Snowboarding Gear Essentials

Okay we've covered the most important pieces of snowboarding gear: the board, the bindings, boots, and gloves. But wait, there are other really important pieces of gear you'll want to consider buying. Of course which you buy and the quality you decide to buy is only limited by the size of your checkbook. I would recommend purchasing each of the items below, but to keep your sport affordable choose mid range rather than high end. Remember low end is often not much of a savings because it either doesn't last as long or it doesn't offer the same protection.

Pants

Snowboard pants differ from ski pants because they have more padding in the bum and the knees. That's because boarders tend to spend allot of time on their butts and knees. The extra padding does a couple of things. It makes for a softer landing and it makes your pants last longer because the material is thicker in the high impact areas.

Your pants should be comfortable and not too tight in the waist. An elastic waist or draw string waist is perfect. Make sure you bend over, do the squats and any other motion you can think of to make sure they don't cut into your waist or rub on your thighs or hips. You also don't want them so loose that your butt's smiling at the world.

Make sure the pants you buy have ventilation. There are two types of ventilation. One is just a nice big hole, while the other has a mesh covering. If you don't want the snow to make its way into your pants choose the mesh style.

Your pants should also have an ankle cuff to stop the snow from coming up between your boot and your pants. Taped seams which we talked about before are helpful and a reinforced crotch is a good investment. All this means is the stitching in the crotch area is reinforced. This can save you some embarrassing moments. You won't have to return to the resort with things hanging out.

Next: > Page 2: Snowboard Goggles And Thermals

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