Zpacks Octa Fleece Hoody

Super lightweight, highly breathable, "athletic fitting," fleece hoody with a quarter-zip opening and a kangaroo pocket.

I was intrigued with this top as it seemed comparable to Polartec's Alpha Direct garments without the appearance of the cat having played with it. This is made with a Japanese textile introduced in 2018 called "Octa". It's fuzzy on the interior, and finished smooth on the exterior. Size large weighs around 5.6 oz (159g).

It's taken a few trips in various temperatures to figure out where the sweet spot is for me when wearing this. As a base layer it's too air permeable for me. Air flows right through it like Alpha Direct, so it can feel great one minute and then too cold, or too warm, the next depending on what my activity level is, or what the weather is doing. My sweet spot seems to be in temps ranging from 35 - 50 degrees F, and with a silk weight, long-sleeve base layer underneath. A short-sleeve base layer worked great for my trunk area, but left my arms too cold if even a little breezy or no sun.

With a shell over it, it retains warmth most effectively, but that's only appreciated when I'm inactive or if a stout breeze is blowing. I've come to really like the kangaroo pocket. It's a very handy place to stash gloves, or phone, or my tent's stuff sack when pitching camp in the wind.

My only disappointment, and it's a pretty small one, is its dry time while wearing it. Right out of the washing machine it's dry enough to put on, but after it's sweaty from under a pack, it seems to take as long as any standard synthetic top to dry out.

It's 100% polyester so I've been anticipating obvious pilling over the shoulders and around the waist, but so far there's been virtually none.

Zpack's sizing seems to run small. Their size L is comparable to most other's size M.

Octa fabric is quite stretchy, but the size M fit me like a typical cycling jersey—too snug for my comfort.

I have a shell lined with Polartec Alpha, and it's crazy warm. I'm guessing Octa Fleece is on par with Alpha 60, and I'm also guessing Octa only comes in one weight—around 2.35 oz/square yard (80g/ square meter).

Background

Countless products over the years made from polyester or wool.