From the first moment I wore my Patagonia Capilene 3 long underwear, I knew they were the most wonderful thing to ever happen to winter. This was in the heart of my incurable backpacking addiction, the fall/winter (November 2007-February 2008) where I slept in my backpacking tent more often than my bed. It was my first true winter trip, and I had made the splurge of all splurges by buying these for $44.00 per piece ($88.00 total). I justified this by telling myself REI's generous return policy would come into play if I didn't love them on our November trip to the Shining Rock Wilderness that weekend.
Their first test was the infamous 15 degree backpacking trip. The night the water in our Nalgenes froze solid even right next to the fire, the night more than one couple attempted to turn a one person sleeping bag into a two person sleeping bag...That was cold. When we got to camp, my hands were too frozen to help put up the tent. Considering the circulation problems in my fingers and toes, I can't say why winter backpacking became my sport of choice...it did, nonetheless. I gathered firewood obligingly and moved my fingers as much as possible until my tent was up, then went in to change into the baselayer that, at the time, I thought should have been made of gold for the price.
No one believes the next part of this story, but I will swear on it until my dying day. I put the Capilene 3's on my legs and my arms got warmer. Nowhere to lie. I felt almost instantly better. I was still cold outside of the tent. I mean, the water was freezing next to the fire. I gave away my wine because I didn't want to have to pull down my pants to pee. It was THAT cold. But the Capilene 3 baselayer made it bearable. At times, I could even feel my fingers and toes. For some, that was the last trip of the winter. For me, the first of four out of five consecutive weekends (it would have been five out of five but the other weekend was spent canoeing the Santa Fe River in Florida) of backpacking. Thank you, Patagonia! Best $88.00 I ever spent.
One would think though, that something that warm and delightful would not be useful in June, on a 100+ degree week, in the Southeast. That person would be wrong, folks!
Perhaps some of you have heard about the Nantahala River. The dam-released water is notorious for its coldness, staying at about 40 degrees F all the damn time. And the water is wild in a kayak, with its almost endless Class II wave trains. It is impossible to be on this river for five minutes without soaking your upper torso with water that would be bone-chillingly cold without a wetsuit. We had wetsuits, but the top of the wetsuit I was using was sleeveless. As an unusually cold person, I decided to wear my Capilene 3 top under the wetsuit.
While I did not flip on this run, the wave trains soaked my upper torso immediately. Each time I was immersed, I would be cold for all of five seconds. Why? Because Capilene 3 is awesome. The water soaked the baselayer but it refused to stay cold. Never during the entire 8 miles on the river was I given the opportunity to be uncomfortable. Yes, folks, it's that good.
As a final (unintentional) test of its fortitude, I stood by the highway in only my bathing suit and the Capilene 3 top in the cold, pouring rain for a solid 20 minutes. (As demonstrated last summer, yes, folks, hypothermia in June in North Carolina is possible in such rain.) Drowned rat I may have been, but cold? Hardly. Again, thank you, Patagonia. Yes, your prices are sometimes startingly high, but the quality of your products makes me think twice before throwing away your catalogs.
Final Rating: A resounding A+ on two of my favorite activities. These will definitely be seeing the inside of a wet cave in the future for their final test.
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