SmartWool Arm Warmer and Sock Review

In some ways, the athletic apparel industry is coming full circle in its approach to fabrics.

It wasn’t that long ago when conventional wisdom held that man-made materials were far superior to anything Mother Earth could provide on her own. Natural fibers were considered old-school in comparison to synthetic innovations that came down the pipeline with astonishing frequency over the past two decades.

However, a funny thing happened in our rush to improve what nature created: several companies realized that those original materials could work just as effectively – better, in many cases - as anything built in the lab. And in the era of increasing eco-awareness, using natural materials is not only a quality measure, but the responsible thing to do. (Thankfully, many lab geeks have turned their focus to utilizing post-consumer content in their clothes - which is equally great news, but not necessarily pertinent to the topic at hand.)

That’s why we’re seeing companies incorporate a remarkable variety of sustainable materials – bamboo or hemp or coconut fibers or crustacean shells, just to name a few – into their apparel, and that’s also why we’re seeing a resurgence in good old-fashioned wool. However, there’s one caveat to the modern wool phenomena: performance fabrics can’t use regular old wool; their wool has to be smarter.


That’s where the story of SmartWool begins – or rather, where it began 15 years ago, after a pair of New England ski instructors struggled for years to perfect a process of manufacturing that would preserve wool’s natural benefits - insulation, moisture-wicking, and odor-resistance chief among them – in a style that was also comfortable (wool is notorious for being itchy), durable, and easy to care for.

In the mid-1990s, this was a difficult sell, but the business grew by individual product testers and word-of-mouth recommendations (just imagine if there were bloggers back then!) until larger magazines and vendors began to take notice. Since then, they’ve won numerous awards, gained worldwide distribution, and expanded their product line to include socks and apparel for runners, skiers, cyclists, climbers, hikers and any outdoor endurance athletes.

To assure maximal comfort and performance, SmartWool committed to using only the finest wool in the world, from New Zealand’s merino sheep. I’ve reviewed other products that use this fabric, which is the softest, strongest, most dynamic and odor-resistant wool on the planet. This winter I had the opportunity to try two items from the SmartWool line, as detailed below.

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SmartWool arm warmers

These are constructed with a blend of 63% merino wool, 32% nylon, 5% elastic, and with seamless construction so you don’t have to worry about lining up the hems along your skin. A 1”x1” rib at the top and bottom openings keeps the warmers in place.

SmartWool’s warmers provide great temperature control when you’re starting off in cool conditions, and great breathability when it gets warm later. They’re very comfortable against your skin, much more so than traditional lycra or nylon fabrics.*

(*I’d like to attest to these claims personally, but in truth they were provided by my wife, who started using the arm warmers about 3 days after I received them, and has yet to return them to me. She’s either extremely impressed, or bucking for a promotion to become an Associate Product Tester for Running and Rambling. Probably both.)

SmartWool arm warmers retail for $25 from the company website (link above) as well as other online vendors.

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SoftWool PhD Running Micro Socks

“Micro” refers to the height of the sock - this gets a bit confusing, as they offer micro mini, micro crew, and mini crew, among others – and this sock is designed as a low-profile mild weather trail runner. It’s built with something called WOW (wool on wool) technology in high density impact zones, which makes the sock more abrasion resistant and increases its overall durability. A 4-Degree Fit System keeps the sock in place with bands across the arch, ankle, and two along the instep. Mesh ventilation zones further enhance the merino wool’s natural moisture-wicking properties for extra temperature and odor management.


For me, the sock performance bar has been set pretty high by Drymax, and while Smartwool’s offering is comfortable, I wouldn’t use them in place of my regular Drymax trail runners for a long outing. However, if you like the same comfortable feel of merino wool on your feet as well as the rest of your body, they might be worth a try. There are a lot of styles and colors to choose from on the Smartwool site.

SmartWool PhD Running Micro socks retail for $14 from the company website (link above) as well as other vendors.


*Products provided by Polartec
**See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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The Mensch of Malden Mills

This weekend’s video post is only tangentially related to material that came before it - but as you should know by now, that’s never stopped me before.

I’ve been fortunate to review several products supplied by Polartec recently – such as this Cloudveil vest and this Marmot shirt, and an amazing Patagonia jacket I reviewed on FeedTheHabit. In researching the company a bit, I came across this little tidbit on the "About Us” page:

The company acquired the assets of Malden Mills Industries, Inc, providing employment to its workforce and continuing the tradition of fabric innovation for performance apparel and accessories.

