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What are you guys wearing over your base layers? T shirts? Waffles? Fleece?

Crank

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Posts
2,626
I have a really lightweight fleece pullover shirt by Columbia and a slightly thicker zip up fleece sans hood I usually wear one or the other. If it's cold I add my Patagonia puffy and I also have a fleece vest I use sometimes instead of the puffy and if really cold, with the puffy.

Back in the day I used to wear a cotton hoodie underneath my shell. That was in CA where it never got that cold.
 

Wilhelmson

Making fresh tracks
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May 2, 2017
Posts
4,328
I usually wear a thin nylon wicking type long sleeve shirts that go over the base layer for days around 20 to 25 degrees F.

Last time I wore a t shirt it was supposed to be a "dry" type of fabric but must have been a cotton blend. It was pretty cold out and I still ended up sweating right through it.
 

jmills115

Making fresh tracks
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Apr 25, 2017
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1,158
Location
Salt Lake City, Utah
I have a Patagonia R1, FRS R1 hoodie, Patagonia Nano Air, and a Patagonia Better Sweater.
The R1 sees the most days with the newly added better sweater being the coldest day option
 

markojp

mtn rep for the gear on my feet
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Nov 12, 2015
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6,602
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PNW aka SEA
Wool flannel.
 

Bolder

Out on the slopes
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Dec 1, 2017
Posts
486
Patagonia R2 has been my go-to midlayer for almost 20 years. It's kind of "dadcore" styled but the high pile keeps me warm, the side stretchy panels don't bind, and it seems to do a good job wicking away sweat. If you don't mind odd colors you can often find them on sale for under $100.

I cannot imagine wearing anything cotton for active sports anymore. Any tightly knit wool sweater would also work as a midlayer and I'd love to get a Dale or another Norwegian brand, but man are they pricey. We spent a week in Norway this summer and I scoped 'em all out, but didn't pull the trigger...
 

Decreed_It

I'd rather be skiing
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Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Posts
905
Location
Northern Beaches, Sydney, Australia
Warm: active wear material base t-shirt and
really warm (40's or up): just a shell
kinda warm (low 30's-40): add a butterman: https://www.mountainhardwear.com/mens-butterman-1-2-zip-1617561.html
cool (high 20's-low 30's) : add a 20+ year old Solstice brand micro fleece 1/4 zip. Slightly heavier than a butterman. Maybe 50% thicker?

cooler (mid 20's on down) I switch to merino base layer and then add nano or micro puffs and the same fleeces mentioned above as needed. Usually merino-fleece-puff-shell is maxed out unless it's really cold, single digits to negatives with wind, then it is put on all the things.

TLDR: Mountain Hardware Butterman, awesome mid layer
 

Brian Finch

Privateer Skier @ www.SkiWithaGrimRipper.com
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Nov 17, 2015
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3,358
Location
Vermont
Can't do hoodies; the hoods bunch up under your jacket and make the neck area tight. Drives me insane.


I'm terming it the mullet gap.

:golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap:


YES,
YES,
YES!

This has been my quandary as well & I posted about while detailing my new Salomon outfit. EVERYTHING has a novelty hood or excessive collar. Now I understand this trend started with alpine climbing, yet next to none of us are swinging an ax except per perhaps @Analisa . There is simply no reason for the silliness of every item having a hood. I have tried & most will not fit either over nor under my ski or climbing helmets & for goodness sake - how does one layer hoods. I find the decorative hoods just lead to heat loss.

Here's my layering rundown - all subject to change:

1) LL Bean Merino Wool 250 base layers
2) AirBlasters Ninja Suit, hoodless version - Fish pattern looks sweet in the lodge ; fit is not so hot, yet love the concept
3) Down Sweater LL Bean or Stio
4) Salomon S/Lab QST GoreTex Pro outerwear - the singular hooded layer, so I can actually get it over the helmet

Seals up tight & no mullet gapping!
 

Clemson

Putting on skis
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Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Posts
42
Location
New Hampshire
1) merino 180 base
2) fleece pants
3) Goldwin Arris 3L GoreTex pants
above 28 degrees-wool sweater and Black Diamond Dawn Patrol softshell
below 28 degrees- Black Diamond First Light and Northface Freethinker
 

Marker

Making fresh tracks
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Oct 16, 2017
Posts
2,351
Location
Kennett Square, PA & Killington, VT
Finding tall sizes in ski clothing isn't easy. It isn't a fashion show.

