Kozi Kidz Forest All-In-One Suit Review

The Kozi Kidz Forest All-in-One suit is a winter kids' garment designed to keep them warm and dry whilst doing everything from exploring woods to puddle jumping.

Coming from an award winning brand Kozi Kids (who pride themselves on designing technical clothing specifically for outdoor kids), the Forest suit seemed well suited from its description for keeping my active, outdoorsy pre-school daughter warm and dry this winter.

Ever since she was a few months old, my now three-year-old Roo has been the proud owner of an all-in-one suit. When it comes to keeping muck and moisture away from kids' clothes and keeping them warm and dry, you just can't beat them. That's particularly true for young children who are unable to regulate their body temperatures as well as older kids and adults.

We have previously relied upon a dual all-in-one suit combo with a fleecey number that goes under the waterproof outer shell. This year I fancied making life simpler and liked the look of the all-in-one suit which is just one layer but which incorporates both waterproofing and insulation.

The Kozi Kidz's durable outer layer appealed, and the design too, which includes reinforced patches over knees and bottom.

With Roo's first ski holiday coming up in a month's time, the idea of leg straps and snow gaiters on the legs was also appealing, particularly as that would avoid us having to splash out on extra specific-use clothes. Let's be honest, Roo will have grown out of those after one use.

Colour and style

Whilst I loved the look of the suit, I was initially put off by the fact that the Forest All-in-One came only in standard pink or blue. Give that Kozi Kidz's products are designed in Sweden, I had expected some slightly different colours or patterns - I've found so many Swedish kids clothes in the past to be fantastic at ignoring the standard conventions of pinks and yellows for girls, and blue or beige for boys.

Being a bit of a Contrary Mary when it comes to gender stereotyping, I intended to go blue for Roo's suit. The blue itself was a fairly neutral option, but with very dark knee and bottom reinforcement patches, the overall effect was pretty masculine. In the end I decided that maybe it was time I finally gave pink a whirl for my little princess of the fields.

When the Forest All-in-One arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. OK - so there was no getting away from the fact that darker pink is very pink but it is at least a bright, vibrant raspberry pink, not a wishy-washy pastel shade.

The paler shade of pink used on the main body is also not quite sugar pink and close to a shade I admit to owning a jumper or two of my own in. Better still, it has a really pretty bluey-turquoise lining which contrasts fantastically.

I admit to finding myself a little won over!

The suit looks great on and Roo couldn't wait to model it. At first I thought with all its padding and tough outer shell that it might swamp her. However, clever internal elastic round the waist cinches the suit in though which helps make it more streamline and better fitted to your child's individual body shape.

I loved the contrasting reinforced knees and bottom, the branding is discreet and this definitely is a piece of kit that screams quality outdoor brand at you. What's more, I'll definitely be able to spot Roo in seconds if she falls in a snow-drift!

Practicalities

To put the Forest All-in-One through its paces we waited for a crisp December day and headed out for a hill walk. It wasn't freezing but definitely chilly enough that Roo needed an extra few layers.

With help from us and the full length front zip, she squeezed into the suit whilst perched in the boot of the car fairly easily. Former suits have had two zips on either side which does make getting in and out a bit more accessible, but we really didn't struggle that much with just the one.

The suit comes with in-built stirrups and this made keeping the trousers in place whilst putting on wellies a breeze. Usually, with kids, trying to stuff the leg of a trouser down a welly is incredibly annoying, not least because with under 5s the chance of them actually helping you achieve this in any meaningful way is fairly remote!

What's more, the suit comes with an internal snow gaiter meaning you can put the outer layer over your boot if you want, safe in the knowledge that if snow or muddy puddle splashes somehow manage to make it past the outer defences, they are unlikely to make it as far as any under-layers.

Out on our walk, there were no complaints from Roo about the cold. She had just her normal clothes on under the all-in-one and it kept her admirably toasty, even up on the more exposed hill-top.

Roo really loved the clever internal sleeves too that looped over her thumbs. From a parents point of view these were also really handy at keeping her mittens on her. I lose count of the number of times mittens have gone astray when discarded mid-walk!

She also surprised me by commenting on the chin guard saying "and Mummy, that's why it doesn't get me" and pointing to the little fabric cover that stops the zip from pinching the delicate skin of the neck. I can't remember catching her skin many times before in zips but those few accidental times must have been traumatic enough for her to be vocally relieved about the design of this suit making it an impossibility!

The all-in-one suit handled the puddle-jumping along the lane easily - with it's more than adequate 10,000mm waterproof coating (5,000mm is enough for dry snow and light showers) and fully taped seams, not a drip was getting in.

