Over the last couple of years, the popularity of fleece jackets has decreased, and many hikers have replaced their fleece apparel with jackets insulated with synthetic fill. While synthetic fill jackets are indeed warmer for the weight and pack smaller, fleece does have certain advantages over synthetic fill. I own a fleece jacket (Mountain Hardwear…
For aerobic activities such as mountaineering and alpine climbing you need highly breathable rainwear so you don’t soak in your own sweat during exhausting ascents. Polartec NeoShell is by all accounts the most breathable waterproof fabric currently available. Polartec launched the NeoShell fabric in 2011 and soon it became clear that it offers better air…
If you are buying a new rain jacket or any other waterproof garment, you may have come across terms like hydrostatic head and MVTR (Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate). While clothing brands and online shops are usually great at listing the values of these two parameters for their products, they rarely explain what MVTR and hydrostatic…
A fleece jackets is a very useful garment for hiking because it provides light-weight insulation and can be worn as a mid-layer in cold and/or rainy weather conditions or as an outer layer in dry and moderate weather conditions. Towards the end of 2016 my old fleece jacket, made of Polartec Stretch fabric, started to…
A high-quality fleece jacket can both be used as a snug mid-layer in cold weather and as an outer layer when hiking in dry weather at moderate temperatures. It can also be used as casual wear in everyday life and is thus one of the more versatile pieces of hiking clothing. In comparison to other…
A shell is the last (outer) layer of a layered clothing system and is thus worn over a base layer and a mid-layer. In warm weather the shell can also be worn directly over a base layer because insulation, which is normally provided by a mid-layer, is not required. The term “shell” is sometimes confusing…
When you are hiking, mountaineering or trekking you are often exposed to challenging weather conditions and thus it’s good to have high-performance clothing. A fleece jacket is a very useful garment because it provides insulation and can be worn either as an outer layer in dry weather or as a mid-layer in wet or windy…
