Up to two years ago I never tried merino wool and was pretty sure that it was just a gimmick. Thinking back at my old woolly jumpers I could only think about how itchy they were to wear.
Everyone who I knew who had tried out merino wool couldn’t stop talking about it. So since we where putting in an order at Ground Effects we got a Submerino and a Hot Toddy woman merino base layer.
True to woolly style it was itchy but not as bad as I remembered wool would be. But the itchiness quickly disappeared from wearing it and washing the tops.
The Submerino just fitted me without being to tight and the Hot Toddy fitted Peli too but the hoddie is a bit of pain. The hod just gets in the way when wearing something over the base layer.
Since I have worn the Submerino for nearly two years it was time to get a new one. Mainly because every time I find something that I love to use, the manufacture stops making it – see Ground Effect Draft Dodger among others.
The new Submerino base layer is so much better than Ground Effect old version, since it is pretty itchy free from the word go. The merino wool is just so much softer and I’m sure that it needs only to be washed once before it is gone. I don’t know if it is something to do with the lightwave merino they are using, can’t remember if it was used in the old model.
Talking about washing, this merino wool is just great for a touring cyclist you can easy skip a washing of the top or two (even more). And not worry about it smelling like the synthetic materials do after you have worn it once.
And it is great to wear while sleeping in your tent on a colder night, it will keep you nice and toasty. And will keep you warm if you need to do a call of nature in the middle of the night and it will warm you up fast when you call back into your sleeping bag.
Wearing this under my Ground Effect Draft Dodger I’m toasting down to fairly cold temperatures and true to form merino wool dries fast so again great for cycle touring.
Rating:
As I have said elsewhere, even with Ground Effect being on the other side of the world for us, the delivery is very fast. Though the first time we order from them the Pound Sterling was very strong against the New Zealand Dollar, so the order was value for money. Even with the strong $NZ our last order was well worth it.
LINK: Ground Effect
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