Note: this product was sent to me by Triple Aught Design for review purposes.
Along with the Atlas Hoodie, Triple Aught Design sent me the Alchemy Half-Zip to check out. This is a base layer half-zip, which utilizes Polartec’s Power Wool to achieve its performance. I’ve been testing and wearing this, and I’ve found it to be a really nice base layer, with impressive warmth for the weight.
Materials
As mentioned this is Polartec Power Wool, which is 69% polyester and 31% Merino Wool. That’s not a lot of wool, but I’ve had a few items in Power Wool now and I’ve found that it performs closer to Merino Wool than it does Polyester.
The polyester does a few practical things when blended with Merino Wool:
- It reduces any wool sensitivity.
- It makes a lighter weight garment.
- It doesn’t feel nearly as heavy when wet.
- You get 80% of the merino performance.
- It doesn’t often have that ‘wool smell’ when it’s wet.
On the weight side, Triple Aught Design states that the size medium clocks in at 6.97 oz.
Jersey face material.
The material is applied as both a brushed jersey, and a brushed wool grid. This feels very much like a nice baselayer garment.
Performance & Wear
Here’s what Triple Aught Design describes the use for this half-zip:
Our Alchemy Half-Zip excels as a temperate weather base layer, and can double as a light mid-layer in your layering system. The mid-height collar provides sun coverage and warmth when needed, while a deep zipper provides tailorable venting for warmer conditions.
This shirt is cut close to your body, so it’s not going to be something which looks ‘normal’ if you are wearing it stand alone. If you want to use it as a lightweight mid-layer, I would suspect you need to size up or have a very close fitting base layer. I’ve worn this rucking several times now on its own (it’s too warm to wear it out on a longer hike right now) and found that it performs as stated.
In the cool chill of the morning it kept me plenty warm as my only layer. As I warmed up I was able to stay comfortable up to about 68°F in the sun by adjusting the zip front on the shirt. I could see this excelling as a base layer when the weather starts to cool, so my gut pegs this as a great layer for three seasons or so.
I found the fit on this to be ideal as well. It will easily allow layers to go over it without issue. The higher collar works well and never gets in the way, and the seams have been positioned and designed well for wearing a backpack.
When it does get wet with sweat, it keeps you feeling warm, but it certainly dries a little slower than something like the Atlas Hoodie does. Merino works magic here to keep you warmer when wet (even if it is sweat) than you would be with a pure polyester fabric. But the tradeoff seems to be drying time, it still dries fast, but not notably fast — on par with most synthetic athletic wear.
Inner micro-grid structure.
The hidden trick with this is how the face of the fabric is a jersey style knit, while the inside of it is a micro grid weave with the wool. So there’s a lot of warmth which can come from something really thin and light as there’s a lot of potential to trap air against your skin. This will likely to be a go to for me as the weather cools off, but even in the warmer tempts, I’ve been finding myself preferring this when I head out to ruck.
Not only that, but this is the type of base layer which can add a lot of warmth when used under any other item you have, and it’s unlikely to get in the way. The sleeve seams allow the arms to articulate well, without a lot of fabric bunching at the shoulders, which will make this work even better under other long sleeved shirts.
Overall
For how thin this is, I am constantly surprised how warm it wears. While at the same time it manages moisture and breathes — so even when I start to really heat up, it doesn’t feel like I am close to over heating. This is one of those items where it seems to fly under the radar, but it is certainly the first close to skin base layer that I’ve found comfortable to wear.
I’m a big fan, pick it up here, $110.