What is the Best Fleece for Hiking & Backpacking?

A fleece jacket is my favorite piece of gear for hiking and backpacking. It keeps me warm, they are super ultralight, they pack down small, they can be worn while hiking, and they can easily be layered under a puffy! In regards to safety, they retain their warmth when wet, so should the worst happen you will be better off with a fleece than a down puffy! I love my fleeces Ultralight fleeces to look at - https://alnk.to/3copaKM Alpha 90&60 (Farpointe) - https://alnk.to/44Yc4NU Alpha 90 (Leve) - https://alnk.to/fwtrPOS Alpha 90 (Sambob) - https://alnk.to/7qmAIjN Alpha everything - https://Senchidesigns.com Octa (Zpacks) - https://tinyurl.com/26xnrvf9 Octa (Sambob) - https://alnk.to/b7AvjoY Octa (Mountain Hardwear) - https://tinyurl.com/bhxstd4p (Sometimes Farpointe also makes Octa hoodies) Micro Grid (Melanzana) - https://tinyurl.com/7tf8ucyk Kuiu Peloton 97 - https://tinyurl.com/54tnjp68 For the past 8 years I have almost exclusively worn fleece sweaters when out hiking, opposed to what used to be more common, a down jacket! A fleece can be worn while hiking without being too hot, while a down jacket cannot. A fleece is safe in wet conditions, while down isn't! A fleece is lighter weight than down a lot of the time. A fleece can even be layered under a down jacket for an ultimate warmth situation. Brief overview: - Thrift Store Special - The fabric is what you first think of when you imagine a fleece, it is some kind of polartec that has been around for many decades now and is readily available. I can go to any thrift store in the United States right now, and buy a polartec style fleece sweater for about 10 dollars. These are not the lightest probably around 10-14oz but they are an EXCELLENT budget option. So if you just want to try out fleeces, these are great. - Melanzana - The ever popular melanzana micro grid hoody, and any fleece made with the micro grid fabric. I think this fabric is good, and it is warmer and more resistant to wind than most of the other options. But at more than 13oz it is simply too heavy. Comparing to my down jacket which weighs 8oz, if I wanted more warmth I would just bring that instead. While on every other hike I feel the lighter weight fleeces are more versatile. In the end there are just better options! - Alpha 90 - A fabric that took the ultralight hiking world by storm, alpha comes in different weights that equal different levels of warmth. Alpha 60 being the lightest, alpha 90 is my favorite, and alpha 120 is the warmest which my girlfriend uses fairly often. Alpha is by far the lightest fleece possible. Weighing just 4oz !!! nothing comes close. This makes it super versatile as you can bring it on warmer hikes without caring, or you could easily layer it with a puffy, without feeling like you need to choose one or the other. Downsides are that it's not the most durable, and that wind cut's right through it. - Peloton 97 - At 5.9oz this fleece is a little heavier than Alpha and Octa, but that comes with some nice upsides. This is slightly warmer, it is ore resistant to wind, and it is way more durable. I think what the peloton does best is durability. I have used mine for 6,000 miles and it's still going strong. I don't like however the lack of options, no other company uses this fabric so you get camo, or nothing. You get what features they chose, and have no other choices! Compared to alpha, which is made by a hundred other companies the lack of choice here sucks. The other downside is that it's made by a large hunting company, and I would rather support a small backpacking company. - Octa - I was wearing the MH Airmesh in the video, but they updated it and made it heavier. So check out Zpacks instead! They made a fleece out of the same fabric. Octa is great and I think it is the perfect all arounder. It weighs 5.1oz so lighter than kuiu and not much heavier than alpha. It is breathable, but warm. It is more durable than alpha. And again there are more options to choose from than Kuiu. 00:00 - What is the Best Fleece? 00:15 - What makes a fleece good? 03:10 - Thrift Store Special 04:24 - Melanzana Micro Grid 06:41 - Alpha 60 & 90 11:22 - Kuiu Peloton 97 14:44 - Octa Fleece 17:09 - Conclusion -------------------------------- Hiking Essentials Shirt! http://jupiterhikes.com/product/hiking-essentials/ THE BACKPACKING GEAR I USE: http://www.jupiterhikes.com/gear/ If you would like to get access to content I create about this type of stuff I don't share anywhere else join me on my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/jupiterhikes If you'd like more info about me, my hiking, or painting: https://www.jupiterhikes.com https://www.instagram.com/jupiterhikes https://www.facebook.com/jupiterhikes Some of the links above are affiliate links, when you purchase an item through one of these I get a small percentage of the sale at zero extra cost to you. It very much so helps to support these videos, guides, and adventures. Thank you for using them!