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The lightest ones usually are. They also are the most washable, and they dry quickly.Is a fleece 100% polyester?
Well, it's only 4 weeks until we hopefully take our first Camino step and still I have not purchased my jacket.
I have read and reread many/most of the threads relating to fleece and/or merino and I am even more.
I have also shopped around and tried some on but haven't found anything suitable and reluctant to order online in case I pay a whole lot of dollars and get it wrong.
Is a fleece 100% polyester?
Is merino a fleece?
Are they the same thing?
Which is best and why?
Many members list a fleece in their packing lists but no specifics.
What would be really helpful for me is if members could name their fleece/jacket (a link or photos would be even better) and tell me why they like it and if they would recommend it.
I do have a waterproof jacket but want something for warmth in the mornings and evenings.
Thanks everyone for your help and apologies for revisiting this topic.
I'm walking starting April 15th from SJPD, and am taking a hoodless, 1/4 zipper lightweight "microfleece" as my warmest outer layer. Combined with all my layers (tech t shirt, lightweight hiking shirt, lightweight wind shirt, Packa rain poncho if wet, and a buff for headwear) the fleece should keep me warm enough at higher elevations.
In my continuing effort to get my pack weight closer to 12 lbs rather than 15 lbs, I decided to eliminate my long-sleeved merino base shirt. The fleece should be enough when combined with all my other layers. I also decided to not take long pants, just capri hiking pants, merino leggings and (maybe) rain pants.
I bought the male version of this "microrib" fleece in 2014 and wear it in preference to the older "fleeces" in my wardrobe. It is still in my packing list for the upcoming April 2016 camino. Very thin and lightweight - good for layering, doesn't get as "broody" under a windbreaker as other fleece type materials. A firm favourite. Yes it is expensive. I have a Rohan store nearby and I wait for the sales to buy what I need.Don't worry too much about it! Just buy something warm you can wear on top of your t-shirt and under your rain gear... If it is light and dries overnight then you're laughing
Prices vary a lot, my first 'fleece' was like this one but without the hood.
http://www.gapyeartravelstore.com/trespass-marathon-womens-black-hooded-fleece.html
Cheap and worked a treat.
Now I know walking the Camino is not a 'one-off' for me I spend more but I buy in the sales, something like that:
http://www.rohan.co.uk/womens-trave...-Microrib-Stowaway-Jacket-aw15?ocode=03978F09
Hope it helps.
fleece and/or merino
Well, it's only 4 weeks until we hopefully take our first Camino step and still I have not purchased my jacket.
I have read and reread many/most of the threads relating to fleece and/or merino and I am even more.
I have also shopped around and tried some on but haven't found anything suitable and reluctant to order online in case I pay a whole lot of dollars and get it wrong.
Is a fleece 100% polyester?
Is merino a fleece?
Are they the same thing?
Which is best and why?
Many members list a fleece in their packing lists but no specifics.
What would be really helpful for me is if members could name their fleece/jacket (a link or photos would be even better) and tell me why they like it and if they would recommend it.
I do have a waterproof jacket but want something for warmth in the mornings and evenings.
Thanks everyone for your help and apologies for revisiting this topic.
Fleece is a polyester fiber
That is not good. Perhaps we can discuss it until you are confused again!So, at last I'm unconfused!!
And unfortunately The Shorter Oxford on Historical Principles suggests that the first use of the word fleece to mean 'anything resembling a fleece' was in 1513. I think that your defence of it being purely from the sheep's back is just a little late!!With the greatest of respect Fleece comes of a sheep's back at the time of shearing and is as natural as a baby's bum.
