Winter Thermal Sherpa Fleece Balaclava Scarf Ski Face Mask– Ultimate Winter Protection Windproof, Plush & Ultra-Warm for Cycling, Skiing & Outdoor Adventures
Winter Thermal Sherpa Fleece Balaclava Scarf Ski Face Mask– Ultimate Winter Protection Windproof, Plush & Ultra-Warm for Cycling, Skiing & Outdoor Adventures
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The cold gets in at the gap, not through your coat
You already own a warm jacket. What you probably do not own is anything covering the strip between the top of your collar and the bottom of your hat — the back of your neck, your ears, your jaw, the front of your throat. That is the part that makes you feel cold, and it is the part a hat and a scarf keep failing to close. This is one piece of plush fleece that covers all of it at once, with nothing to tuck in and nothing to keep re-wrapping.
It is one piece, and nothing comes apart
A lot of winter face gear is a system: a gaiter, plus a hat, plus a hood, and three seams where the draft gets in. This is a single garment. A rounded hood at the top, a soft flap at the front that folds up over your chin, mouth and nose, and a wide bib that spreads down over your neck, shoulders and collarbones and tucks under your coat.
Two thin drawcords run through it, each held by a small metal barrel toggle — one around the face opening, one lower on the bib. Push the toggle, slide it, let go. That is the entire adjustment. There is no zip, no velcro and no buckle, so there is nothing to freeze, jam or catch your hair.
Three positions, and only three — here is what they actually are
Sellers of this style like to advertise five, eight, twelve “ways to wear.” The hood is sewn on and the face opening is a fixed shape, so honestly there are three, and you will use all three in the same afternoon.
- Collar. Hood pushed back off your head, front flap folded down. The bib sits around your neck and over your shoulders like a thick soft cowl. This is how you wear it indoors, driving, or walking into a store without looking like you are hiding.
- Half mask. Hood still back, front flap lifted up over your chin, mouth and nose. Your head is free, your face is covered. This is the one for shoveling the drive.
- Full coverage. Hood up as well. Everything but your eyes is under fleece. Pull the face cord in and the opening closes down around them.
On helmets, one honest caveat. The hood is soft and unstructured rather than padded, so plenty of people wear it under a bike or ski helmet, and that is how it is photographed here. But helmet fit varies enormously and we have not tested this across helmet types. If your helmet is already snug, add a layer of fleece and it will be snugger. Try it before you rely on it for a ride, and never force a motorcycle helmet on over bulk — that changes how the helmet sits and how it holds on.
What the fleece actually does about wind
This is fleece, not a windproof shell, and the difference is worth understanding before you buy. A garment that is genuinely windproof has a laminated membrane or a tightly woven face fabric bonded into it, and air essentially cannot pass through. This has neither. There is no membrane in it and we are not going to tell you there is.
What it does have is two layers of pile and a lot of trapped air. Fleece does not block wind by being a barrier — it works by holding a thick cushion of still air in the pile, and still air is the thing that actually insulates you. Wind makes you cold by stripping that cushion out. Two pile layers with a seam between them hold more of it and make the path through more tortuous than a single layer does, and the two drawcords let you close down the openings at your face and under your coat where cold air would otherwise get in around the edges. Sealing those gaps does more work here than the fabric does.
Where it will not match a technical shell is a long lift ride in a hard headwind, or riding fast into a gale. In a strong enough wind you will feel air moving through the pile. If that is your use case, wear a membrane balaclava underneath this one — they are different products doing different jobs, and this one is the warmth layer.
One size, and it is a generous one
There is a single size and it is cut for adults, men and women. Laid flat, the hood measures about 13 in (33 cm) across from the front edge to the back, and the whole garment measures about 21 in (54 cm) from the crown of the hood down to the lowest point of the bib. The fleece has some give, and both drawcords let you take up slack, so it lands somewhere between snug and roomy on most adult heads rather than being tight on any of them.
Two honest notes. If you have a lot of hair, wear it down or in a low bun — a high ponytail pushes the hood forward. And because it is cut generously rather than to a size, a smaller adult will find the bib sits lower on the chest than it does in the photographs. That is comfortable, not a fault.
Specifications
Looking after it
Plush fleece is easy to keep and easy to ruin. Hand wash or machine wash cold on a gentle cycle, ideally in a mesh bag so the cords do not tangle. Use a mild detergent, skip the fabric softener — it coats the pile and flattens it — and do not bleach.
Air dry it. Do not tumble dry on heat, do not iron it, and keep it away from radiators and hot air vents. Fleece pile is a synthetic and heat mats it permanently. Once it is dry, shake it out and the loft comes back.
In the box
- One hooded fleece balaclava, in the color you choose
- Both drawcords and both barrel toggles fitted, ready to wear
Nothing else, and nothing that needs assembling.
