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Reviews > Clothing > Base Layers and Undies > adidas Outdoors Agravic LS Base Layer > Test Report by Kurt PapkeAdidas Agravic LS Baselayer
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Name: | Kurt Papke |
Age: | 65 |
Gender: | Male |
Height: | 6' 4" (193 cm) |
Weight: | 230 lbs (105 kg) |
Email address: | kwpapke (at) gmail (dot) com |
City, State, Country: | Tucson, Arizona USA |
This product is not yet on the market and did not appear on the Adidas website at the time this Initial Report was published, so there may be some uncertainty as to naming, pricing, claimed weights, etc. There was also very little product literature or labeling that came with the garment.
The Agravic LS Baselayer is a long-sleeved (hence the LS in the name) quarter-zip (pullover) garment. It has a collar for neck warmth. A distinguishing characteristic is the chest and upper areas of the shoulders are a different fabric than the back and lower/under part of the sleeves. Both fabrics have the same waffle pattern on the inside, but the chest and shoulders outer fabric appears to be less wind-permeable, i.e. more of a shell type of material. The back/sleeves fabric has a fair amount of stretch to it, but the chest and shoulders shell fabric has no stretch.
There is very little branding on the garment, just an Adidas
Terrex logo on the upper left chest area. The logo
might be heat-stamped into the fabric; it is the same color making
it difficult to see unless held up to a light to make the
reflectivity apparent.
The zipper travel is exactly 12 inches (305 mm) in length.
There are no pockets in the garment.
The product care instructions in many different languages
were printed on a series of white labels along the bottom
hem. It calls for "Machine wash cold delicate
cycle. Do not bleach. Do not tumble dry. Do
not iron. Do not dry clean. Do not use fabric softener.
Use mild detergent only. Wash with like colors. Line
dry." Wow, that's a lot of "do nots"!
Product Information |
|
Manufacturer |
Adidas AG |
Manufacturer website |
https://www.adidas-group.com |
Products tested |
Adidas Agravic LS Baselayer |
Country of manufacture |
Indonesia |
Color tested |
Carbon (black with some grey) |
Size tested |
Extra Large (XL) |
MSRP |
USD $129.00 |
Warranty |
2 years |
Materials |
Polartec Alpha Polartec Power Dry/Power Grid |
Measured weight |
273 g (9.6 oz) |
I am looking forward to getting this garment out into the
backcountry and trying it out. I am intrigued to experiment
with it in different configurations (with/without a layer
beneath), as both a mid and outer layer. The temperatures
are warming up in Tucson already, so I'm going to have to seek
some altitude for coolness to check out the warmth.
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance Hiked |
Altitude |
Weather |
April 4-5, 2019 |
Coronado National Forest, Huachuca Mountains
near Sierra Vista, Arizona |
Reef
Townsite (car camping) |
2 miles (3.2 km) |
7200 ft (3000 m) |
Partly cloudy, windy. Highs around 65 F
(18 C), lows around 44 F (7 C). Very windy. |
May 5-6, 2019 | Coronado National Forest, Santa Catalina Mountains just North of Tucson, Arizona | AZT: Gordon
Hirabayashi TH to Hutch's Pool |
15 miles (24 km) |
3622-4983 ft (1104-1519 m) |
Mostly sunny, slight breeze. High of around 85 F, low of 46 F (29-8 C) |
May 18-19, 2019 | Coronado National Forest, Santa Catalina Mountains just North of Tucson, Arizona | AZT: Marshall
Gulch TH to Lemmon Pools |
9 miles (14.5 km) |
7000-8000 ft (2130-2440 m) |
Mostly sunny, slight breeze, 36-60 F (2-16 C) |
May 22-31, 2019 | Various locations near Juneau, AK | Alaska
Dayhikes & Kayaking |
Dayhikes from 1-4 miles (1.6-6.5 km) |
Near sea level | Sunny, 50-65 F (10-18 C) |
This was a single-night car camping trip to do some reconnaissance for the upcoming Arizona Spring Hammock Hang next month at this campgrounds. I wasn't able to reserve the group campsite, so I wanted to check out the single sites and get an assessment of the winding mountain road leading up to the site.
Late in the afternoon as the temperatures started to drop I put the Agravic baselayer on over my short sleeve T-shirt. This was perfect for an hour or two, as it covered my arms and gave enough warmth in the core area that I was perfectly comfortable.
It became incredibly windy towards evening, so I changed into my sleeping baselayer tops and bottoms, and put the Agravic baselayer on top of those. This was good for another hour or so when I had to add a jacket on top.
It didn't get real cold while sleeping in my hammock that night, but the high winds really rob my body of warmth so I bundled up for bed. Over the Agravic I had a merino hoody and a fleece pullover. I stayed warm all night long with no "cold back syndrome" from the wind drafting through my underquilt. Overall a successful first outing with this garment.
