Hiking in fleece–Haglofs LIM Mid Fleece Jacket v. Montbell Chameece

Sorry, I don’t have experience with either of the fleeces you mention other than trying on the Montbell Chameese in their Portland store (it was nice, but didn’t need another fleece). I have the Mountain Hardware Microchill Lite. It is a similar weight, just shy of 7oz in medium. I use it on pretty much every hike in all 4 seasons (although I bring a down puffy as an insulating layer). The fleece is lightweight, cheap, durable, decent when damp, has a long 1/2 zip for easy on/off when wearing a hat/glasses. Overall $20 well spent compared the heaving much more expensive Patagonia R1. I really like these lightweight fleeces as insulating layers for hiking, when stopped I need something warmer and more wind resistant. I’ve only found the odd instance when its been fairly warm but very windy when the fleece was a bit too warm and I wanted a windshell/shirt that I rarely bring along anymore. The fleece is usually comfortable across a wide range of temps.

I dunno what “fleece weight” you want (i.e. 100, 200 or 300 weight).

Recently I bought an REI light fleece pullover “sleep shirt” for high altitude western backpacking (4 season). With their current 20% off sale it came to about $30. with tax. It looks to be the same weight and material as the Montbell Chameece jacket but, being a pullover W/no pockets, I think it’s lighter.

On a cool, windy night last week on a backpacking trip at 8,000 ft in southern Nevada it came in handy under my light down jacket.

I’ve carried a haglofs l.i.m. on every trip for the last year, and I think its a really useful layer. I use mine as a second baselayer that can also double as a mid. I also love sleeping in mine because of the close fit of the scuba hood. It goes well under a wind and a rain shell.

The L.I.M. excels in wicking/breathability, and it makes for a great baselayer in the colder 3 seasons. The L.I.M. is generally enough hiking warmth for me, particularly with a windshirt layered over. Sometimes on a long exposed ridge, I’ll throw a puffy over all that while I’m moving.

I bet the chameece or 100 weight fleece would be a good mid layer to wear for cold rain, because of a little extra warmth/loft. I’ve spent many hours hiking in the rain in my L.I.M, but it can feel a little damp if the weather is consistently cold and wet. It does work great as  rainy day baselayer though, since the grid keeps much fabric off your skin. A 100 weight fleece could be better as a mid, but fortunately, in the rockies, consistant rain is not the norm.  Hard to make a recommendation one way or the other since personal warmth will depend on a lot of factors from metabolism to pack weight. Regardless the LIM is a really effective/versatile piece to own. Way overpriced at retail, but you can occasionally find one on sale for less than $100.

I have the older Haglofs LIM with the Polartec. The new one uses a Pontetorto microgrid, if I’m not mistaken.

The old one punches above its weight, and I get a lot of use out of mine.

FWIW, I have a Mountain Equipment fleece with Pontetorto material and it has much, much better odor control. As a test, I recently tried wearing it for two weeks without washing it and it only got a bit of funk at the end.

This is basically coming down to grid fleece vs standard fleece

grid fleece
good-
stretchy
comfortably slim fitting
hoods that fit really well
better wicking ability

bad-
dries slower and absorbs more moisture (due to spandex content which holds moisture)
slim fit holds more moisture against your body which leads to less effective insulation when damp

regular 100% polyester fleece
good-
dries faster and holds less water
insulated a little better when wet due to regular fit
bad-
less efficient wicking ability
hard to get a nice fitted hood without stretch
can’t get it as slim fitting without the stretch

Am I missing something? I’m not sure which is warmer for the wieght. I own the haglofs hoody and find it very comfortable. I also have a patagonia micro d fleece that I like too. For winter use I bring and wear both.

I was not aware that grid fleece has a greater drying time.  That matters ’cause stuff definitely gets wet and damp hiking in the East.   But I am leaning toward the Haglofs.  It’s lighter.

I appreciate all the inputs.  As always, I learn from you all.

I love my (R1) grid fleeces and wear them on all dayhikes and around town.  Love the stretch, the durability, the smooth face, etc.  But if I am backpacking it loses to a 100% polyester REI fleece for the reasons mentioned above (weight and water retention).  On a side note, I’ve found that tailoring my fleece can make it feel substantially warmer (makes bigger different than the brand of equivalent weight fleece IMO).  i.e. just pin the sides to give your torso a good close fit and then run a line of stitching.  You can always try it out for a while before chopping the excess fabric (and seam rip your stitches if you decide you no-likey).

I like R1 as well, but am in the same boat as it never goes backpacking with me, I use a 100wt Polartec Classic fleece pullover instead.

Weird, because I wore my Patagonia Capilene 4 (thermalweight), which is a gridded fleece, practically non-stop for 5 days backpacking around Banff in September.  Temperatures ranged from 17 degrees the first night (camped down in a valley) to 60 degrees in the sunlight during the day.

I definitely had dampness on my back by the time we hiked into camp on those warm days, but I always felt dry by bed time.  Once the pack was off my back, the base layer seemed to dry pretty quickly.

Cap 4 is so thin (between the fleece tufts) that it does seem to dry fairly quickly.  I think both Cap 4 and R1 have about 8% spandex  but I find Cap 4 to dry a lot faster than R1 (which isn’t unexpected since R1 is significantly thicker).

There are also some grids that have no spandex (such as the Melonzana grids) so I wouldn’t think the grid fleece comment should be taken universally, but I do think that Polartec 100 Classic is under-rated as a midlayer.