Alpha Direct or Octa

I have an octa long sleeve shirt and I like it a lot as a base layer. It is warm, durable and nice against the skin. Compresses well. The drawbacks are that it isn’t very stretchy and if I sweat it sticks like cellophane which can make it difficult to pull off.

There’s some discussion about octa being reversible since it has a smooth side and a fuzzy side. I’ve tried my shirt both ways and not noticed much of a difference in warmth or wicking.

I like alpha direct as a mid layer. I’ve gotten a lot of wear out of the 90 gsm. Now with wear, it may be more like 80 gsm.  Good stretch and still comfortable. I haven’t tried the Octa.

I have a Senchi Alpha Direct 60 Hoodie and recently got a Mountain Hardware Airmesh hoodie that I think uses Octa (but their website does not reference it).  I haven’t used them a lot – they were acquired to replace a Kuiu Peleton 97 that was too big for me now.  All less than 7 oz.  I would say the Octa feels heavier and thicker than the Alpha Direct – although maybe a 120 GSM option may be closer to the Octa.

The Airmesh is reversible and I was thinking about it while listing to the latest BPL podcast about shoulder season layering.  It also seems more durable, but I haven’t used either enough to quantify that.  To me the best product is the one I can wear over the greatest range of temps and activity.  I don’t mind adding layers at breaks or camp, but I would rather not swap layers while hiking – or take them off to turn them inside out.  That being said, I want a very light durable layer that can be used active and still be part of a system when the weather gets cold due to weather change or a relaxing evening in camp.

I have both MH Airmesh (Octa) LS Crew and a Timmermade AD 90 Hoody.  You may find my experience documented here useful.

Stephen tested both, check out the archives.  Octa holds more water (sweat), alphaD is a bit warmer for the weight. People report that octa holds body odour more than alphaD.

There are actually 3 types of octas and a few different weights.

• Warm and light = mhw air mesh
• Thermofly = Arc’teryx delta
• Thermofly warm and light = TNF future fleece ( some of them), a lofty thermofly.

Usually people are referring to MHs Airmesh when they talk about octa.  The new 2025 version is heavier than the old one (JupiterHikes on youtube weighs them if you want exact #s)

But octa is more durable and doesn’t get snagged up as easily or shed as much as alphaD

AlphaD has batch to batch inconsistency as far as shedding goes according to one mfg.  AD60 also sheds more than AD120.  BPL reports 2 layers of AD60 are warmer than 1 AD120 which makes sense given more air is trapped

I have MH octa and like it but it can get stinky.   I use it as a lightweight mid layer or sleep layer and prefer Brynje or Lifa polyprop as a base layer because they hold less sweat

Had both with Senchi for my alpha hoodie, and the Octa in the Mountain hardware piece, and both are a bit fragile.  The alpha direct is really fragile, but I consider it marginally better performing.

I’d definitely only use alpha direct as a midlayer under a windshell.  The stuff is so fragile I wish for the old windshirt design as not to snag a full zip.

Can’t go wrong with either, but alpha-direct works a little bit better but needs more babying.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like no real clear cut advantage to either. I’m feeling flush so I’ve decided to get one of each from Leve and see for myself. Being fragile no doubt I’ll wear them out.

I went with the ZPacks Octa hoodie pullover in a size larger than I normally get in order to wear it over other clothing and also for comfort as a sleep layer when I need it for that. It’s a hair heavier than Alpha Direct hoodies, but I wanted a little more durability, and it still came in at 5.9 oz in XL.

Very impressed with the warmth to weight ratio , but I still questioned whether or not I could fully replace my 8.8 oz Montbell UL puffy for lounging in camp on Sierra hikes in summer. I saw my wife using her sewing machine one night so I got the idea to purchase a yard of 120 Alpha Direct fleece and make a simple vest to supplement the Octa hoodie. So I folded over the fabric and traced out the shape using a Costco down vest that I have, cut out the shape, and sewed the sides to make a vest. It won’t win any fashion awards, but I wear it underneath anyway. Weight is 3.4 oz. (I’m 6’3, 190 lbs).

Nicely done

I suggest not sewing anything else or you’ll become addicted and it will consume your life :)

“I suggest not sewing anything else or you’ll become addicted and it will consume your life :)”

You’re probably right, lol, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have the patience to learn the tricks of the trade and make anything I’d actually wear that was visible.

I only made this one because I couldn’t find any Alpha Direct vests out there to augment the Octa hoodie. I thought about buying a crew neck and cutting off the sleeves to make a vest, but that would have been more than 3x what I paid for the fabric, and this only took 10 minutes to trace and sew the two sides.

And it works, so that’s really what I was after.

Does Primaloft Active Evolve still exist? Anyone use (using) it? That seemed to be similar to Direct and Octa, being also a high loft and breathable furry fleece-type stuff.

The UK brand OMM do several items in Primaloft Active.

I have to say, I sure am liking the Octa Fleece,  though I’m sure the Alpha Direct would be working just as well.

Took a hike this morning in the local mountains, temps in the high 20’s. The Octa fleece was enough to hike in for the course of the 6 miles I did, warm and breathable.

> I have MH octa and like it but it can get stinky.

I wish all these polyester garments used either some very good anti-odour treatment in the arm pit areas, or wool in the arm pit areas, because for me, that is where the stink is concentrated.

My next article will look at five different fuzzy fabrics-Alpha, Evolve and three different Octa fabrics.  I don’t know the publication date, but should be soon.  I think it will answer your questions on performance, construction and more.

Hi Stephen, this is great news. I haven’t been on here for a while, so nice to come back to this!

Primaloft have done some recent improvements to Evolve, formally Active. We had tested some about three years ago but it was way too fragile to be commercially viable. That does seem to have been addressed now.

Very much looking forward to your report!

Cheers, Scott in NZ