Icebreaker Bodyfit 260 Altitude Zip Thermal Top - Outdoor Gear Review
Monday, January 28, 2008
All about the wool. I was a bit dubious when I traded my well worn (and pungent!) synthetic thermal baselayers for this 100% merino wool offering from Icebreaker. After all, weren’t the best and brightest minds of outdoor apparel working to get away from wool throughout the 90’s and into the earliest part of this decade? I remembered the itchy, smelly wool socks of my youth and could not fathom tolerating, let alone enjoying the feeling of wool as a first layer against the cold.
Then I put on the shirt and wore it outside for a few hours. Hours turned to days. Days turned to weeks. And there was no smell, no itching, nothing but warmth, comfort and grins all around no matter what activity I was doing. This is not your grandparent’s wool. I am a believer in the neo-retro, and this is about as neo-retro as it gets. All organic fiber from cute wooly mammals domesticated millennia ago. Wool. Warm. Comfortable. Durable. I am hooked.
The weave of the bodyfit 260 feels a bit looser than that of comparable synthetic tops, but even with a looser fit, there is no compromise in comfort and warmth. The perennial complaint of other thermal shirts (sleeves riding up) is solved with, wonder of wonders, thumbloops sewn into the sleeves and beautifully helmed. The collar is turtlenecked when the zipper is all the way up, but converts to a downturned collar when the zipper is dropped but a few inches. When the zipper is all the way down, the shirt opens up all the way to the sternum, allowing for impressive ventilation and temperature control.
The feel of the shirt is simply marvelous. Much softer than even the nicest polypropylene thermals I have ever used, the bodyfit 260 has the added advantage of not stinking to high heaven, even after multiple days use. I have worn my bodyfit 260 for multiple days of camping and sailing, and I know of others who have worn theirs for weeks on end trekking, sailing, cycling, or simply because they were reluctant to take it off and settle for anything less.
- Durable
- Comfortable Fit
- No bad smell
- Thumb loops
- Organic Fiber
- Warm when wet
- Can machine wash
- Expensive
- Cannot be machine dried. Must dry flat or line dried.
- Will make your synthetic base layers jealous when they realize they have been replaced with “obsolete” materials.
Since buying my first bodyfit 260 thermal top, I have been on the prowl for wool tops, bottoms, and accessories. Never before has one article of gear so completely changed my outlook on what to wear while adventuring. But to the thousands of sailors, cyclists, hikers, mountaineers, and other adventurers who bet their life on wool, this is no ordinary product.
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