Hutch's Pool is an iconic Tucson backpacking destination, and a welcome respite for Arizona Trail through-hikers as it offers a chance to have a dip in a mountain pool. Despite having lived and backpacked here for 10 years, I still had not been there, so packed up and did a short overnight. The trailhead is a memorialized prison camp used to inter Japanese Americans during World War 2, and now bears the name of the man who fought so hard against this unnecessary internment.
I used the Adidas baselayer as a cover over my foam pad that I use for a pillow at night when sleeping on the ground. It felt a lot better to have the baselayer fabric against my face all night long than the foam.
The next morning I wore the baselayer over my silk sleeping baselayer top. It was pretty chilly that morning (46 F or 8 C), but surprisingly enough I was plenty warm without a fleece or down jacket over the top. This garment is very warm for the thickness and weight. It was a little hard to get the sleeves on/off over the silk top, the fabrics didn't want to slide over each other, but it was manageable.
The neck seems just a little small for me. When I zip it all the way up it feels just a little tight. I don't consider myself to have a large diameter neck, so it seems like the fit may be overly tight at the neck.
It's not easy to get a photo of clothing before the sun comes up, which is normally when I arise on the trail. The above photo at upper left required my headlamp to illuminate the baselayer while I was having breakfast.
Another overnight to a stellar but little-known water feature in the Catalina Mountains. There is a reason I am doing so many of these this year: we had great winter & spring rains, and the mountain pools are spectacular.
I wore the Agravic baselayer for the entire trip, taking it off
only to change the layer beneath. See the photo of the
garment on this trail in the collage above at upper right.
Daytime temperatures were perfect for it, around 60 F (16C).
Night time temperatures were a lot colder, but I added a down vest
in the evening and had my quilts while sleeping. The
baselayer performed extremely well and I enjoyed wearing it.
I appreciated the long length in the back. It extends nicely
below my waist so that when bending at the waist the bare skin on
my back does not pop out.
The only issue I had is, since it is designed to be a baselayer and not a light jacket, it has no pockets. I had no chest pocket to store my reading glasses or sunglasses when not in use.
This week-long Alaskan cruise departing Juneau included daily shore, kayak and skiff excursions. We had exceptional weather: a few sprinkles the first few days in Juneau, but sunny and beautiful the entire week we were aboard ship. I wore the Agravic baselayer on-board in cooler weather (see above photo collage at lower left), on hikes (see above photo at lower right), and in the kayak, most often beneath my rain jacket which I used as a wind shell. It was perfect in all these applications.
The one feature that I used extensively for the first time can be seen in the hiking photo in the above collage at lower right: unzipping the front to allow venting. This was not a strenuous hike, but it was a bushwhack with some steep sections. I had to keep my wind shell on to prevent getting snagged and scratched on the branches, and got a little warm. Unzipping both the shell and the baselayer cooled me off just enough to be comfortable.
There was a lot of wind on this trip, which I expected from the watery environment. The Agravic baselayer does not offer much in the way of wind protection, and I didn't expect it to. Teaming it up with a wind or rain shell made for a very effective layering strategy.
I laundered the baselayer after each trip, just tossing it in
with the rest of my stuff. Comes out of the dryer looking
like new.
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance Hiked |
Altitude |
Weather |
June 22-23, 2019 |
Mount Baldy Wilderness, near Pinetop, Arizona |
Mount Baldy Loop |
20 miles (32 km) |
9190-11142 ft (2801-3396 m) |
Sunny, breezy, temperatures 30-68 F (-1-20 C) |
July 6-7, 2019 | Tonto National forest, Pinal
Peak just south of Globe, Arizona |
Various |
~2 miles (~3 km) |
7600 ft (2310 m) |
Partly cloudy, 55-70 F (13-31 C) |
July 20-21, 2019 | Chiricahua Wilderness, Southeast Arizona | Crest Trail |
14 miles (22.5 km) |
8300-9450 ft (2530-2880 m) |
Sunny, breezy, 50-70 F (10-21 C) |
August 3-11, 2019 |
San Juan Mountains, near Durango Colorado |
Colorado Trail |
38 miles (61 km) total, 22 miles (35 km) backpacking |
8080-12500 ft (2460-3810 m) |
Sunny, rainy, hail, wind, we had it
all. Temperatures 45-75 F (7-24 C) |
All the comments from my Field Report still apply. The only
thing I can add is the baselayer is starting to wear along the
armpit seams. This may be due to the difficulty in putting
on/taking off the garment over another layer. This baselayer
creates a lot of friction against another baselayer beneath it,
and that may be stressing the seams when pulling it on or off.