What's It For?
All round, lightweight, stretchy fleece layer that can either work as an extreme cold weather baselayer or alternatively, as a light mid-layer worn over a thin baselayer top.
The Techy Bits
Polartec's PowerStretch is an old friend that sometimes gets forgotten in the rush towards new fabrics. In fact it's an excellent all-rounder, warm enough to give adequate mid-layer insulation in active winter use, stretchy enough for a close, neat fit and also light, quick wicking and drying and not over warm.
The difference here is that 65 per-cent of the polyester content of the fleece is recycled from soft drink bottles. And with the latest recycling technology, Polartec says that it should perform just as well as fleece made from virgin polyester.
The garment is also part of Patagonia's common threads recycling programme and can itself be recycled in time.
How It Performed
We're big PowerStretch fans and the Patagonia Velocity did nothing to change that. The fleecy inner face, smooth, easy sliding outer and the built-in stretch made it a snug, close-fitting top that worked really well layered under a svelte technical shell layer.
Feels nice, dries fast, wicks well. Most importantly, if we hadn't known, we'd never have guessed that it was mostly recycled. It really does just feel like PowerStretch.
The top itself is simple and effective. It's maybe cut a little long for some users and the fabric itself feels loftier than some PowerStretch we've used, but neither are a big issue.
Verdict
Simple but effective top that's pretty much indistinguishable from virgin PowerStretch. Flat seams and close fit make it a good layering piece even under pack straps and once it's dead, you can simply drop it off at a Patagonia retailer knowing that it'll be reincarnated once more...
