Meco Hoody

That is great news. Rab's Meco fabric is fabulous. To me, this is the first hoody that I will consider to supplement or ultimately replace my beloved BPL Merino hoody. I wear Meco shirts regularly, both when hiking and for normal wear and they are super comfy, breathable, super-fast drying, and virtually impossible to stink up. This hoody is sure to become a hit piece of gear in the lightweight backpacking community.

Um…what's a MECO hoody? And why are you posting of new things that I'm going to want to buy, even before I know what they are let alone that I'm going to need one??

Damn you BPL!!

This is great news. I love my MeCo shirts, the 165 is my baselayer for all my cold weather trips. I've also long wished they made a hoody version. And I agree about the 120, wish they'd make that in hoody as well.

Time to sell the Beartooth hoody, I'd much prefer the MeCo.

out of curiosity, where do you guys pick up most of your RAB products (in the US)? Finding limited options online – looking @ the meco 120 long sleeve

Jennifer, Meco is a nice merino/synthetic blend with cocona blended in (faster drying times). Its a nice compromise between the strengths of merino and synthetic without most of the weaknesses. I like a hoody with thumbloops because I can leave behind gloves a hat and it helps with sun protection when I'm wearing a visor…
…and no, you totally don't need one! But should you ever go looking for an uber-technical base layer, its a good one.

And I made the mistake of putting that blog on my rss feed, so now I'm automatically made aware of future highly desirable unnecessary gear to buy.

Prolite gear has Rab Meco: https://www.prolitegear.com/rab-meco-120-ls-tee.html

Prolite is a small outfit out of bozeman, MT. They have a really nice selection of specialized gear and they have a good presence on this site as well. Check them out.

The first place I generally check is Prolite Gear. If they don't have it, I generally check Jackson Sports in the U.K. They ship to the U.S., and their prices are competitive with most any place in the U.S. (including the shipping).

While they don't have MeCo, I check Campsaver.com for rab gear. They often have good sales (as in one going on now).

Here is our Rab MeCo Baselayers Review from January 2012 (on BPL, of course).

Good call with Jacksons Doug, it turns out I can buy something from them and get it delivered to the US cheaper than if I go in to their shop in Belfast? Bloody 20% VAT.

Another shop in the UK worth considering is ultralightoutdoorgear, although you have to email them to get a quote on shipping to the US. My experience with them is that they ship fast with very reasonable rates to the rest of Europe and respond quickly to inquiries.

AFAIK, you don't need to email ultralightoutdoorgear for a shipping quote. Just put the item in your shopping basket, choose USA as your country and click update. The VAT will be removed and the shipping cost added.

You're right of course, should have had another cup of coffee before I wrote that :) You only need to mail them if you are not in Europe and want faster shipping.

It's actually one of my pet peeves, webshops that don't list international shipping rates or only show them after submitting all your personal details.

As to Rab baselayer, how slim/athletic does it fit?

Peter,
In my experience the Rab Meco fits fairly athletic, with fairly long sleeves but not very trim in the torso. Better than many but not top of the heap. I/O Merino from Australia has spandex and is a lot trimmer fitting. (They ship fast and free around the world).