DRY KIDS Waterproof Over Trousers (13–14) Review: cheap, tough rain pants that run big

I’ve put these DRY KIDS waterproof over trousers through the usual chaos test: wet playgrounds, muddy dog walks, and a very windy trip to the beach. These are the raspberry pink, age 13–14 size, worn over leggings and school trousers by a fairly average 13–14 year old. So this is not lab testing, it’s real-world "can you please stop sitting in puddles" testing.

The first clear thing: they do what they say in terms of waterproofing. In steady rain and wet grass, legs stayed dry. No damp patches on the knees or bum, which is honestly all I really ask from kids’ rain trousers. They’re not fancy technical gear, but as basic overtrousers, they get the job done without drama.

On the flip side, they are big. The age 13–14 has plenty of room, both in width and in length. That’s good for layering over clothes and for growing room, but it also means you probably need to roll or snap the ankles up at first, or they’ll drag and wear through at the back. If your kid is small for their age, I’d think about sizing down.

Overall first impression: solid budget rain trousers, good for school, forest school, sailing clubs, dog walks, that kind of thing. Not perfect – the fabric can wear through if it’s constantly trodden on or scraped, and they’re not breathable – but for the price, they’re hard to complain about too much.

On price, these sit firmly in the affordable range, especially compared to big outdoor brands. For what you pay, you get proper waterproofing, decent thickness of fabric, and a design that works over normal clothes. That’s already better value than a lot of supermarket rain pants that feel like bin bags and tear in a week.

Where they earn their keep is in the use cases: school trips, forest school, sailing clubs, dog walks, camping, or just letting kids sit in puddles without soaking their actual trousers. You’re not paying for brand names, breathable membranes, or fancy features. You’re paying for something that keeps legs dry and can be thrown in the washing machine afterwards. For most parents, that’s enough.

There are some trade-offs. You don’t get breathability, you don’t get reinforced panels, and the fit is generously long, which might mean a bit of tweaking at the cuffs. If you’re expecting high-end outdoor gear performance, you’ll be disappointed. But if you compare them to other rain overtrousers in the same price bracket, they come out pretty solid. The Amazon rating around 4.5/5 feels fair.

From my point of view, the value is strongest if you: have a kid who’s outdoors a lot in wet weather, don’t want to baby the gear, and are okay with the idea that in a year or two, after heavy use, you might replace them. For that scenario, these make sense. If you only need rain trousers once or twice a year, they’re still cheap enough that buying a pair "just in case" doesn’t feel painful.

The main design choice here is generous sizing. The 13–14 fits more like a 14+ in length, at least on an average-height teen. That lines up with a lot of the Amazon reviews. On my side, when my tester first put them on, the legs were clearly too long and bunched over the shoes. We had to use the ankle poppers and roll them up a bit to stop them dragging. That’s not a deal-breaker, but you do need to adjust them properly or the fabric at the back of the heel will get destroyed fast.

The elastic waistband is basic but effective. It holds up over trousers without needing a drawstring, which is actually good for kids who hate fiddly ties. It’s snug enough to stay up when running and climbing, but not so tight that it digs in when worn over thicker clothes. If your child has a very slim waist, they’ll still be fine because of the layering underneath.

The ankle poppers are one of the more useful design bits. You can snap them tighter over wellies to stop water splashing up the inside, and to keep the hem from flapping around. Used properly, they also reduce the chance of the cuffs being trodden on. One of the reviewers mentioned theirs wore through quickly at the bottom when the hems dragged in the sand – I can see how that would happen if you don’t roll or snap them up enough.

Looks-wise, they’re plain and practical. The raspberry pink is bright but not neon, so easy to spot in a crowd or on a dark, rainy day. No big logos, no silly patterns, so they work for school trips and outdoor clubs without anyone moaning about them looking childish. Overall, design is functional, slightly baggy, and clearly aimed at being thrown over clothes without fuss.

Comfort-wise, these trousers are okay, not great, not terrible. The elastic waist is comfortable and doesn’t dig in, even with another waistband underneath. My tester wore them over leggings and over thicker school trousers, and didn’t complain about tightness or restriction. There’s enough room in the legs to move freely, squat, climb, and sit cross-legged without feeling strangled by the fabric.

The main comfort issue is heat and sweat. Because the material isn’t breathable, you get that classic cheap-raincoat situation: dry from the rain, but a bit damp from your own sweat if you’re active. After about 30–40 minutes of running around, the inside of the trousers felt warm and slightly clammy. Not disastrous, but it’s not the kind of thing you’d want to wear for hours of intense hiking in mild weather. For short bursts of outdoor play or standing around on a touchline in bad weather, they’re fine.

Another point: the inside isn’t lined, so it’s just the coated fabric against the clothes underneath. Over bare skin it would feel a bit sticky, but realistically these are overtrousers, so they’ll almost always be worn over something else. Over jeans or leggings they slide on and off easily enough. No one wrestled with them or got stuck, which is a small win when you’re trying to get kids ready in a hurry.

In daily use, my tester didn’t ask to take them off early, which is usually the real test with kids. They’re not soft or cosy, but they’re comfortable enough for what they’re meant to do: keep you dry while you’re outside for an hour or two. If you want breathable comfort for all-day wear, you’ll need to spend more on a different type of fabric.