I thought it strange that the new Icebreaker hoody I purchased did not have contents label inside jacket, nor on the labels attached to outside jacket. Other Icebreaker and Ibex clothing I have contain this info. This does seem deceptive! Maybe I am in possession of a "100%" merino wool jacket, when in actual fact only 1% of total fabric is wool! The weight should also give some indication of merino wool as it is defined as weight of wool per meter of fabric - ie 260 gram/meter 2 (squared), but not even the weight is indicated on my label.I have been looking at some Icebreaker products recently and have noticed a troubling aspect of their labeling practice. An Icebreaker box which says 100% merino wool may contain an item which contains, for example, 80% merino wool. A label on a shirt which says "merino wool" will not tell you what is specified on the contents label sewn to an inside seam, namely that that product is 52% merino wool and 48% mysterious substance, probably some sort of polyester. If you want to be sure when you buy an Icebreaker product in Canada as to what you are getting, you must read the inside label. Even then, you will need to have some idea what the non-merino wool content actually is. If you don't care, fine. But if you really want to know that the product contains a certain percentage of merino wool, read the contents label carefully, know how to find it and how accurate the laws in your country oblige it to be. The salesman to whom I pointed out the anomaly of the 100% label on the box and the different label on the garments insisted that 100% merino wool only means that any wool that is used in the garment will be merino wool. I told him that I was choosing not to shop in that store any more. Caveat emptor, as warnings in ancient Rome reminded purchasers, "Let the buyer beware."
In the hiking world
we are in the here and now. Your 1513 reference would have been to a natural product. I grant you fleece as a noun can refer to that shorn of any animal. Examples would include alpacas or llamas. I am sure there are other examples.unfortunately
I'm sorry you think that. I will, nonetheless, continue to admire your tenacity in defending the indefensible.So, good try @dougfitz, but not a helpful intervention, I'm afraid.
Doesn't most merino wool come from New Zealand?
Doesn't most merino wool come from New Zealand?
To which hiking world do you refer?
Not the hiking world I and many others come from.
Perhaps we need a list of words, such as boot/trunk, bonnet/hood, synthetic/fleece, xxxx/fanny etc at the head of every thread so we can do the translations between rest of world and US understandings.
Mea culpa: I tossed off a lighthearted comment about Spain, merinos and their wool which I am ashamed to say was quite inaccurate and not to be taken as fact.The better known merino products come from New Zealand, as I find when I go to London and other places away from home.
The noise some people hear about merino products from New Zealand is more a clamour from users for well made clothes that are easy to wear and look after.
what? translation que?
In the hiking world fleece is meant to be understood as a synthetic fiber garment
That is an ambitious claim to make, noting that I have already pointed out that the meaning being relied upon by @zzotte and others arose in the 16th Century. It is neither a modern meaning nor one that came from the new world. Its recent adoption as a generic name for a specific type of material might annoy you, but English is, as it has always been, a living language, and most of its speakers more than capable of adapting to these new uses.The same would certainly be true in Australia and most parts of the UK and other English speaking countries.
Is a fleece 100% polyester?
Is merino a fleece?
Are they the same thing?
Which is best and why?
Many members list a fleece in their packing lists but no specifics.
intrigued as to what else might have resembled fleece in the 16th century
I'm not so sure all of New Zealand agrees with your definition of fleece, at least in the context of hiking and hiking appariel, @AlwynWellington. And just a point of note, in my English speaking country we have multiple uses for the word 'fleece', one of them referring to a piece of clothing as shown below as appears to also be the case in NZIn my hiking world fleece is clearly understood as that which is shorn from the back of sheep. The same would certainly be true in Australia and most parts of the UK and other English speaking countries.
Your part of your country may have substituted something other than a natural fibre take from an animal as your understanding of "fleece". But your understanding doesn't hold except in your part of your country.
In the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, the item came from a ram.
So it is you, @zzotte, who needs to offer a translation each time you use the word "fleece".
I am in the same dilemma!
So, if you will, go back to basics. How many layers will you need for the temperatures you will encounter, what fabric, sleeves short or long and what weight do you want to carry?
I hope that helps.
So similar to the number of NZ brands that actually make their gear in NZ. I did a quick check of my wardrobe, and only found one NZ brand item that was made in NZ. The rest - China. Other brands - Bangladesh and Laos. At least NZ got one - I couldn't do that for Australian brands, wool or polartec.Of that number very few (I saw 1 only) are made of wool: the remainder seem to be made of polyester.
That is not good. Perhaps we can discuss it until you are confused again!
Gotta love a 'peeing contest' !I'm sorry you think that. I will, nonetheless, continue to admire your tenacity in defending the indefensible.
