On hoodies I have worn
Thought I would summarize my experience with sun hoodies.
I will lead off with in my experience I found the Mountain Hardware Crater Lake hoodie to be comfortable and a great fit.
Thumb loops, the hood fits perfectly over a baseball cap and it wicks sweat well. My favorite colors and patterns are no longer available. The men’s cut was better for both Happy6 and I.
Crater Lake 175 grams for the weight.
That said the hoodie that is really popular on trail is the Jolly Gear hoodie.
Some Jolly Gear hoodies are very bold, others very mild in style. I own two that are mild.
Jolly Gear weighs 265 grams. It has lots of trim. Buttons. Collar. Two zipper pockets.
That is regular fabric, men’s large.
UL in men’s medium
I’ve used others hoodies. Some were not really sun resistant enough. Others shredded too quickly. Some lacked thumb loops. I had one that was too warm for the trail —and that I’m wearing as I write this, a great hoodie, just not great for backpacking.
Some hoodies did not fit a ball cap well. Some were even more pricy than the ones I’m talking about. $160 is just too much.
I’ve one that sweat stained immediately which was ugly as sin.
The least expensive hoodie I’ve found is https://www.32degrees.com/products/mens-cool-ls-hooded-pullover ($7.99) — and it is pretty decent.
All that said, on the Appalachian Trail I never used a hoodie. I only picked one up for the PCT and have continued with them since.
https://www.rei.com/product/249336/black-diamond-alpenglow-pro-hoody-mens is what I bought.
Shopping with Yogi is how I started with a Black Diamond Alpenglow.
They have two types. I got one style, my wife got the other. Both died on trail. They wore out after long, hard use. https://www.backcountry.com/black-diamond-alpenglow-hooded-shirt-mens
They both lasted as well as any other brand. But they were not great enough that I felt like going back to that brand—especially at $149 each on sale.
I bought a TYR at the Columbia outlet store when my then current hoodie wore out. It weighs 208 grams. Very comfortable but a little heavier fabric than other hoodies. A touch warm on a hot day on the trail.
It is great to wear around town in long sleeve weather. I’m wearing it now.
I tried the hoodie (link is to current iteration, thy routinely tweak the design) from Patagonia which weighed 180 grams. It has no thumb loops. Overall it just came up a little short. Resists stench well. I’d rate it as only kinda ok.
It is polyester so it is hydrophobic and is good for wicking sweat away. Might be perfect for someone else.
In Leadville when my then hoodie was pretty torn up I bought a Galena which is 250 grams. You can see the sweat stained pattern in this picture.
I’ll note that another hoodie I bought on trail (a brand I won’t name) went straight into a hiker box—it wasn’t worth mailing home after less than a week.
I don’t recommend hoodies that
- Are less than 50 spf
- Fall apart or snag unmercifully from day one.
- Hydrophilic. Those will get and say wet. Hydrophobic all the way.
Alternatives
The alternative is the long sleeve t-shirt with a hat.
Either a bandana is used to supplement the hat and protect neck and ears or a wider brimmed sun hat is used.
I did a lot of practice hiking for the CDT with a Silkweight top and a bandana. I did not choose to hike the trail with that combination.
With my new hat I’m considering the t-shirt route since with the hat I don’t need the hood. I might use one of my Jolly Gear shirts instead. Probably the UL one.
Things are still evolving.
Now for my shirt alternatives.
I will start with this one. I finished at Bear Mountain on the Appalachian Trail in this long sleeve t-shirt. It is 165 grams.
Next is 1 gram heavier.
Milspec Silkweight is “new” technology—it is basically Patagonia Capaline at reasonable prices. Very durable.
Then there is Stio.
Stio shirts have an almost cult-like following.
I wear these paradox baselayers for everyday wear in shoulder season. My thanks to PMags for telling me about them.
Great, but I’m not wearing black for sun protection.
Finally 32 Degrees.
32 Degrees makes lots of quality well priced gear.
For comparison with hiking shirts I just weighed one of the dress shirts I wore to work for years and it was 265 grams. The polyester dress shirts my wife and I picked up on trail at a Front Royal thrift store weighed less than that but I’ve misplaced mine so could not weigh it.
Afterword
On the Appalachian trail once I moved to merino blends that had at least 10% nylon and/or spandex/lycra in them I never had wear problems.
My tops only started getting torn up when I started encountering brush, thorns and other overgrown trail hazards on the PCT and CDT which the AT did not have.
Hiking through head high thorn overgrowth for miles takes a toll. I don’t blame the tops for that wear and tear.
Other than the brand I don’t name, I’ve had no complaints about how well hoodies lasted under the conditions I used them in.
I’m also not sure how significant weight is for the tops I’ve used or choosing a top. I’ll have to think about it.
Miscellaneous notes
As an aside, should you want an ultragrid hoodie, try 32 Degrees $16.99. In a world of alps direct ultragrid still has a place.
For chargers I still recommend Mokin.