For anyone who doesn't know about waterproofness ratings, they are rated in millimetres in what is called a Hydrostatic Head test. This involves the fabric being pulled tight under an inch-wide sealed tube of water. After 24 hours, a reading is taken for how many millimetres of water a material can withstand before being soaked through.

It's all very technical, but essentially a 1,500mm fabric can be legally called waterproof under the British Standard. Anything less than 1,500mm is water resistant. Anything from 1,500mm to 5,000mm is suitable to withstand light rain, whereas 5,000-10,000mm is considered very waterproof and can withstand moderate to heavy rain.

So this is properly waterproof clothing!

It has a highly durable 100% Nylon outer shell with a lightweight lining and thick, quilted padding, both 100% polyester. This makes it long-wearing, quick drying and forgiving to wash. It also has a polyester fleece lining around the collar for extra snugness.

I have high hopes for the suit's performance when we take Roo skiing for the first time in a month or so, and she inevitably spends half the holiday rolling around in the snow!

Even though the sun was shining on this occasion, the hood was duly tested out and adjusted to fit over the top of Roo's hat perfectly, with a really good shape for staying up and adjustments to help keep it in place on small heads. As with other Kozi Kidz garments, the suit also comes with clever reflectors on it to help make kids visible to traffic, and again, these were well positioned whilst not being too glaringly obvious in the design.

The only real issue for us was Roo's overall mobility in the suit. Being fairly padded and with a tough and quite unyielding outer fabric, the suit took a bit of time for her to get used to walking in. Even when she'd got the hang of negotiating the extra volume round her legs, she still walked with a bit of a gait and went a lot slower than normal.

She perservered and did walk most of the way up to some truly fantastic views across the Chew Valley, but hitched a piggy back with her Dad for part of the way back. We were quite glad we weren't needing to walk any further that day as she was painfully snail-like at times!

Having used the suit since several times now, I think that it is slightly too big for her. Sizes for the All-in-One are measured by height and Roo fell between two sizes. We followed the advice on the Kozi Kidz website and went up to the next size when ordering but I think in doing so, Roo had to take on some extra material on the legs that she just hasn't quite got the length to deal with yet.

I would say that whilst ordering up in most garments is probably a good idea for longevity of use, in the case of the Forest All-in-One I would definitely advise erring on the side of caution and going for the size closest to that of your child at the time of ordering.

Overall thoughts and pricing

It's always hard to tell what a young child really thinks of any new clothing but Roo genuinely seems to really enjoy wearing her Forest All-in-One. She likes the deep pockets and being snuggly inside it, and she is obsessed with those inner thumb-looping cuffs!

She does need help to put it on - all those snow-gaiters and foot stirrups make it far too complicated for a pre-schooler to tackle entirely without help - but that is probably true for all but the most light-weight all-in-one suits out there.

In the aftermath of Roo's puddle splashing and bog paddling, the pink tones of the suit were looking decidedly more brown. You can stick the whole suit in the washing machine, but a quick wipe down easily removed the worst of one outing's muck.

It's worth noting that after repeated washing, it might be necessary to re-proof the all-in-one using something like Nikwax or Grangers. Kozi Kidz don't have a specific recommendation - we did ask - but they do recommend washing without using fabric softener to preserve the waterproofness.

At £99, the Forest All-in-One suite is a considerable investment, although not incomparable with other quality children's outdoor clothing brands out there.

For example, we also own a Spotty Otter fleece-lined all-in-one suit which we use for my 11-month old which retails at £75. This offers the same waterproofing level, though is not padded and has lost both its zip pulls since we bought it three years ago.

The Didrikson Theron Coverall is another similar garment offering many of the same snow-specific features such as foot straps and snow gaiters. It retails at around £90 and is supposedly suitable for all winter outdoor activities. It is slightly more breathable, but only has a fifth of the waterproof level offered by the Kozi Kidz Forest suit.

Cheaper brands tend to be a lot less waterproof and breathable - fine if you're only interested in a protective suit for five minutes out puddle splashing, but no good for long, soggy outdoor playtime or snow-play.

With its high quality and durable design, the Forest All-in-One does compare favourably with other insulated and waterproof all-in-one suits I've tried with Roo in the past, although perhaps this particular suit is not the best option for walking in.

It suits itself rather better to slower outdoor play, with Roo enjoying taking it for leisurely short strolls down the lane for a spot of puddle-jumping. It would come into its own in snow and is also a great layer for keeping children who are being carried, pushed or towed in fairly wintery conditions snug from wind, rain and frost.