Bibs
Also called bib pants, rain bibs
Waterproof trousers that continue up over the chest with shoulder straps, so water cannot find your waistband.
Ordinary rain pants end at the waist, and the waist is exactly where water runs to when you bend forward, sit on a wet seat or reach down to land a fish. Bibs carry the waterproof layer up to mid-chest and hold it there with braces.
They also stay up without a belt, which matters when the pockets are loaded, and they overlap generously with a jacket so there is no gap at the small of the back.
The cost is heat and hassle. Bibs are warmer than pants, and getting into them over boots is a project.
Full-length side zips are what make that manageable. A bib that opens from ankle to hip goes on over boots in seconds and vents on a warm day, and it is the feature worth paying for on any bib you will put on and take off repeatedly.
Check the seat and knees too. Those are the panels that wear through first in a boat, and better bibs reinforce both.
In a boat or kayak, bibs beat rain pants outright. On foot in warm rain, plain pants are usually more comfortable.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use bibs and show it on real gear.
Bibs is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
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