My hoody of choice for the last 18 months has been made by Patagonia. \u00a0I have always intended to cover the logo because the company is trendy these days, and I really wish it wasn’t Patagonia to begin with, but the truth is that it’s the Perfect Hoody, \u00a0matching all of my criteria in the product and the company.<\/p>\n
Patagonia was one of the first companies to prioritize corporate social responsibility, and they have a very transparent chain from raw material to consumer. You can examine their own language<\/a> first, and then research it<\/a>. Mine was made in Nicaragua.<\/p>\n It’s snug along the arms, a bit looser in the shoulders (important), snug around the neck. And everything else is adjustable, like a jacket, as you can see in the pull lock below.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The inside used to be very soft and fleece-like, but is now pretty packed together from washings and wear. But it insulates very well. The structure is extremely strong and abrasion resistent– after a wash the whole garment looks new despite all I’ve put it through.<\/p>\n The hood ties down very well and the draw strings are elastic, able to be used with gloves on, and always threaded appropriately.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Below is another great feature.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the pouch you’ll find the waist cinch cord. It allows you to cinch the bottom of the hoody around your hips for when you really want to trap all of your body heat and warm up. That they’re in the pocket is the genius part: when you’re pretty cold, your hands are usually in the pocket, and because of this design, you don’t have to take them out adjust the tightness of the waist cinch.<\/p>\n With the right hat and gloves and a couple of layers, the zipper hoody can be used as an outer layer almost year round and you’ll stay warm. The image below shows my primary winter outwear for NYC.<\/p>\n The hat is made by Icebreaker, a New Zealand merino wool company that has one of the most transparent manufacturing systems imaginable: you can even see the farm your wool came from<\/a>.<\/p>\n Anyway, I wear this just about every day for three seasons and have had it for 18 months. I’ve worn it in snowy mountains with a backpack on, and on sweaty subway trains in NYC. It’s been to Europe, North Africa, Central Africa and in the snow. I wear it almost every day all winter long here in the city and it’s easily going to last another couple of years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The hoody is an extremely important piece of gear. You can wear it all through fall, winter and spring as an outer or mid layer. The hood speaks for itself. My criteria: Durability: must be able to slide on pavement, … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.obsidiannoise.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/DSC_4394-1024x677.jpg\" "\\"DSC_4394\\"")
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\nThe double pocket with inner zipper pocket is a great feature. Money in one, hand in the other. This is extra important for when you’re wearing gloves because if you take a gloved hand out of a hoody pouch, you pretty much expect everything in the pouch to come out with the hand. If you zipper important things away, you don’t have to worry about it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.obsidiannoise.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/DSC_4397-1024x677.jpg\" "\\"DSC_4397\\"")
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