The Patagonia R1 Fleece Hoody is a mid-layer fleece sweater that excels for start-stop actions in chilly climate. Made with grid fleece, it has a porous weave that wicks moisture off your base layer so it will possibly evaporate and maintain you drier and hotter. When layered underneath a shell, the grid fleece traps air warmed by your physique, offering a noticeable insulation profit. Thumb loops, a 3/4 size zipper, a zippered chest pocket, and a stretch hood are the ending touches on this versatile mid-layer.
- Supplies: 93% recycled polyester and seven% spandex
- Gender: Males’s (no girls’s mannequin accessible)
- Weight: 10.7 oz (males’s Giant)
- Zipper: 3/4 size
- Chest Pocket: Holds a smartphone
- Hood: Underneath helmet hood
- Match: Slim
The R1 Fleece Hoody is an energetic layering piece that performs finest once you’re working exhausting. The “R,” which stands for Regulator, is particularly designed to help with thermoregulation, retaining you heat sufficient to carry out at your finest with out inflicting you to overheat and develop into drenched with perspiration. The important thing to its effectiveness is the porous weave of its Polartec Energy Grid, which wicks perspiration away out of your torso once you perspire. The beauty of polyester is that it doesn’t take up liquid, however transports it from one floor to a different by means of capillary motion, so it will possibly evaporate rapidly.
By itself, the R1 Fleece Hoody is just not the warmest sweater and have to be augmented with a shell layer to entice physique warmth or shield you from the wind. It’s an excellent complement to a wind shirt or a tough shell as a result of the air pockets within the grid fleece entice heat. I climbed Mt Mansfield (4000′ of elevation acquire) the opposite day in winter circumstances with 30+ mph winds with only a skinny baselayer, the R1 Pullover Hoody, and a Copperfield Wind Shirt, and I used to be dry and heat for the complete hike. Air is the very best insulator.
The R1 Fleece Hoody is reduce lengthy to suit underneath a backpack hip belt or climbing harness. It additionally has a slim reduce so it will possibly absorb moisture out of your base layer. Regardless of that, it has numerous stretch, so that you don’t really feel constrained by the shut match.
The entrance of the hoody has a 3/4-length zipper, which is nice for air flow, and a zippered pocket giant sufficient to retailer a smartphone. The sleeves have stretch cuffs, so pulling them up your forearms for air flow is simple. Additionally they have thumb loops to provide your fingers some further heat or forestall the sleeves from using up beneath a jacket.
The stretch hood is made with a barely thinner grid fleece material, however is simple to layer over a fleece beanie for those who want further heat. However the function I like the very best about it’s that it has a excessive neck that may attain as much as cowl your nostril if you need a bit further wind safety with out having to interrupt out a balaclava.
This R1 Fleece Hoody is the second I’ve owned. The primary one I purchased in 2009 after I began climbing mountains in winter. I wore that hoody to demise for a few years, all yr spherical, till it fell aside. So, I’m not unfamiliar with this garment, and I’m delighted to have one again in my gear closet once more.
How does the R1 evaluate with Polartec Alpha fleece hoodies? That’s simple. It has many extra options required for winter mountain climbing, together with a central zipper for air flow, a chest pocket, an extra-long torso, and better neck protection. It’s additionally much more sturdy. I purchased a bunch of Polartec Alpha hoodies final yr they usually’re all falling aside now. Whereas they do weigh half as a lot, I’d a lot fairly have the R1 on a winter hike as a result of its technical options actually do make a distinction for energetic layering and temperature regulation.
Suggestion
The Patagonia R1 Fleece Hoody is a flexible energetic layering piece for cold-weather mountain climbing. It has very good breathability, with technical options just like the lengthy entrance zipper, stretch cuffs, and hood that make it simple to manage your heat degree. Plus, it really works properly underneath a shell layer. The one unfavourable is {that a} girls’s model of the garment is unavailable. I discovered that stunning, on condition that this hoody is such an iconic garment.
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