Winter-grade 250-weight merino wool base-layer top with added hood touches down for review.
Just in is a slightly unusual merino top, Smartwool's Men's Midweight Hoody, a close-fitting, base-layer, top in 250-weight pure merino wool with added hood, zip-neck and thumb-loops.
It comes in this year's must-have colour, bright green and is made from Smartwool's heaviest grade 'next-to-skin' fabric specifically for use as a cold-weather base layer top, either on its own or under other clothing.
It really brings home just how far merino has come over the past few years. For starters, it's no longer black, it's beautifully finished, the fit is nice and close and very fitted and a lot of thought's gone into the contruction.
The shoulders, for example, are made from a micro-gridded merino fabric and have no top seams for comfortable pack use, the zip – ideal for venting – is nicely finished and semi-concealed and the thumb-loops are unobtrusive whether you choose to use them or not.
And then there's the hood, which like those on Smartwool's new HyFi mid-layer hoody, is cut really close. You could happily wear it under a climbing or cycling helmet for extra insulation or simply layer it under a shell jacket hood when the going gets gnarly. Or it's thin enough to just leave down under a shell. Or maybe popped on to take a little chill off your head when just walking along in chilly scenarios.
We really like merino in cold conditions, it's warm, particularly in this heavier weight, instantly comfortable and while it doesn't wick in the same way as synthetics, it handles medium moisture well and stays comfortable while doing it. Great for multi-day use too given the natural anti-pong properties of the fabric.
The jury's out for now on the usefulness of hooded base layers. It's either a great idea or possibly not and we suspect that it'll depend a bit on personal preferences and the activity concerned, but the plan it to give it a good winter's thrashing and find out.
Weight of our medium test top is 290g and retail price –is £84.95 a standard zip-neck top in the same fabric is in the region of £70, so not cheap, but you can off-set some of that against the multi-day useability. Or is that just rationalisation...
More Smartwool info at www.smartwool.com
