowsuit Review

In our daughter’s short life, she has experienced a lot of wintertime adventures: Her first backcountry ski hut trip when she was 4 months old, winter hiking in Iceland when she was 6 months old, countless ski touring days spent strapped inside our Thule Chariot, and weekly evening ice skating lessons on an outdoor rink in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. 

Often, we’re asked how we “get” our daughter to tolerate all of the cold winter playtime with nary a complaint. Our answer is always the same: it’s the snowsuit. 

After trial-and-erroring our way through a half dozen of the most popular brands, we found the Reima Stavanger Snowsuit to be incomparable. Trust me when I say this: you won’t find a warmer snowsuit on the market.

In short: The Reima Stavanger Snowsuit ($195) is an impenetrable fortress that will protect your child from the worst of the winter weather. User-friendly features like silicone foot straps and a faux-fur hood add to the weather protection, and recycled fibers and insulation make it a more eco-friendly choice. 

Read our full GearJunkie Kids’ Snow Gear guide.

Reima Stavanger Snowsuit Review

The Reima Stavanger Snowsuit has been our burly winter kit for the bulk of my daughter’s little life. My husband and I are both avid skiers and love ski touring, so we knew early on that we needed something warm enough to keep her toasty while remaining sedentary in a ski trailer for hours.

Near our home outside of Aspen, Colo., I can remember one ski tour with single-digit temperatures where I couldn’t warm up, but she happily giggled in the trailer while listening to her favorite podcast. (It’s Story Pirates, in case you’re wondering.)

We spent a lot of time and money trying to find a kids’ snowsuit with technical features similar to what you’d find in adult winter apparel.

Reima is a Finnish brand, which was founded in 1944 as a post-World War II effort. Sustainability has been at Reima’s core since its inception: Its first products were women’s workwear recycled from old army uniforms. While the brand has made kids’ outdoor gear since the 1950s, it has been its exclusive focus — nothing for adults now — since 2004. All of its products are targeted at kids younger than the age of 12. 

Unlike other outdoor brands, Reima doesn’t emphasize new or redesigned products every year. Instead, they design something that works and stick with it. The Reima Stavanger is one of the brand’s classic pieces, originating in 2014 and named the Best in Test in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark in 2020 by independent Swedish testing site Bäst-i-Test. 

How We Tested

We purchased our first Stavanger for our daughter in 2020. Since then, she has worn a variety of sizes and colors throughout her adventures.

She tested a size 3T for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 winter seasons with weekly ski adventures at Aspen Snowmass, as well as dozens of snowball fights and ski touring sessions with her parents.

For the 2021-22 season, she tested a 4T size and continued with weekly half-day ski lessons, as well as countless days sledding at our local hill and building snowmen in the backyard.

For last year and this season, she now has a 5T size that she used for an entire year of forest school in the Colorado Rockies. Her program did not have an indoor space. They spent every single day outside from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday through Thursday.

In that time, they tromped through icy rivers, hiked snowy trails, enjoyed half-day ski lessons, and went ice skating on local ponds. While wearing the Stavanger, she saw temperatures as low as 5 degrees and snowing and as high as 40 degrees with bluebird sunshine.

Bombproof Durability

Kids are incredibly tough on outdoor gear. But it escalated last year when we enrolled our daughter in the local forest school. This local adventure preschool spent 26 hours outside every week, regardless of weather.

We started the season in a different pair of snow bibs, but she quickly ruined them. The knees were slashed and seams were shredded. We turned toward a different kit, and she came home complaining that she’d been cold all day. We knew it was time to bring out the Stavanger, which lasted the rest of the school year with nary a complaint.

Unlike a lot of other winter apparel that relies on polyester for the outer, Reima uses polyamide for the snowsuit. Polyamide is a synthetic fabric just like polyester, but it’s stronger and has better abrasion resistance.

In the three different Stavangers we’ve owned, we’ve never once ripped a hole. A seam has never been torn. We’ve never even seen a single spot of worn fabric, even when she’s crawling through stick forts all day. We’ve passed the too-small snowsuits on to new families, and they’re still going strong with their second (and third) kiddos. 

The data backs this up, too. Reima put the Stavanger to the Martindale Test. The abrasion-resistance test rubs fabric against an abrasive subject in a constantly changing direction with a predetermined pressure. A higher score means the fabric can take more wear and tear. During Reima’s testing, the Stavanger received a score of 80,000. By comparison, commercial furniture typically requires a score higher than 30,000.

