Our favorite new item for Fall 2011! The Patagonia Merino 2 Zip-Neck

To steal a quote from “zippyman818″ off the Patagonia YouTube channel, “Vaccinations and antibiotics have added years to my life, but Patagonia products have added life to my years. Over years of traveling I’ve made and lost many friends. However, I’ve never misplaced a single piece of my Patagonia collection…”

We think this says it all about not only Patagonia products in general, but especially for the new line of Merino 2 base layers for men and women.  And to single one item in particular, the Zip-Neck, which is our personal favorite new item for this Fall.

Here is a quick informational video from Patagonia about their line of Merino 2 apparel, new for Fall 2011:

There are many reasons to love Patagonia apparel, not the least of which is their steadfast commitment to the environment of which they have as many programs to help save our planet as some companies have products in stock.  We love them for this reason, but the main reason we love Patagonia is the quality of their products.  One of these products is one of our favorite items for fall of 2011-The Patagonia Merino 2 Zip Neck for both and women.

We love the fact that these are not 100% wool, but 80% Merino Wool and 20% Recycled Polyester which offers extra durability and moisture wicking.  These have also passed the extremely stringent Bluesign approval process given only to those manufacturers with the highest guidelines of environmental protection.

It also offers more odor protection if you need to wear these on extended trips like camping for several days.   I wore mine for 4 straight days while fly fishing in the mountains of Colorado on the Blue River this past month.  And when I say 4 straight days, I mean morning, noon, night, and sleep.  It never left me the entire time.  In that time it maintained its elasticity and my odor.  Although, there was a slight odor or campfire smoke which seems to be unavoidable no matter what you wear.

I would estimate I fished in this base layer for a total of 35 hours, slept in it for about 20 hours, ate in it for about 6 hours, and hung out and drank beer in it for yet another 20+ hours.  After washing it in cold water, and no fabric softener it still looks brand new and feels the same as it did when I broke it out of its packaging.  Although, not a requirement for Merino Wool laundry care, we don’t recommend using fabric softener when washing merino wool.  Sometimes the particles in the softener will actually attach themselves to the fibers of the wool and the fabric will actually lose some of its ability to properly regulate the release and wicking of moisture.  For even extra care, I would also recommend hand washing in cool water and hang drying, but according to Patagonia, a cold washing and a low tumble dry are okay.

 We have heard all the jokes about the cost of some Patagonia items and even earning the label of Pata-Gucci is some, uninformed circles, but you have to ask yourself…are you willing to pay for quality??  We checked several manufacturers of Merino wool zip Neck base layers, and actually Patagonia’s version falls near the bottom in terms of price.  What I do know is that I have Patagonia base layers that were purchased in the early 1990′s and they look now almost like they did when I bought them, but they certainly perform as good as they did nearly 20 years ago.  I have actually spoken to an ER doctor in Iowa City, IA who said he has Patagonia base layers that he purchased in the 1970′s that he still wears and they still perform like they did nearly 40 years ago.  This attention to quality certainly is not reserved solely for their base layers, but also in their jackets, socks, shirts and even their fishing waders.  I think I paid around $20 for my Patagonia Capilene 3 in about 1993 and I would venture to guess that I wear it about 40 days per year.  In 18 years that comes to about 720 uses and that equates to about 2.8 cents per use, but if it lasts another 18 years, that will be slightly more than a penny for each time it gets used.  How many items in today’s world will cost you 2 cents per day?  About 1 sip of a Starbucks Small coffee and  about 1/10 of one bite of a McDonald’s Hamburger.  I guarantee most of us have music CDs that haven’t been played 10 times and they cost $10 conservatively.  That’s $1 per use.  I can, without hesitation, guarantee you will get far enjoyment out of one use of a Patagonia base layer than you will from a single sip of any coffee in the world.

For all these reasons and certainly more we haven’t even thought of, we think this is one of our favorite items for Fall of 2011.  Be sure to put this on your Christmas list.  But if you have that tough to buy for person, there is no way they will not be disappointed with a Patagonia Merino Wool base layer which also comes in a crew neck and also the bottoms to keep your legs cozy all winter long

Buy Patagonia at Next Ascent Outdoor

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