I just received an order from beyond clothing, here’s my first impressions.
Todra ss crew - Fit is wonky; too tight in the chest, verging on too tight on the arms, tight around neck. Constricted movement in the upper body due to tightness. Length is good; a bit longish on the body but that is ok by me. Green color is nice. Fabric is nice and light. Feels like it’d maybe be a bit slick with sweat, but that is conjecture. All things told, my $9.00 shirts from jiffy shirt fit and feel much better for casual use, my cheap under armour tech tees fit and feel much better for active use. I’m a straight-up medium in everything. Will return this. (Side note—those new under armour tshirts out do everything, even OR echo and Patagonia capilene, they’re the best I’ve come across.)
Bask L1 pullover — fit is really wonky. Seam-bursting tight to go over head, constricting chest, tight around upper arms, loose on forearms. Length is good, length of sleeves is good. Just can’t handle the tightness up too. The fabric, a new smaller-grid Polartec power grid, is intriguing. Cozy warm but feels breathable. If this were a zip-tee with better fit, I’d keep it as a heavy baselayer for at least skiing, maybe for super cold runs as well. The intriguing fabric almost had me almost keeping this one, but the fit is just too wonky. It’s going back.
Alpha aura jacket — this is what prompted my order; it’s 186 gsm of Polartec alpha direct, naked except for shoulder patches and hood, which have a bonded dwr layer. I think they nailed this one. Fit is right on. Like dead on—sleeves fall right on wrist; length is mid-butt, shoulders are snug (no loose fabric) but not constricting; middle is athletic fittong but not tight; hood is spot on. Hand pockets are great. Don’t know how they nailed this but not the others. Only suggestion would be for thumbholes, as this will in part be a mid layer. The color is good—I got the brown and thought it might be too tan, but it’s a nice neutral brown. The patches are verging on orange but don’t bother me.
The fabric is ridiculously soft.
This is warm, like puffy warm, but it has almost no weight on the skin. Putting it on, you get that “furnace warmth” that a puffy gives you. Unlike lighter alpha garments, you can’t feel the air go right through it. The hood and patches are a tad noisy, but don’t think it’ll be an issue. For comparison, I have the Eddie Bauer super Sevens pullover, which I believe is 80ish gsm of Primaloft evolve and the Sitka kelvin active belicheck, which is 90 gsm Polartec alpha but with bonded dwr front. This is way warmer than both.
It will be interesting to see where this fits. It seems too warm to hike in except in the coldest of temps, but the breathability on the other Polartec alpha stuff is surprising. Sitting still, it’s a bit warmer than something like TNF ventrix, I wonder how it’ll do hiking. Definitely keeping this one. At the very least, it’ll be a mid layer for skiiing and coldest hunts, likely casual wear also. Might replace my worn-out kuiu teton insulated jacket.
Will report back if there’s anything of note.
Todra ss crew - Fit is wonky; too tight in the chest, verging on too tight on the arms, tight around neck. Constricted movement in the upper body due to tightness. Length is good; a bit longish on the body but that is ok by me. Green color is nice. Fabric is nice and light. Feels like it’d maybe be a bit slick with sweat, but that is conjecture. All things told, my $9.00 shirts from jiffy shirt fit and feel much better for casual use, my cheap under armour tech tees fit and feel much better for active use. I’m a straight-up medium in everything. Will return this. (Side note—those new under armour tshirts out do everything, even OR echo and Patagonia capilene, they’re the best I’ve come across.)
Bask L1 pullover — fit is really wonky. Seam-bursting tight to go over head, constricting chest, tight around upper arms, loose on forearms. Length is good, length of sleeves is good. Just can’t handle the tightness up too. The fabric, a new smaller-grid Polartec power grid, is intriguing. Cozy warm but feels breathable. If this were a zip-tee with better fit, I’d keep it as a heavy baselayer for at least skiing, maybe for super cold runs as well. The intriguing fabric almost had me almost keeping this one, but the fit is just too wonky. It’s going back.
Alpha aura jacket — this is what prompted my order; it’s 186 gsm of Polartec alpha direct, naked except for shoulder patches and hood, which have a bonded dwr layer. I think they nailed this one. Fit is right on. Like dead on—sleeves fall right on wrist; length is mid-butt, shoulders are snug (no loose fabric) but not constricting; middle is athletic fittong but not tight; hood is spot on. Hand pockets are great. Don’t know how they nailed this but not the others. Only suggestion would be for thumbholes, as this will in part be a mid layer. The color is good—I got the brown and thought it might be too tan, but it’s a nice neutral brown. The patches are verging on orange but don’t bother me.
The fabric is ridiculously soft.
This is warm, like puffy warm, but it has almost no weight on the skin. Putting it on, you get that “furnace warmth” that a puffy gives you. Unlike lighter alpha garments, you can’t feel the air go right through it. The hood and patches are a tad noisy, but don’t think it’ll be an issue. For comparison, I have the Eddie Bauer super Sevens pullover, which I believe is 80ish gsm of Primaloft evolve and the Sitka kelvin active belicheck, which is 90 gsm Polartec alpha but with bonded dwr front. This is way warmer than both.
It will be interesting to see where this fits. It seems too warm to hike in except in the coldest of temps, but the breathability on the other Polartec alpha stuff is surprising. Sitting still, it’s a bit warmer than something like TNF ventrix, I wonder how it’ll do hiking. Definitely keeping this one. At the very least, it’ll be a mid layer for skiiing and coldest hunts, likely casual wear also. Might replace my worn-out kuiu teton insulated jacket.
Will report back if there’s anything of note.
