Tag: mid-layer

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Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody Long-Term Review

Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody

For an easy insulating layer, it’s hard to beat the Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody. 

Patagonia’s Nano Puff Hoody has become my Old Standby, but that’s not the way things started out.

When I resolved to “get back out there” after nearly two decades away from the outdoors,  I knew it was time to retire my mid-1990s REI three-in-one Gore-Tex-shelled down coat.  My trusty blue coat had carried me through winters in the U.S. mountain west, in China and Russia, and on the U.S. East Coast.  But twenty years on, I found that the waterproof shell would leak in heavy rain and the zip-in down liner was showing its age.  And that ’90s styling. . . . Continue reading “Patagonia Nano Puff Hoody Long-Term Review”

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Patagonia R1 Hoody Long-Term Review

Patagonia R1 Hoody

Preparing for a trip, the routine of weighing—figuratively and literally—every item of clothing and gear to balance weight with safely and, ideally, comfort is an accepted fact of life. How cold will it be? How hot? Will there be rain? Bugs? Will we need to climb snow or rock? With all the considerations to be had, it is great to have a few pieces that one knows will come along, no matter what. No thinking required. For me, the Patagonia R1 Hoody is one of these.

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Patagonia Nano Air Hoody Review

Patagonia Nano Air Hoody

Patagonia’s Nano Air Hoody is my Goldilocks mid-layer: not too warm, not too cold.  Just right.  

Japow
Yes.

One of the first lessons to hit home as I started learning to ski was the importance of staying warm on the lift ride up the hill.  Several times this winter, we’ve been lucky enough to have near-storm conditions at the resorts here in Japan, Japow dumping all over the piste.  Each time, though, the snow rode in on strong, cold winds felt especially clearly suspended in the chair, making warmth a priority. But on the way down, the muscles are working and the blood is flowing again; the trick is finding a way to avoid the chill on the way up while also not arriving at the bottom of the run swimming in sweat. The Patagonia Nano Air Hoody strikes this balance and has proven itself one of my most versatile mid-layers.

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