A waffle knit with a quarter zip collar and a hood, which is a rarer combination than it sounds and the reason this one keeps getting bought. Moisture wicking, breathable, cut to move. Light enough to layer under a shell and warm enough to be the only thing you put on. Skull and arrows on the chest and nothing else.
He wears an XL in this hoodie. Size up if you plan to layer it over a heavy base, and note the chart changes with the colourway you pick.
Almost nobody makes both. You get a quarter zip that sits clean under a pack strap, or you get a hood for the cold morning, and you pick one. This has the zip at the throat for temperature and the hood behind it for when the weather turns, which is why it keeps selling out.
The texture is doing the work. A waffle traps a layer of air against you for warmth while still letting moisture move out through the knit, which is the difference between warm and clammy once you start moving.
A quarter zip is how you dump heat without stopping and taking a layer off. Open it walking uphill, close it when you stop. It is the single most useful control on a cold weather layer and a full pullover does not have it.
Sits flat against the back when it is down, so it does not bunch under a pack or a bow sling. Up, it covers the ears and the back of the neck, which is where you actually lose the heat.
Thin enough to go under a shell without fighting it and finished enough to be the only thing you wear. That is the whole brief for a mid layer, and it is why this one gets worn far more than the weather strictly requires.
Detail 01The Waffle
Detail 02The Collar
Detail 03The Shoulder
Nothing bunching at the shoulder and nothing catching the string. A hood that lies flat matters more here than anywhere else.
Standing still in the cold is harder on a layer than moving through it. This is the hour the waffle earns its place.
Career SOF veterans, Marines, runners, and lifters. Read every one of them, including the ones telling us exactly what they would change.