I'm not so sure all of New Zealand agrees with your definition of fleece
Got it... as long as we put an adjective in front of Fleece it's ok to refer to polyester garments as a type of fleece garment! I shall henceforth call mine a "green" fleece. Not as fancy as "Polar" but easier to find in my closet because it's green! Whew... I was worried that this was just going to be something from your part of your country...This "debate" has been a lot of fun for me. I leave home in a few days and am just twiddling my thumbs, so this has been a way to keep me occupied.
Fleece is wool, whether from sheep or some other animal. That is not my definition.
Swannies (as Swandri jackets are known) are made of polar fleece fabric, as the add says. The word "polar" to qualify "fleece" should put the reader on notice it is not a wool product. Swannies are typically worn here as casual weekend wear or on farms.
I continue to contend the use of "fleece" unqualified has created the confusion that those from this quadrant of the world have experienced and written about.
Do you know of any camino groups in Brissie.
No! But I'm too tired having walked 30km this morning to muster the enthusiasm for a repecharge on @AlwynWellington's latest feat of being a one man English language Academy!Are we done?
Or a whole range of Macpac clothing, without a hint of wool in any of them. Even the Llama fleece is 100% polyester!! You won't find a more committed Kiwi company than Macpac - they still make stuff in NZ. Not even my latest Icebreaker items share that distinction.
Almost all are made in China, sometimes of fabric made in New Zealand.Not even my latest Icebreaker items share that distinction
I have 4 merino short sleeve tops and merino underwear and they all have dried overnight. I even (by mistake) dried one in the drier, and didn't see notable shrinkage. You can also expect not to have to clean your clothes as frequently, because they do not retain odor. And I did confirm this while wearing tops daily and on training walks, and they did hold up very well with several days wear. My merino jacket, will I expect, not have to be washed at all on my upcoming Camino. Tips was washing clothes on the Camino included washing and hanging immediately on arrival to your destination. (Okay maybe a quick recovery beer first!). Wrap your washed, wringed out clothes in a towel, to remove excess water. Hang to dry in the sun, and bring inside and find well ventilated spot to hang. Bring dome clips or diaper pins so you can hang still damp clothes from the back of your pack.I love my Merino wool garments (all from Macpac or Kathmandu, bought in NZ, made in China, probably from Aussie yarns!). However they don't dry that well over night and none of them are suitable for tumble drying. I've just walked a few days on the St Francis Trail (in Assisi at present) and used a Polar Fleece (pace @AlwynWellington!) and I was cold! Unseasonable snow on the hills. So I'm still undecided and I leave on April 6 from Seville! What to do?
One of my layers is a waterproof wind shirt. It makes my fleece layer much warmer when I need that, and it weighs close to nothing! It is like this one, but a different brand and with a hood:you need to protect from wind penetration of the garment
For a May-June Camino Frances that fleece pullover is all you need. That's all I ever carried on my Caminos (June-September) and never got cold, suffered no hypothermia and lost no limbs to frostbite. You wear that over a long sleeved tech shirt and it works great. Little bit cooler you can layer your rain jacket over it.I just bought this lightweight fleece from REI two days ago. I had been looking and looking and my patience paid off. It was the very last one and only once color choice, but it is very light and just the right thickness, and only $21! It is a women's REI fleece 1/4 zip up Bermuda turquoise color. You could order online I'm sure.
Last year I discovered the joys of walking in a sleeveless t-shirt,
Auldies,Well, it's only 4 weeks until we hopefully take our first Camino step and still I have not purchased my jacket.
I have read and reread many/most of the threads relating to fleece and/or merino and I am even more.
I have also shopped around and tried some on but haven't found anything suitable and reluctant to order online in case I pay a whole lot of dollars and get it wrong.
Is a fleece 100% polyester?
Is merino a fleece?
Are they the same thing?
Which is best and why?
Many members list a fleece in their packing lists but no specifics.
What would be really helpful for me is if members could name their fleece/jacket (a link or photos would be even better) and tell me why they like it and if they would recommend it.
I do have a waterproof jacket but want something for warmth in the mornings and evenings.
Thanks everyone for your help and apologies for revisiting this topic.
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