The Out of doors Analysis Polartec 200 Fleece Hoody is a heat and extremely breathable mid-layer full-zip jacket with a zippered chest pocket, kangaroo-style handwarmer pockets, stretch cuffs, and a hood. It’s made with Polartec 200 fleece and could be worn over a baselayer or underneath a tough shell or rain jacket if you want further heat. Whereas it’s tender and opulent to put on, make no mistake, that is an insulating mid-layer designed for energetic use that’s extremely environment friendly for wicking moisture out of your baselayer whereas enveloping you in a cloud of heat.
- Gender: males’s (girls’s out there)
- Size: Hip
- Pockets: one chest zippered, two handwarmer pockets no zipper
- Hood: Over-the-helmet, non-adjustable
- Cuffs: Stretch
- Fleece: 200 weight (gsm)
- UPF Ranking: 30
- Weight: 17.4 oz
The Out of doors Analysis Polartec 200 Hoody is depraved snug with a tender fleece inside on the within and exterior. It has a zippered and fleece-lined outer left chest pocket that’s giant sufficient to swallow a big smartphone. Two deep handwarmer pockets in entrance swallow your palms and shield them from chilly or wind, whereas stretch wrist cuffs mean you can pull up the sleeves if extra air flow is required. The hood is sort of giant as a result of it’s designed to be worn over a climbing or snowboarding helmet, but it surely supplies good insulation when worn underneath an adjustable onerous shell hood.
The Benefits of Fleece
Fleece has many benefits as a mid-layer garment, worn as an outer layer in hotter climate or as a mid-layer in colder situations. First, it’s hydrophobic, so it truly repels water, absorbing lower than 1% of its weight in water. It additionally retains its insulating properties when it will get moist and dries in a short time. Fleece is tender and doesn’t itch. It’s machine cleanable and simple to look after and might final for many years of onerous use.
One of many issues I like finest about this OR Polartec Hoody is that OR tells you precisely how heavy the fleece is (200), in grams per sq meter, abbreviated as GSM. Itemizing fleece clothes (and wool clothes, for that matter) by the material weight was the norm throughout retailers and producers however is now uncommon, making it very troublesome to inform how heat a fleece garment might be or the way it compares with others – the upper the GSM, the hotter it will likely be. At finest, retailers will classify a fleece as being “gentle,” “medium,” or “heavy,” which might be why retailer return charges are so excessive.
| Ultralight | Light-weight | Midweight | Heavyweight | Windproof | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight (GSM) | 40-90 gsm | 100 gsm | 200 gsm | 300 gsm | Any weight |
| Polartec Nomenclature | Polartec Alpha Direct | Polartec Thermal Professional | Polartec Thermal Professional | Polartec Thermal Professional | Polartec Wind Professional |
| Patagonia Nomenclature | n/a | R1 | R2 | R3, R4 | Retro-X |
| The North Face Nomenclature | n/a | TKA 100 | TKA200 | TKA300 | Windwall |
A 200-weight fleece just like the OR Polartec 200 Hoody represents the center floor by way of heat and breathability. This makes it a great outer layer in cool climate, however it’s not very wind-resistant, so it’s finest layered underneath a windbreaker, a tough shell in these situations.
However one of many issues I like least about this OR Polartec 200 Hoody is the hood since I hardly ever put on a climbing helmet, and I don’t downhill ski the place one is required. Whereas the hood works nicely when you have a tough shell with an adjustable hood, as a hiker, I’d favor an under-the-helmet hood or one which was adjustable so I may shrink the amount and face opening to human dimension. Sadly, that’s not an possibility, though OR additionally sells a hoodless Polartec 200 Jacket, which might be my choice since I already put on a fleece hat when mountain climbing in cooler climate or winter.
Suggestion
Web web. If you’d like a helmet-compatible mid-weight fleece, the OR Polartec 200 Hoody is an effective possibility to think about as a result of it’s heat and breathable. However in case you’re a hiker who by no means wants a helmet and needs to make use of this hoodie often as an outer layer by itself, I’d go for the hoodless OR Polartec 200 Jacket or a midweight fleece from one other producer.
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