In a small town in the Northern part of Sweden, high quality wool garments are made in a factory that has been developing a unique material since 1972. This material is called Ullfrotte Original, which was specially developed in collaboration with the Swedish military. It is wear resistant, has unique wicking properties to absorb moisture, and is extremely warm.
What is this company? Woolpower! After years of being sold primarily in Europe, their products are now available in the United States.
Woolpower makes a wide range of thermal apparel products, ranging from socks and undergarments to tees, and wool zip jackets. Each product has a number that refers to the thickness of the material. They are all measured in grams per square meter and comes in 200, 400, 600 and 800 grams per square meter.
I’ve had the chance to test out the Woolpower Zip Turtleneck 200, a unisex top designed to serve as a lightweight layer for cool summer evenings in the mountains.
Notable Unique Features of the Woolpower Zip Turtleneck
- Soft soft soft! Unlike most merino wool that has a tendency to be itchy, Woolpower’s merino wool is 22.5 microns, making it thick enough to be durable yet fine enough to not itch. Plus, the inside of the top has soft, terry loops.
- Each item has the personal label of the seamstress that made it. Now that’s impressive!
- Highly moisture wicking. In our testing, when the top was worn directly against the skin as a baselayer, the terry loops helped keep my skin quite dry even when I was perspiring. It is a good baselayer that will help you stay dry during physically exerting activities such as snowshoeing, winter hiking, or early morning trail running.
- Almost seamless! Each garment is knitted on a circular knitting machine and comes out in a tube shape. This means that there aren’t seams that can cause chafing on your body, nor are there seams that can tear or rip with repeated use of the top.
- Very cool packaging. While admittedly the packaging is of no relevance to the performance of the top, the sleek cardboard box that the Woolpower Zip Turtleneck is packaged in is reminiscent of an Apple product.
Specs:
- Sizing: The Woolpower Zip Turtleneck comes in a wide range of sizes, as do most of Woolpower’s products. XXS to XXXL for the Zip Turtleneck 200.
- Where to Buy? Woolpowerus.com
- Pricing? $129
- Materials: 60% Merino Wool, 25% Polyester, 13% Polyamide, 2% Elastane
- Colors: Black, Grey, Green, Navy, Red
Woolpower will be sponsoring the September Hiking Lady Giveaway, so be sure to sign up to win a care package of some of their best products!
Happy trails!
I have recently decided to become a ADK 46er. This care package will enable me to keep my hands a feet warm at the higher elevations which can be very cold even mid summer.