These trousers are made from 100% polyester with a PVC coating, and you can feel that straight away. The fabric has that slightly rubbery, coated feel rather than the softer, fabric-like feel you get from more expensive breathable gear. If you’ve used cheap waterproofs before, you’ll recognise it. It’s not fancy, but it’s tough enough and importantly it actually stops water getting in.

The waterproof rating is listed as 4000mm hydrostatic head, which in normal terms means it can handle proper rain and sitting on wet surfaces without immediately soaking through. In use, that checks out. Sitting on wet benches, kneeling in damp grass, walking in steady rain – no leaks. The taped seams also do their job; I didn’t notice any damp lines along the stitching, which is usually where cheap gear fails first.

The downside of this type of material is zero breathability. If your kid is running around a lot, especially in milder weather, they will get sweaty inside. After a long walk, there was condensation on the inside, which is normal for PVC-coated polyester. So yes, they keep rain out, but they also trap heat and sweat in. For cold, wet days, that’s not so bad. For warmer, drizzly days with lots of activity, it can get a bit clammy.

In terms of feel, the fabric is on the thicker side for kids’ budget rainwear, which I like. It doesn’t feel paper-thin or flimsy. You still need to be realistic – if a kid is sliding on concrete or crawling on rough surfaces every day, it will eventually wear through, especially at the knees and heels. But for normal outdoor play, forest school, and walks, the material feels up to the job and actually better than I expected for the price.

Durability is where these sit in the "good enough" camp. They’re not indestructible, but they’re not flimsy either. After several muddy outings, sitting on wet logs, and general playground abuse, the fabric still looked fine in most places. No peeling of the coating, no split seams, and the taped seams all stayed stuck down. The elastic at the waist also held its stretch and didn’t start to twist or roll inside the band.

The weak point, and this matches one of the Amazon reviews, is the bottom of the legs. If they’re too long and kids are stepping on the back of the cuffs, the fabric will scuff and can wear through. I saw early signs of wear on the back hem after some dragging on rough ground. If you’re careful to roll them up or use the poppers to keep them off the ground, they’ll last much longer. If you just leave them dangling and your kid stomps all over them, don’t expect miracles.

For the knees, they held up fine to occasional kneeling and sliding in mud, but I wouldn’t trust them for daily crawling on tarmac or gravel. They’re not reinforced there, so eventually the coating will wear thin. Compared to more expensive outdoor brands with reinforced panels, you’re obviously getting less protection, but then you’re also paying a lot less.

Overall, I’d say durability is good value for the money. They’ll comfortably last a school year or more for normal use, especially if you get the sizing and cuff adjustment right. If your kid is the type who destroys trousers by crawling everywhere on rough surfaces, you might want to either budget for replacements or jump to a more heavy-duty (and pricier) option.

In terms of waterproof performance, these trousers do the job properly. We had them out in steady rain, wet grass, and sitting on damp benches, and there were no leaks. The bum and knees, which are usually the first to show damp patches with cheap gear, stayed dry. That lines up with the 4000mm rating – more than enough for typical UK rain and kid use.

Wind protection is also decent. The fabric isn’t insulated, but it blocks wind pretty well, so over leggings they helped keep legs warmer on a breezy beach walk. The elastic waist and ankle poppers help keep drafts out. My tester said legs felt warmer with them on even when it wasn’t actually raining, which is handy for cold, muddy days.

Where performance dips is abrasion resistance at the hems. Like one of the Amazon reviews mentioned, if the trousers are too long and your kid is stepping on the back of the legs, they will wear through quite fast. I didn’t destroy a pair completely, but after some dragging on rough ground you can see how that would happen. Same story if a child is constantly crawling on rough surfaces – the knees will eventually give. For normal walking, playground use, and the odd slide in mud, they’re fine. For constant crawling on concrete, expect damage.

That said, for the price bracket, I’d still call the performance pretty solid. They’re clearly better than the ultra-thin, shiny budget rain pants that rip the second they touch a branch. As long as you sort the length (roll or snap the cuffs up) and use them for typical outdoor play rather than extreme roughhousing, they perform well enough and keep kids dry, which is the whole point.

Out of the bag, these are very straightforward. No fancy packaging, just a basic plastic bag with a label. Honestly, that’s fine for this type of product – you’re paying for something kids can trash in mud, not a gift box. The trousers look like standard rain overtrousers: plain raspberry pink, elasticated waist, poppers at the ankles, and access openings for pockets underneath.

The 13–14 size is clearly designed to go over regular clothes. My tester wore them over school trousers and thick leggings with no issue. There’s no complicated closure system – just pull-on with an elastic waist. At the bottom, you’ve got poppers so you can tighten them around boots or wellies, which helps with both keeping water out and stopping the hems from dragging.

Feature-wise, they’re very no-nonsense: no lining, no zips, no fancy ventilation, no branding all over the place. Just waterproof polyester with taped seams and a basic cut. You do get pocket access openings, which is handy so kids don’t have to dig under the trousers to find pockets. Just be aware those are openings, not extra pockets, so if the trousers underneath aren’t waterproof, what’s in those pockets can still get wet in heavy rain.

In short, presentation is simple: you get one pair of rain overtrousers that look like exactly what they are – cheap, functional waterproofs. Nothing to admire, nothing to assemble, just straight into service. For school or outdoor clubs, that’s honestly what you want.