Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Hoodie: first impressions
Hailing from New Zealand, Icebreaker have been championing the use of Merino wool and natural fibers ever since they launched their first line of base layers in 1995. Since then, they’ve grown to become one of the leading brands in the space with thousands of wild camping proponents swearing by their kit, especially when it comes to warmth, quality and eco-friendliness. Which is why I jumped when I was offered the chance to test their new Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Hoodie earlier this year.
• List price: $180 (US) / £160 (UK)
• Weight (men's M): 9.6oz / 273 g
• Sizes: S-XXL
• Fabric: 60% Tencel Lyocell, 40% Merino wool
• Colors: Black Graphite
A running jacket built on the same ethos of all-natural quality, it’s designed for fast and light adventures promising to keep you warm in cool to cold conditions – and with a ton of runs planned through British fall conditions, as well as an extended fastpacking trip pencilled in for November, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Before it even arrived, however, the first thing that struck me about his jacket was its price. Coming in at $180/£160 when bought directly from Icebreaker it’s by no means cheap. In fact, when you compare it with other jackets in its class, it sits relatively lonely at the top of a very broad spectrum, coming in £20 more expensive than the beloved Patagonia R1 and £25 more expensive than the excellent Futurefleece from The North Face.
But as this jacket is designed from a blend of all-natural fibers comprising 40% Merino and 60% Tencel, the Descender is a far cry from the man-made polyester blends you’ll find in much of the competition, promising to keep you warm and cozy while doing minimal harm to the environment. What’s more, at 9.6oz (273g), the jacket is also super lightweight and packs down smaller than any jacket I’ve come across before, being compressible down into a little ball barely larger than a baseball. But does its real-world performance justify its higher price tag?
Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Hoodie: features
The Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Hoodie also comes with some extra features that massively improve your experience out on the hills. The first of note – and my clear favorite – are the little mittens hidden at the end of the sleeves. When combined with the thumb loops, you can pull the additional material around to engulf your hands and keep them warm on windy hilltops. This means you don’t need to pack an additional set of gloves and allows you to cover and uncover your hands easily – no messing around in pockets or packs. For me, this speaks to the versatility of this jacket and shows the level of care Icebreaker invested in its design.
Another feature I particularly like is the cut friction panel on the zipper. Despite the toggles being super short, you can still pull these up and down without any issue whatsoever, even when wearing gloves. Granted, it becomes a little finicky when you’re wearing super thick winter gloves, but that would mean you’re running in conditions that this hoodie isn’t really designed for.
The hood is also skin-tight and perfectly capable of doubling up as a tight-fitting beanie for wearing while you run. When the jacket is done up all the way to the top, the hem sits just below your chin, which is again ideal for running unencumbered. This means that you can breathe clearly and without any material getting in the way. Which, once more, speaks to the thought Icebreaker have put into this jacket.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning the Napoleon pocket. This is much smaller than the kinds you tend to get on more hiking-oriented mid layers, and is only really useable as a place to store a snood, some small gloves or a compass. When you’re running, you wouldn’t want much weight bouncing around in here anyway, so this additional pocket merely serves as a place for those lighter items you need easy access to while you run.
Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Long Sleeve Zip Hoodie: fit
The fit of the Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Long Sleeve Zip Hoodie is decidedly tight and athletic. Naturally, for a running top, you want something that will stay put and not move around while you run, which is exactly how I’d describe this jacket. As the material is so thin and malleable, however, you don’t feel restricted in this jacket – even when it’s nearly skintight.
Owing to this cut, it moves unencumbered with your body, whatever you do, almost as if you’re not wearing a mid layer at all. When I compare that to polyester fleece mid layers I’ve worn over the years, tighter fits have often been uncomfortable, despite being better to run in. So it was a pleasant surprise to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds with the Descender.
Meet the reviewer
Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Long Sleeve Zip Hoodie: in the wild
Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to test various items from the Icebreaker catalog. I’ve tried several iterations of their thermal leggings and the brand’s 175 Half Zip Everyday Thermal Top has been my go-to winter running base layer for a good three years now.
That’s why, when I got the chance to test this dedicated running garment from the brand, I jumped at it, coming into each test with both plenty of enthusiasm and high expectations. Over the months I had the jacket, I was able to test it on a handful of runs in the Utah backcountry where the temperature ranged from near freezing to 59°F (15°C), innumerable training runs on my usual route along the Thames, a couple of windy hikes where I wore it as a mid layer under a Gore-Tex jacket, and on two warm-yet-rainy bike rides where I gave Merino wool’s ‘warm-while-wet’ promises a proper test. And you know what? This thing excelled in all areas every time I took it out, outperforming my already-high expectations and turning me into another proponent for Merino wool – and another proponent for Icebreaker.
The first thing I really like about Icebreaker’s Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Long Sleeve Zip Hoodie is just how small this thing is to pack away. Thanks to the all-natural material it's made from, you can compress it down into a tiny ball, perfect for chucking in the bottom of a trail bag or – as I did on one run – into the extendable pocket of my utility belt.
What’s more, calling this jacket comfortable is not doing it justice. The liner inside is manufactured from brushed Merino wool, which is much softer than the brushed polyester fleece liners I’ve become accustomed to over the years. It even stays comfortable after you pump sweat into it on a long run which, conversely, is something I’ve often criticized Merino for. This jacket is completely void of that scratchy feeling often associated with natural fibers, and no matter what you put it through, it remains soft, cozy and a true joy to wear.
As is the case with Merino wool in general, the Descender is perfectly capable of keeping you warm when it gets wet, as I noted on a long bike ride when it rained on and off throughout the day. Unlike quick-drying polyester, however, I did notice that the Descender took a little longer to dry, but it didn’t negatively impact my experience of wearing it as, frankly, I forgot it was even damp to begin with.
One final thing to note is the Descender’s wind resistance – or intentional lack thereof. Unlike tighter woven manmade fibers, this jacket allows wind to come and go as it may. That’s not to say that polyester fleeces do a substantially better job at this (they don’t!), but the Descender certainly lets through more wind than many jackets in this class. Whether that’s a bad thing depends entirely on the conditions you use it in, however, as less wind resistance means more breathability. For me, the advantages associated with the Descender’s incredible breathability outweigh its drawbacks in the windproof department, so I’m happy to toss on a windbreaker when I needed to run in complete comfort the rest of the time.
Icebreaker Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Long Sleeve Zip Hoodie: the bottom line
Overall, I think Icebreaker’s Merino Blend 200 Realfleece Descender Long Sleeve Zip Hoodie might be one of the best running jackets on the market today – and is certainly up there as one of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of testing. Thanks to the considered fabrics and the versatility of the design, I’ve found that it’s made my runs in a host of conditions much more enjoyable, and I look forward to using it on all of my training runs through the winter of 2024 and beyond
