Baselayer comparison: Polartec Powerdry v. Powerstretch

[Jim W.]

Recently I made long underwear bottoms for both my kids. Two sets each, from the following fabrics:

Polartec Powerdry w/Xstatic. This is a t-shirt weight directional wicking fabric that weighs 3 ounces per square yard.

Polartec Powerstretch polyester/nylon blend. One side is fuzzy velour and the other side a smooth knit. Weight is 6 ounces per square yard and it's much thicker and plusher than the Powerdry.

I wrote about the fabric and construction in this thread:
Polartec Source and my first garment sewing project.

Since then the kids have used their long johns for one hike/snowball fight and several fort building/snowball fight days. They used just the Powerdry, just the Powerstretch, and Powerstretch over Powerdry. This was under either nylon hiking pants or jeans. Snow play in above freezing temps ended up with the outer pants completely soaked.

Powerdry did a good job of keeping the kids comfortable when it was damp. The inside felt damp and the outside felt wet after taking them off. Powerdry is pretty thin and not too warm. Sitting or kneeling in wet snow was cold. Powerdry under nylon pants dried quickly.

Powerstretch is amazing! When my daughter came in from hours of snow play her outer pants were saturated. The knit outside of the Powerstretch was saturated. She took them off and I put my hand inside- I could not feel any dampness! Because it's about 4x as thick as the Powerdry and not very compressible the Powerstretch kept knees and butt from getting too cold when sitting or crawling around in the snow.

My initial thought was to encourage always using the Powerdry as a base layer and putting the Powerstretch over when conditions warrant. I have changed
my mind and I would only suggest Powerdry when it isn't cold enough to allow use of the warmer Powerstretch. I don't think layering the two adds much. The Powerstretch has excellent 4 way stretch vs. mostly 2 way stretch on the Powerdry. Neither is wind resistant so they really need some sort of shell.

I think the Powerdry will be better for transitional temperatures from about freezing up to 60F where managing heat is just as important as warmth.

[Diplomatic Mike]

Powerstretch is excellent at wicking moisture from the skin, and spreading it on the outside face to evaporate off. Those long inside fibres suck up the moisture superbly and leave your skin pretty dry. I actually think that smooth outer face also adds a little windproofing, and it's hardwearing, which is good with kids. Unless it is really cold though, i find Powerstretch a little too warm for me as a baselayer.

[En Deizeler]

thank you for your post and the textile mill reference.

[Jim W.]

I chose the nylon/poly blend because the outer knit layer was said to be tougher. Because the kids spend so much time crawling and sitting on the ground I think giving them slightly too-warm pants isn't a bad idea.

The next question is what to use for outer pants. I was all set on PowerShield but I may go with a shell fabric instead.

PS- Mike- My wife is very happy with her new backpack!

[Joseph Morrison]

I have three Marmot baselayer tops made from Power-Dry. They are okay but I don't like the way they feel against my skin

I have two Powersretch tops, one bottom and gloves. I really like the material. They are a little bulky, but I think it is the best baselayer for cold weather.

Besides the gloves I found all mine at thrift stores.

Joseph

[Mark Verber]

There are various weights of powerdry… so it can work well in colder conditions (Patagonia R.5 and Cap4 come to mind.) Personally, I like powerdry a bit better than powerstretch IF I am going to wear a shell. I have typically found that powerdry will dry faster than the same thickness of powerstretch.

I have found Powerstretch to be a bit more wind resistance, more durable, and warmer/thicker (in most cases) than powerdry. If I am not wearing a shell I have found that I really like powerstretch (high output activities in cold weather). I have found (like your kids) that combining powerstretch with supplex to assist wind resistances works surprisingly well.

Both are excellent materials. I have not really tried to mix them. Once I layer over them I tend to been looking for either something more wind resistant or more insulating.

–Mark

[Michael Febbo]

Over the past 3 days I have worn Patagonia R .5 tights (Powerdry) under REI Powerstretch tights, under Mammut Champ pants (Schoeller Dryskin Extreme) for ice climbing in the Catskills and Adriondacks.

It was a rather cold and very windy few days (some single digits, some mid-teens, stupidly high winds at times in the Catskills). I slept in my truck each night and so did not get a chance to really dry out the clothing outside of normal activities (which is why one pair fo gloves is still a block of ice)

The combination was very effective at allowing for freedom of movement, retaining warmth, and keeping me dry.

Working hard on a few steep aproaches never caused overheating, and even during cramped sitting/kneeling belays when the Champ pants wetted through, my legs never felt damp. It really does give some credence to the "warm when wet" slogan. In fact, I punched through a thin section of ice and caused a jet of water to sock my pants- legs never felt the moisture and all layers dried just by walking/climbing.

I also use Powerstretch glove liners under my ice climbing gloves- but find that these get holes after one season of use and need to be replaced. Still, the fabric is truly amazing and is my standard base/mid layer for winter.

I have also noticed that the recycled version in my rather new Pataoginia Velocity zip neck is piling at a much faster rate than my beaten REI pullovers…

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