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Reviews > Clothing > Base Layers and Undies > Stoic Merino Bottom Womens > Owner Review by Andrea Murland

Stoic Merino Bottom - ¾ Length - Women’s
Owner Review by Andrea Murland
December 9, 2013

Tester Information

Name: Andrea Murland
Email: amurland AT shaw DOT ca
Age: 28
Location: Elkford & Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada
Gender: Female
Height: 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Weight: 130 lb (59 kg)

I began hiking frequently in 2006 and have since hiked in Western Canada, Australia, and spent 2 months backpacking in the Alps. I spend most weekends either day-hiking or on 2-3 day backpacking trips, with some longer trips when I can manage them. I also snowshoe and ski in the winter, but don’t have a lot of experience with winter in the backcountry yet. Elevation is typically 500-3,000 m (1,600-10,000 ft), in the Canadian Rockies and the Selkirk, Purcell, and Monashee ranges. I try for a light pack, but I don’t consider myself a lightweight backpacker.

Image Courtesy of
Backcountry.com
Stoic Merino Bottom

Product Information

Manufacturer: Backcountry.com
Manufacturer's URL: www.backcountry.com
Year of Manufacture: 2012
Model: Merino Bottom - ¾ Length - Women’s
MSRP: US $69.00
Size: Medium
Sizes Available: XS, S, M, L, XL
Colour: Black/Black
Listed Weight: None
Measured Weight: 151 g (5.3 oz)


Care Instructions (from tag):
For optimum performance frequent washing required. Hand- or machine-wash with wool wash. Hang dry. Do not machine dry. Do not use bleach or fabric softener. Do not dry clean.

Description

The Stoic Merino ¾ Length Bottoms are merino wool long underwear, made from 200-weight merino wool (93%) and spandex (7%). They come down to below my knees, about mid-calf length. The bottoms have flatlock seams, which lie flat, that run along the inside of the leg. The back of the bottoms has a V-shaped piece of material sewn in, rather than a seam up the middle, but there is a seam up the middle of the front. The bottom of each leg has a 6 cm (2.4 in) wide cuff made from a double layer of material. The waistband is 3.7 cm (1.5 in) wide and made from an elastic-y material with the Stoic logo. The logo is also screen-printed just above the cuff on the left leg.
My bottoms

Field Conditions

These long underwear have become my primary bottom layer for skiing and ski touring. I have worn them for downhill skiing, day-long touring, overnight touring, and they were the only long underwear I wore on a week-long hut-based touring trip in the spring of 2013. I have worn them in temperatures from about 5 C (41 F) down to about -25 C (-13 F), either alone (but under an outer layer) or with other insulating layers. In total I have worn them for about 20 days outside. On overnight trips I have also slept in these bottoms, either alone or with other layers, depending on the temperature. That totals about 8 nights of use.
Skiing

Review

Comfort & Fit:
The fabric of the Stoic Merino bottoms is soft and comfortable. I don’t find it to be scratchy. The bottoms are a good fit on me. They are snug without being tight. The cuff at the bottom mostly keeps the bottoms in place, without digging in. They occasionally creep upwards towards the knee slightly, but I usually have my socks over the cuff, which helps keep them in place. The bottoms end above my ski boots, so that increases my comfort in my boots, especially if I am wearing multiple layers. The fewer layers I’m trying to squish into my boot, the better! With some other layers, I just pull them up to above the boot so that they bunch around the knee, but these are the right length to start with.

On the topic of my nose’s comfort, even when I wore these bottoms for a week straight, in warm temperatures that had me sweating, I never had to turn up my nose at them.

Warmth & Breathability:
For an active day, like ski touring, I can wear these bottoms alone with a shell pant down to about -10 C (14 F). Below that, I have to add more insulation. If I’m doing something less active (like downhill skiing), or something that may be intermittent (like Search & Rescue), I add layers sooner. On my spring ski touring trip last year, I wore these as my sole baselayer up to about 5 C (41 F), and although I was sweating in them, they managed the moisture well and I didn’t get cold when I stopped.

Durability:
I have not noted any problems with these bottoms. They have no holes, fading, thinning areas or pilling. I have washed them (machine wash, regular detergent) and hung them to air dry between five and ten times.

Summary

The Stoic Merino Bottoms are a great ¾ length wool baselayer. They are comfortable, breathable, warm, and don’t interfere with my ski boots.

Thumbs Up:
Comfortable fabric
Right length with ski boots
Good odour management
Good breathability

Thumbs Down:
Nothing?


Read more gear reviews by Andrea Murland

Reviews > Clothing > Base Layers and Undies > Stoic Merino Bottom Womens > Owner Review by Andrea Murland



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