One piece suits for ice climbing

In all the photos from, say, the 90s, ice climbers were all wearing 1 piece suits. Sometimes I see old timers who are wearing them and I'm envious. Clothing at the area around your waist, while climbing,  is always problematic . Seems like the 1 piece would eliminate that. Maybe a drawback is less layering options? Anyway, where did those suits go and why does no one use them anymore? 

Mammut was selling one until very recently: https://www.snowinn.com/ski-store/mammut-nordwand-pro-hs/136573326/p?

One piece baselayers can feel awesome, btw

​One Piece Outfits for Active Rich Folks​​​

Dont support backcountry.com, tho.  

Fartbags went the way of the buffalo for mostly good reasons. With the lone exception of 8000+ meter peak bagging, climbing usually requires some day-to-day flexibility regarding top and bottom layers. This depends on conditions.

If I could afford one I'd definitely rock a one-piece on the slopes. Never for climbing though.

Also, alpinists in the 80s and 90s often paired their awesome one-piece suit with a neon headband and NO HELMET. This alone should make one highly suspicious of their fashion vs function calculations.

hope you don't have to poop

Ira O wrote: In all the photos from, say, the 90s, ice climbers were all wearing 1 piece suits. Sometimes I see old timers who are wearing them and I'm envious. Clothing at the area around your waist, while climbing,  is always problematic . Seems like the 1 piece would eliminate that. Maybe a drawback is less layering options? Anyway, where did those suits go and why does no one use them anymore? 

I loved my Wild Things one piece back in the day. I ended up selling it after 3 or 4 seasons for as much as I paid for it, too. The Wild Things brand got huge in Japan for a while years ago.  No idea why, but I ebayed my suit to some guy over there for basically the full retail price of a new one, since they’d stopped making them. I sold a bunch of other Wild Things stuff to Japan too. It was a sellers market for sure. Weird but true. 

I still have my one piece Patagucci Zoot suit. Great piece of kit but very specific. I last wore mine in the Alaska Range about 15 years ago. These suits are typically three layer Gore-Tex hard shell with lots of zippers for ventilation. The key was a need to be wearing a shell full time plus have layers with a similar zipper layout. Mine had a half moon zipper in the back which matched my one fleece suit. So taking a dump was not a big deal. Now with soft shells which give wind and some water protection there less need for hard-shells.

Go get a snowmobile suit, Johnny-Waterman-style!

Not too long ago EMS was still making one piece suits for their guides on Mt Washington and were selling then to the public as well. Not sure if they still make them or not. A very niche piece of climbing kit for specific conditions. 

I loved my Wild Things one piece back in the day. I ended up selling it after 3 or 4 seasons for as much as I paid for it, too. The Wild Things brand got huge in Japan for a while years ago.  No idea why, but I ebayed my suit to some guy over there for basically the full retail price of a new one, since they’d stopped making them. I sold a bunch of other Wild Things stuff to Japan too. It was a sellers market for sure. Weird but true.

 I love my Wild things Gear my wife and I had some nice belay coats by them. 30 years later we still compliments on them.

Marmot made a badass One piece with a short waisted overcoat optional. I really liked it for freedom of movement it had a combo Gore Tex & fleece top.

One piece no helmet check.

Mammut sponsored athletes have been using the goretex overall. Check Dani Arnold's videos for example.

I personally struggled with the problem you mentioned around the waist, where cold air enters freezing the body.
I adapted my pants and base layers to add a bit of velcro at the rear part. As a result, the base layer is attached to the pants, closing the waist area.

I still have a brand new Patagonia one piece GTX suit in my closet. It’s gotta be almost 20 years old. Bought is at an outlet in Freeport ME. Sold my original one that I had been wearing few years ago to someone that offered me a decent price.

One pieces we used to call fag bags cause they were super bright colors...I never went to a one piece but did have a couple of pairs of full shoulder overalls.....

I guess I got tired of the ice coming off and falling down my bobs only to be stuck there to melt with a top and pants on seems ice had a place to escape to while inside your top.

I still have the bibs but if I were to ice climb I'd use the pants and a shirt......

Not my bibs now I make snowmen with them and shovel....

Salopettes are superior. Sadly another great thing lost to the memories of old guys. 

mike again wrote: Salopettes are superior. Sadly another great thing lost to the memories of old guys. 

https://www.nwalpine.com/collections/alpine/products/neoshell-salopette

mike again wrote: Salopettes are superior. Sadly another great thing lost to the memories of old guys. 

I guess you've never used wool knickers then.

Skibo wrote:

I guess you've never used wool knickers then.

I said old not a flipping mummy. 

Just kidding, I have used them. 

Skibo wrote:

I guess you've never used wool knickers then.

Woolrich Malone pants for the win. 3 pounds dry; double that once they get wet. But bombproof... the Dachstein mitten of pants.

Gunkiemike wrote:

Woolrich Malone pants for the win. 3 pounds dry; double that once they get wet. But bombproof... the Dachstein mitten of pants.

Or knickers made out of Malone's. Yep

mike again wrote:

I said old not a flipping mummy. 

Just kidding, I have used them. 

I ain't dead yet, and I even still climb!

Did someone say wool knickers and Dachstein mittens ??