Base: Old Roadrunnersports mock turtlenecks (moisture wicking!)
Mid: Eddie Bauer fleeces in XLT, the new Radiator fleeces are a little bulkier and too nice at this point for skiing, so the old ones are in rotation for the time being. I have one Carhartt zip pullover for really cold days.
Outer: Obermeyer Charger jacket in XLT for cold weather, a very old Eddie Bauer shell for warmer weather. I'll add a Eddie Bauer down vest for the coldest days.
 

Uncle-A

In the words of Paul Simon "You can call me Al"
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Joined
Dec 22, 2015
Posts
10,893
Location
NJ
Mid layer is changing, what use to be the ski sweater with a nice winter theme has become the 1/4 zip fleece mostly solid colors. A few of us older people still like the ski sweater but the wool still has the dry clean only and the cotton ones are not as warm. The only button down shirt I use is what we called a wind shirt and that was 100% nylon. We should all have at least one nice winter theme ski sweaters in our collection.
 

Marker

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Oct 16, 2017
Posts
2,351
Location
Kennett Square, PA & Killington, VT
Mid layer is changing, what use to be the ski sweater with a nice winter theme has become the 1/4 zip fleece mostly solid colors. A few of us older people still like the ski sweater but the wool still has the dry clean only and the cotton ones are not as warm. The only button down shirt I use is what we called a wind shirt and that was 100% nylon. We should all have at least one nice winter theme ski sweaters in our collection.
I have a black and white Nordic sweater that I'll wear après ski, but not while skiing. Wool is itchy to me when I sweat. Thus the fleeces...
 

Coach13

Making fresh tracks
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Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Posts
2,091
Location
No. VA
I use many different alternatives, obviously depending on the temps/conditions. I only ski in shell type outerwear and don’t even own anything insulated, nor intend to down the road. If the weather is clear but cold, about 20-25 degrees or above, I wear a pair of wicking basketball shorts under my shell pants with a long sleeve Under Armour heat gear (not cold gear) tee shirt and maybe a fleece vest under my shell jacket. On the coldest, nastiest days I wear under armour cold gear base top and bottom along with a long sleeve fleece vest under my shell. In between those extremes I adjust as necessary.
 

Max Anderson

Booting up
Skier
Joined
Jan 29, 2018
Posts
4
I'm terming it the mullet gap.

:golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap::golfclap:


YES,
YES,
YES!

This has been my quandary as well & I posted about while detailing my new Salomon outfit. EVERYTHING has a novelty hood or excessive collar. Now I understand this trend started with alpine climbing, yet next to none of us are swinging an ax except per perhaps @Analisa . There is simply no reason for the silliness of every item having a hood. I have tried & most will not fit either over nor under my ski or climbing helmets & for goodness sake - how does one layer hoods. I find the decorative hoods just lead to heat loss.

Here's my layering rundown - all subject to change:

1) LL Bean Merino Wool 250 base layers
2) AirBlasters Ninja Suit, hoodless version - Fish pattern looks sweet in the lodge ; fit is not so hot, yet love the concept
3) Down Sweater LL Bean or Stio
4) Salomon S/Lab QST GoreTex Pro outerwear - the singular hooded layer, so I can actually get it over the helmet

Seals up tight & no mullet gapping!

I have an Arcteryx Atom LT hoody that's my go-to mid-layer if I'm wearing a shell. It's feather light and the material feels great against the skin. Per your issues with layer multiple hoods, I sort of bunch of the hood and collar around my neck and then use the hood with my H/H Alpha shell. The material of the Atom LT packs down easily so it almost acts as a neck gaiter rather than a hood. It's breathes great and I've worn in subzero and on warm spring days and I never seem to get too hot or too cold.

With that said, I'm considering an AirBlaster Ninja Suit for my base layer. Apart from the bathroom challenges, do you like the one-piece set-up? I feel like this would solve the occasional, chilly, exposed gap between my bottoms and top when I'm riding a chair.
 

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