WARMING MID LAYERS W

FLEECE TOPS AND SOFT SHELL JACKETS THAT KEEP OUT THE CHILL IN STYLE…

E TEND TO REVIEW fleece and soft shell in separate tests in Country Walking, but here we have a useful opportunity to put them side by side under the general banner of ‘mid layers’. They are, after all, the things you throw on for warmth and wind-resistance before you have to reach for the waterproof or the insulator (qv). Although in fact, with their added versatility, quite a few of these soft shell jackets will repel a shower without you needing to get out the big guns. The same can’t be said of most fleeces – but if it’s just nippy out there, a fleece is still the warmest, fuzziest and fluffiest thing you can throw on. Anyway, chances are, if you’ve got one of each, you’re ready for anything.

FABRIC

Though the word ‘fleece’ suggests a natural provenance, fleece and soft shell are in fact both synthetic fabrics. Fleece was originally ‘polar fleece’ and it was coined as a market-friendly alternative to polyethylene teraphthalate by the first brand to pioneer its use in outdoor gear in 1979: a US brand we now call Polartec, whose clever fabrics can now be found in many higher-spec fleeces. Soft shell can be a blend of all sorts of different fabrics, but the bedrock ingredients are polyester (polyamide), elastane and Spandex – which all conspire to make the fabric much softer and stretchier than fleece, and often more breathable too.

CUFFS

Most fleece tops have a simple cinch cuff like this one, while soft shells more commonly use Velcro tabs to close firmly over the wrist. The advantage with fleece is that you can roll the sleeves up for ventilation when you need a mix of warmth and cooling air.

HOOD

Most fleeces are sold without hoods, with the rationale that if it’s really wet and windy, you’ll be pulling out a more advanced layer and using the hood on that. Soft shells tend to have hoods more often than not, as most will make claims that they can keep you dry unless you’re in a sustained deluge. If the latter is the case though, you can end up with an awkward double-hood situation when your soft shell and waterproof are both vying to keep you dry. But on days like that, the more the merrier, quite possibly.

POCKETS

Fleece pullovers tend not to have any, whereas anything with a full zip tends to start adding them. Our warning is always the same: beware lovely, luxurious torso pockets with handwarmer lining, as they are next to useless as soon as you put a rucksack hip-belt over them. A good chest pocket can be all you need (assuming it isn’t so high it gets covered by your chest strap), as it can look after a phone or GPS device quite easily. If you’ve bought one of Harvey’s new mini-Superwalker maps, you’ll also find they slip nicely into a chest pocket too.

WEIGHT

The tops we tested range from a gossamer-light 249g (the Salewa Pedroc soft shell) to a whopping 928g (the immense Keela Genesis fleece), which shows you the range of approaches taken by different brands. In the unpredictable ‘shoulder seasons’ of spring and autumn, you can find yourself in need of both a slimline half-zip throw-on and a thicker, more rain-ready jacket; you’ll find both ends of the spectrum in the reviews that follow.

WATER REPELLENCY

Soft shells are designed to be water-repellent rather than fully waterproof; there isn’t a waterproof membrane, but the fabric will do its best to lock out rainwater while still allowing your body to vent moisture to prevent overheating. But while waterproof jackets usually have taped seams, the stitching on soft shells is usually left exposed, and this is where water can come in after a prolonged soaking. Fleece is rarely water-repellent at all (a notable exception being the aforementioned Keela Genesis jacket) but instead concentrates on keeping you warm.