UKC

Whilst checking the Salewa quickdraw specs for another thread, I spotted a nice-looking High Loft ThermalPro hooded fleece. I thought it might make a nice companion to my MEC T3 hoody, so had a closer look, and then spotted the 'W'.

http://www.salewa.com/en/warmup-polartechighloft.html/

Which prompted an email to Salewa to ask their reasoning, and whether they thought men didn't need hoods. Apparently, they don't know. I've suggested it might be a question for their market research/product development people; I assume someone took an active design decision, based on some rational argument.

Now, given that women tend to keep their hair longer (both in length, and in age...), it strikes me that long hair and a hood aren't great partners, whereas the current fashion for men for shorter hair, and the issue of male pattern baldness would suggest men might be in need of a hood as much as, if not more than women.

Or do men just wear hats?

I note that hooded base/light mid layers such as the R1, Eclipse, T3, etc are popular with a climbing niche market.

So, hoods, yay or nay, and why/what for?

In reply to captain paranoia:

Hoods! Because I'm a skinhead and get cold easy, and for everything!

The only layers I own with no hoods are base layers (although I wish I did have hooded ones), and an R2 fleece because i always have my Eclipse underneath and some other hooded garment on top, and it would be too many hoods.
I actually rarely take a hat with me now. I find a balaclava hood much more versatile and you can't accidently drop it. Much easier to throw on/off different arrangements of hood to adapt to weather/body temp whilst moving or belaying, especially when wearing a helmet.

The eclipse hood was a step up from the r1, but I feel could still be improved at least for my fit. Hopefully more options will become available in the future. I have always wondered why montane don't have an equivalent, as Andy KP was pretty involved in designing and promoting the r1...

In reply to Kahti:

Wasn't Andy involved with the Eclipse, too?

Hooded baselayers? I bagged a job lot of T3s last year, when MEC were knocking them out for a silly price. Had to be a job lot due to the $CDN50 p&p... They're brilliant, fortunately...

In reply to captain paranoia:

You get all the pockets, we get all the hoods.

In reply to marsbar:

You get a little 'lippy pocket' on the sleeve, though...

In reply to Kahti:

Montane fury. Standard fleece with a few technical bits. It's a great hood and a lovely fit, really like mine

In reply to captain paranoia:

How thoughtful. I always make sure I keep up appearances when I'm being active. One wouldn't want ones lipstick getting smudged.