Haglöfs Actives Merino Baselayer Preview

I’ve had these on test the past few months, something that’s long overdue from Haglöfs, new for this coming winter Actives Merino Baselayers.

Tech stuff is limited I’m afraid, I’ve got no paperwork on these yet, so I just had to wear them and see what they were like. What they’re like is typical Haglöfs, slim fitting and designed for an active occupant with a full range of movement.
The zip neck above has a decent length zip with a zipper garage to keep my beard attached to my face, a nice high collar and long arms and body. The stitching lines follow the same pattern as other Haglöfs baselayers, and while I thought that horizontal front seam might be felt, it never was, the stitching and fabric as as soft as you’d want it to be. The fabric is 170gsm (or thereabouts) which is lighter than most standard light merino baselayers, this means quicker drying with less insulation, the lightest I’ve used is 150gsm (and there is even lighter weights) and think this is a good compromise from Haglöfs as the lightest weight do have some of of merino’s stink reducing superpowers reduced over extended unwashed use.

The leggings below are ¾ length with great articulation at the knees for chafe-free use. At the other end there’s a wide soft waist band and the crotch area has been sculpted slightly for a neat fit which feels more like performance underwear than plain winter warmers which I like. There’s no fly which is fine, I wear a mix of plain a fly-fronts, once you dig through shell layers to be confronted by limited access and panic, you don’t leave it to the last minute the next time.

I’ve worn these in cold and warm weather and, under shell layers and sunshine, slept and sweated in them and I have to say that they are looking very good indeed. The fabric is very comfortable, manages sweat and odours as well as we now expect from merino and the cut is spot-on for me in the sample size large, no issues with anything riding up or down with a full range of movement designed-in. They’ve washed well and are keeping their shape.

They’ll be available towards winter this year, there’s red, blue and black options in both mens and wummins and there’s full-length leggings and crew necks in there too.