Got a chance to try out my new winter clearance sale Marmot Incline Hoody yesterday. Went snow shoeing. 20 degrees F. A brisk 15 mph breeze. Relatively flat trail so not super high aerobic output, but on a peninsula out in a like where I knew I would get hit with some wind. I didn’t think a Capilene 4 Hoody alone would be enough. So, I wore a thin long sleeve Power Dry baselayer shirt, a Capilene 4 hoody, and the Marmot Incline Hoody as a top layer:
Worked out just perfectly. This thing has very little in the way of weather protection. The main shell is soft, very stretchy nylon/spandex running top material. Pretty breathable on it’s own, but just a bit of warmth and wind protection. The back, sides, and underarms are a light polyester grid fleece, about the same as the Capilene 4, maybe even a bit lighter weight. So that breathes pretty much like there’s nothing there.
I didn’t wear a hat, just the Cap 4 hoody. Sometimes I flipped the Incline Hoody up when the wind was hitting me. Sometimes I put it down.
It’s a stretchy athletic fit, but not skin tight. Big enough to wear over a power stretch fleece, for example. Really comfortable under a backpack.
I think dressing for winter aerobic activities is a real challenge. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is the need to dress lightly enough to not get drenched from sweat. So rather than a range of warm winter outerwear, what ends up working is a range of light outwear that you would think of as cool weather spring/fall stuff. Save the winter shells and soft shells for low exertion activities.
