personally if I was only going to buy one piece of a floating suit it would be the bibs. thing about it like this, you have the floating jacket on and you are able to get to the edge of the ice where you went in, now you are floating vertically from the jacket now you need to be able to get you hips and legs horizontal so you can pull your self out. I would want the bibs over the jacket to get my hips and legs horizontal and make it so it would be easier to get out. a floating jacket doesn't do no good if you can't get your legs out of the water too.