Unbeatable Warmth and Waterproofing

The Stavanger isn’t just tough—it’s incredibly warm, too. Reima packs the Stavanger with recycled synthetic insulation, and the snowsuit has high weatherproof ratings. Both the 12,000mm waterproofing rating and the 7,000g/m² breathability rating are on the higher side of the industry standard for adults. And, the Stavanger is temperature rated down to -5 degrees F. 

It’s one thing to keep a kiddo warm while they’re throwing snowballs or skiing downhill. That’s the easy stuff, since they’re active. But the Stavanger stood out to our family thanks to its warmth while our daughter was sedentary.

When she was smaller, we’d often go out on family ski tours that lasted for at least 2-3 hours. We’d pull her in the Thule Chariot with the waterproof plastic cover yanked over the front. The Stavanger snowsuit covered her limbs.

During one particularly chilly day near Colorado’s Vail Pass, temperatures were around 10 degrees F and a light snow was falling. I towed her uphill for 2 hours straight, cursing my life choices and worrying about her in the back. But when I turned around, I was all smiles. She wasn’t cold at all. She was so toasty warm that she had passed out and slept her way through the entire uphill slog.

Useful Features: Boot Loops, Waist Cinch, Hood Liner

Reima doesn’t dazzle with a slew of features, but the ones they choose to include are useful. My favorite: the silicone loops attached to the bottom of the pant legs. Once your kiddo is dressed, you can stretch these so that they wrap beneath the snow boots. This prevents the pant legs from riding up and snow from getting inside their boots. 

An adjustable waistband is threaded through the fabric inside the snowsuit, which we loved. It doesn’t feel like a big deal, but it helps with warmth. Snowsuits are inherently warmer than jackets because less snow gets inside and air is less likely to penetrate.

But with the waist cinched tighter, you create even smaller interior compartments of air to heat up. We only used this feature on truly cold days, but it always seemed to keep her just a bit toastier. 

The faux-fur hood is a noticeable highlight on the Stavanger, and one that receives compliments all the time. The entire hood itself is detachable, and the fur can also be removed.

We love the aesthetics of the beautiful design. But the fur serves a functional purpose: It blocks the wind from her delicate little face. During especially windy days, we’ll pull the hood up so that the fur sits further out from her face. Not only will it catch the snow crystals, but it also deflects the breeze. So, none of the inclement weather actually hits her skin.

Sustainable Design

European brands have been at the forefront of sustainable designs, and Reima is no exception. The brand has a host of sustainable goals coming due in 2026. As of 2023, 90% of their products are made with sustainable alternatives.

In the Stavanger, this can be seen in all of the materials. A whopping 90% of the insulation is Repreve, a synthetic insulation from recycled plastic waste like water bottles. An unspecific recycled synthetic insulation is the remaining 10%. That’s in addition to the 59% recycled polyamide fabric on the outer and the 48% recycled polyester on the lining.

Reima also uses a water-and-dirt repellent called Bionic-Finish Eco, the world’s first fluorocarbon-free DWR treatment for textiles, reports the brand. And yet, it still holds up in the field. In almost 4 years of wearing the Stavander, we’ve never once had the snowsuit wet out.

Room for Improvement

Literally the only thing I gripe about on the Stavanger is the price. It can be tough to swallow a $200 snowsuit when your kid grows like a weed. But after years of wear and tear in the field, I’ve accepted that’s the price of admission. You get what you pay for. In this case, we’re happy to pay for our daughter’s warmth and comfort while doing the activities we enjoy. Now, that list includes going to an outdoor school.

I think it’s also important to note that Reima’s ‘Room to Grow’ system makes the sizing a little tricky. The Stavanger doesn’t have any adjustable seams or buttons to change the length of the arms and legs. However, Reima sizes all its snowsuits up so that they typically last for 2 years (in our experience).

You’ll still order their usual size. For example, a 4-year-old will likely still wear a 4T. But it may be very roomy if they are on the small side. If your child is bigger for their age, consider sizing up to get the most use out of your snowsuit. When in doubt, refer to Reima’s sizing chart.

Reima Stavanger Snowsuit: Conclusion 

Here’s the deal. If you live in a moderate climate or spend occasional time outside in the winter, the price of the Reima Stavanger may not make the purchase worthwhile. 

If you’re a family that spends a ton of time outside in the winter (or wants to), and you need reliable warmth and durability to protect your child, there is no better purchase than the Reima Stavanger. The warmth and rugged materials are unparalleled, and Reima’s dedication to increased sustainability is noteworthy.

Plus, with its oversized sizing system, you’ll likely get at least two seasons out of the snowsuit. And if you have younger children, rest assured that it will be in good enough shape to pass on for round two.