It was the former company’s name that rang a particular bell in my mind: Malden Mills … Malden Mills … of course – the Mensch!

Several years ago, 60 Minutes documented the incredible generosity of Aaron Feuerstein, former President and Chairman of Malden Mills, the company that invented Polartec fabric. After a devastating fire leveled his factory in 1995, Feuerstein financially sustained his entire workforce – more than 3,000 employees – with full salary and benefits for the six months that it took to rebuild the factory.

Although it was amazingly uplifting, the story of Malden Mills didn't have a fairy tale ending: Feuerstein’s out of pocket losses, combined with the huge debt incurred to rebuild the factory and the predictable cash flow problems in the wake of essentially starting the business from scratch again, eventually resulted in bankruptcy in 2001. One of the first orders of business by the new creditors was to force Feuerstein to step down. However, this saga took place during roughly the same time frame as the Enron collapse and other shocking examples of Corporate American greed, so Feuerstein became something of a folk hero among blue collar workers for placing his workers' welfare over personal gain.

From time to time in the midst of our country’s current economic meltdown, I’ve wondered if any modern-day captains of industry would have the same kind of integrity and courage under fire (a bad choice of words, perhaps … but sort of fitting as well) that Feuerstein demonstrated. I've also wondered if the long-term prosperity of those employees was preserved by his gesture, or if he merely spent $25 million of his own money to briefly postpone the inevitable tragedy of layoffs for most of his workers.

Since all of this took place nearly 15 years ago, it’s uncertain how many former Malden Mills employees persevered to its modern reincarnation as Polartec, which has emerged as one of the most dominant players in the athletic apparel industry. For their sake - and because I like to cheer for happy endings - I hope that a lot of them made it to better days.


"The Mensch of Malden Mills", from 60 Minutes, revised by ARTzeinu (click to play):




And finally, a glimpse of the modern-day company that rose from the ashes of Malden Mills ...

"We Make It Possible" by Polartec (click to play):

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Cloudveil Run Don't Walk Vest Review

When you can’t decide whether to use an item of apparel as workout clothing or casual dress wear, I guess that’s not such a terrible problem to have.

That’s exactly the dilemma I’ve found myself considering with Cloudveil’s Run Don’t Walk vest – a top that’s built for high-performance activity, but is stylish and comfortable enough to use every day.


Cloudveil is a Jackson, Wyoming-based company who debuted in 1997 with apparel targeted specifically at the year-round mountain athlete. Founded by a pair of skiing aficionados, Cloudveil’s product line began with their signature soft shell jacket, and over the past decade has grown and diversified to accommodate a wide variety of activities, including warm-weather apparel and specialized garments for cold-weather endurance athletes.

The company now offers an entire product line called Run Don’t Walk, designed to combine high comfort with high performance. The vest is an ideal option for those workouts that aren’t quite cold enough for a full jacket, but too chilly for a single layer. Contributing heavily to both comfort and performance are two specialized fabrics: Polartec Power Stretch® on the front and back panels, and Polartec Power Dry on the sides.

Polartec’s Power Stretch material is probably one of the most versatile fabrics around. It’s a highly breathable 4-way stretch material with “touch points” on the inner surface to draw sweat away from the skin, then spreads moisture across the outer surface area for rapid evaporation. The Power Dry side panels are super-thin, but also highly effective at pulling moisture away from the skin.

Side view: Polartec Power Dry in triangle pattern, Polartec Power Stretch everywhere else.

These fabrics combine to provide an extra layer of insulation that feels extremely light and comfortable on top of a baselayer. The entire vest weighs just seven ounces, so you’re unlikely to get overheated if the temperature gets warmer during your run. The only unforeseen circumstance that would spoil your run is a heavy rainstorm, as the fleece material doesn’t have the water resistance of a soft shell fabric.

Truthfully, the vest is so comfortable that I’ve taken to wearing it around the house, or as a casual outerwear piece - it’s the kind of vest that you can wear all day long, and its design goes very easily with a pair of jeans or hiking pants. So that’s my decision point after taking it out of the wash each time: do I want to run in this right away, or wear it around the house for a few days first? The answer varies on different weeks, which I suppose is as good a compromise as I can hope for. Or maybe I’ll have to buy a second vest, so that I have one of each.

Cloudveil’s Run Don’t Walk vest retails for $75 from the company website, and select styles from the Run Don’t Walk collection are also available at Amazon.com (men's pullover jacket is linked).

*Product provided by Polartec
** See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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