Xion Protective Gear Pant Xtreme Review And Buying Advice

A good product that would only take a bit of alteration to be great for snowboarders. I would give these 5 stars if the pant legs ended below the kneepads. Excellent protection, much better and much less bulky than the foam based protective padding I’ve used for many years, but they are uncomfortable in snowboard boots even with the shin pads removed, especially at the elastic ankle cuff. The vertical seam in that cuff felt like a very uncomfortable lump between my Achilles tendon and ankle, and the top edge of the cuff took skin off one of my shins after just 2 days on the snow. Snowboarders really need Xion’s anticipated, but not yet available, pants that end below the knee pads. I wanted to buy those, but they weren’t available yet so I bought the full length pants. After a couple of days usage, I had mine altered by a tailor with a new elastic cuff right below the knee pad, removing everything below that – a huge improvement in boot comfort and the pants are much easier to get on & off. Skiers may be OK with Xion’s shorter pants that end above the knees (no fly zipper in those, though), but as a snowboarder I want knee pads – if only because I like to drop onto my knees when I stop so that I can start again on my toe side edge without having to lie down and flip over. I found these pants take almost a whole day to dry after washing (hand wash only), so you’ll need to wear underwear if you want to use them for several days in a row. Xion recommends wearing the material next to the skin so the pads don’t move around, so it can’t be worn over thermal underwear. I usually prefer boxer underwear, but the thigh pads move around more with them than with briefs, so briefs seem the best underwear option for maximum protection. Insulated outer pants might be a good idea for convenience, too. I wear a boot cut fleece pant between my un-insulated outer shell pants and the Xion pants, realized the first day I used them that I had 3 zippers to go through before getting to my underwear when I needed to pee¬ – insulated pants would cut that down to 2 zippers by eliminating the need for fleece pants.

Xion tells me they will be producing a new version of this pant for next season (2014-2015) without the shin pads. Should be even better for snowboarders and I plan to buy one. Also worth noting that the existing short pant version (doesn't cover the knees) does not have a zipper for the fly.