Hooded fleece similar to R2/MonkeyMan/?

I thought there was a hooded monkey man actually. Also my mom actually found a high loft fuzzy fleece at target a few years ago. Not polartec…just some random brand.

Monkey Man grid jacket with hood

This thing is about twice as warm as the monkey man hoody and just a couple ounces heavier. 300 weight thermal pro. Size medium for me is 14 ounces, size medium monkey man is 12.5 ounces. http://melanzana.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/22/products_id/68?osCsid=05baee9109e2c58277b5ff65335715e4

Melanzana does not have a full zipper and they won't do one. MonkeyMan is the grid fleece, I want the stuff like hair/fur. But thank you.

I avoid Walmart like the plague generally, but last time i was there (shopping for clients with a company walmart specific card, when i worked at a group home), there was lot's of high loft fleeces in the women's section. Some looked pretty gender neutral. Size might be an issue for you though.

Tell me about it. There are many high loft fleece hoodies for women but none for men. So odd. Can you buy the hair/fur Thermal Pro by the yard?

Mountain Hardwear has used a couple different high loft fleece fabrics and thrown the Monkey Man name on them. The gridded fleece still has the long fibers, but is also gridded. It's not like R1. IMHO, the gridded version is the way to go: it is lighter, has less bulk and breathes better. Either version passes too much air to be warm in wind without a shell, so you might as well have the grids. This is what the gridded stuff looks like in real life: REI has the hooded version on sale in XXL for $129 now: http://www.rei.com/product/886240/mountain-hardwear-monkey-man-grid-fleece-jacket-mens-2014-closeout

http://www.mountainhardwear.com/mens-monkey-man-grid-ii-hooded-jacket-1616531.html?cgid=mens-jackets-fleece&dwvar_1616531_variationColor=708#start=1

What does it matter if a grid is used or not?

"IMHO, the gridded version is the way to go: it is lighter, has less bulk and breathes better"

I have tried long fiber grid fleeces and they don't seem to breath better than my R2 nor weigh less or pack to a smaller size. Just saying.

No free lunch! But I wouldn't be wearing one on the trail unless it was REALLY cold and I was on the flat or more likely downhill. At 45F I would be a sweaty mess hauling uphill with that fleece. In camp with a shell, yessiree. Nice jammies too. This stuff is a cold/wet weather item. Like it's 40F and raining, windy, etc. Today is a good example: And that is at sea level. The foothills of the Cascades are wetter, colder. NO sun, cold, high humidity and moss all around, like living in a sponge. Down turns to goose oatmeal and hypothermia is a done deal. Cap3 base/windshirt/poncho (or rain shell with all the vents open), add fleece and/or synthetic puffy for stops. All those grid holes let the steam out and make fat little air pockets, along with the fuzzy ones. It's not so terribly cold as cold 'n' damp. Goes right to your bones.

I use high loft fleece for taking breaks during cold wet weather. If I need to stop and eat or cook then the fleece goes on over all my wet stuff. Or maybe for a long, slow downhill when I'm very wet. It insulates well when damp and allows things to dry out. I really don't like the idea of hiking non stop to stay warm until I get to camp.

I have to agree with Dale, it would have to be pretty dang cold for me to hike with hi loft fleece on or what the Brits have called "pile" for awhile. I did a short hike back to the trail-head Sunday morning, only 5 miles and only a few hills with any up hill steepness. I had on a short sleeve nylon fishnet with OR Echo LS shirt over that and originally also had a ls 55% merino 45% nylon blend baselayer shirt over the OR Echo and then a Houdini over that. When i started back at around 7:45 am, it was probably about 37 or so (low was around 26). About 5 minutes into it, i took the Houdini off. About 30 mins after that, i took off the baselayer Merino/Nylon blend shirt. I was still sweating and warm enough with just the nylon fishnet and ls OR echo shirt over that, though granted by the time i was nearing getting back (9:15), it probably had warmed up to around 45 or so.