Review: Appalachian Gear All-Paca Hoodie

Appalachian Gear Company All-Paca Hoodie

In this world of high tech fabrics sometimes its nice to go back to the basics. Alpaca were domesticated around 5,000 years and played a large part in the culture of the pre and Inca people. Today the wool is used for many things, including the Appalachian Gear All-Paca Hoodie. This is my first time trying out the material so I was excited to see how it felt and held up. I asked my friend and reviewer Brooke along to help out as well as we review the All-Paca Hoodie.

As a disclaimer I would like to mention that I was given the Appalachian Gear All-Paca Hoodie so that I could write this review. All opinions on this page are our own and based on our own experiences with this jacket. I am not compensated for the opinions on this review. Your experience with the Jacket may be different. This site uses affiliate marketing links. If you click a buy now button and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

From Appalachian Gear Company

Before we get into our review of the All-Paca Hoodie from Appalachian Gear Company, I wanted to let you know the specs and what the company says about the Hoodie. This is directly from their website and subject to change. From Appalachian Gear, “Our All-Paca™ fleece hoodie made from 100% Alpaca Fiber is super lightweight, breathable, and packable. Great for outdoor adventure sports & activities, but great to hang around in also. It is super warm for its weight.”

Here is a bit more on the specs before the review.

Specs

Price*

$165.00 for both men and women styles

Sizes*

Men: Small – XXL

Women: XS-XL

Colors*

Men: Red Brick, Tea Green, Sapphire, Sable, Squall Blue

Women: Red Brick, Tea Green, Sapphire, Sable

Weight*

10-14 ounces

Construction*

• The Trail Seam™ – The unique 100% Alpaca fiber fabric deserved a seam that would be worthy of Adventure. We designed our Trail Seam™ for tremendous toughness and durability, so you can be confident the gear will perform under extreme stress and prolonged usage. Our hoodies and shirts have been thousands of miles and experienced millions and millions of rubs under backpack straps – and our Trail Seam™ has consistently met those stringent demands.
• Weft Knit – 100% Alpaca fiber is knitted into a unique fabric that provides exceptional performance. Our special knit structure resists “running” – so if you poke a hole in it while you are in the backcountry, the hole may get slightly larger over time, but you don’t have to worry about the hole turning in to a long “run” as experienced in many lightweight knits.
• Lightweight – Ensures this is a shirt you’ll never hesitate to throw in your pack.
• “Regular Fit” Style – Not too snug and not too loose. It looks great and allows for a full range of motion. Natural fibers perform at their optimal level when allowed a little room to breathe.
• Longer tail – Provides coverage and allows for free movement.

Details

• Our All-Paca™ products are all made from 100% Alpaca yarn spun to our specifications.
• We knit our fabrics and sew our garments in our own North Carolina, USA facility utilizing our Patent Pending process.
• We design our own products using state-of-the-art equipment for digitizing patterns and prototyping new products.
• Our fabrics are tested at various Southeastern USA testing labs that utilize standard ASTM Test Methods.
• We import our custom-spun yarn from our trusted partners in Peru – made to our exacting specifications. We require our vendors to hold Fair Trade, Responsible Alpaca, and OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certifications.
• Since we have extensive Textile Manufacturing expertise, we deal directly with manufacturers – never brokers.

Fabrics

100% Alpaca

All information from Appalaciangear.com. Check the website for full details and options.

What I liked about the All-Paca Hoodie

There was a lot to like about the Appalachian Gear Companies All-Paca Hoodie. It was my first time wearing anything made out of 100% Alpaca wool so I wasn’t sure exactly what it would be like. I was really impressed with the comfort and especially the warmth of this hoodie. The wool has a nice flexibility and fit. Here is a bit more of what I liked about the All-Paca hoodie from myself, and my guest reviewer Brooke.

Brooke has done a couple of other reviews for FMLT including Oboz Shoes, and Mystery Ranch packs. She loves the outdoors and hiking as much as me and we were both able to test out the hoodie in men’s and women’s respectively. Here are our thoughts.

Warmth

From Greg

For me the most important thing with the All-Paca Hoodie is how warm and cozy it is. The wool is thick and protected me from the wind and it felt like it kept all of my body heat nice and warm against my body. We recently had a cold snap that had the temps down around eleven below and I wore this hoodie and didn’t even have to button up my jacket as I walked around downtown.

The only downside to how warm the hoodie is was that when I was hiking in the late fall I was actually getting a little too warm and would have to take it off. This is pretty standard in the fall where layering is really important. I underestimated how warm the hoodie was going to be. It was great against the early morning frost though!

From Brooke

I’d have to say that one of my favorite things about this hoodie was the warmth. I didn’t need several layers to maintain my body temperature. This piece on itself did the job, especially in the Fall. When it came time to Winter months and activity, I did layer a jacket over the hoodie because the Northeast US got hit with some pretty cold days. The two pieces alone (jacket and hoodie) often sufficed to keep me nice and comfortable. Overall, I really loved that this hoodie seemed to work in all different temperatures in all different activities. It held onto warmth better than most pieces I’ve worn.

Fit

From Greg

The fit of the All-Paca Hoodie from Appalachian Gear Company is interesting. Every time that I put it on I feel like it fits better. It is almost like there is a memory component to the wool that remembers your body. As a bigger hiker it is hard for me to find clothing that fits well. However, the All-Paca hoodie is big enough to give full coverage on me. I even got a size smaller than I usually do and it it fits in both length and width. The hood also fits really well. It sits tight around the head and gives protection to the ears and neck from the wind and cold.

Flexibility

From Greg

Another factor of the all alpaca wool that I really like is how flexible it. I already talked about how the hoodie seems to fit better every time I put it on. That didn’t mean that it was stiff or form fitting. The wool is extremely flexible and reactive to movement. As I move my arms, or put the heading on and off, the wool just flows with my body unlike some garments I have hiked in. It never gets tight or twisted, and I have felt comfortable in every situation I have been in.

From Brooke

I couldn’t agree more with Greg when he says how flexible the hoodie is, as well as very soft and comfortable. I wouldn’t have expected all of that goodness with this piece. The fit forms to my body perfectly, yet still leaves room to move around without becoming constricted. I can’t say that’s always been my situation with other outdoor wool pieces. I’ve had some situations where the fit would stay the same, yet become tighter and more uncomfortable over time. Although this does hug my body perfectly, it always allows me movement and I never feel overwhelmed by the fit.

Alpaca Wool

From Greg

The All-Paca from Appalachian Gear was my first experience with Alpaca wool. The wool is soft and durable but also has a sleek almost silk like outer layer. One other thing that I really liked about the way Appalachian Gear Company makes their products is that they do all of the assembly at a factory in the US. Most textiles are sewn and crafted overseas these days so it is nice to be able to have a product that is made locally.

From Brooke

I know I touched on the warmth factor of the hoodie earlier, but I also wanted to add what I loved about this Alpaca Wool was the excellent quality of this piece by the company. One of the things that makes it quality is how warm it is without weight. That is HUGE for long adventures! My other favorite thing about it is that the wool didn’t get smelly after any of those longer adventures. I sweat, and I sweat a lot, especially with how hard I go outdoors. I don’t go anywhere without deodorant for that reason. For as many times as I’ve sweat profusely wearing this hoodie, it stayed relatively dry and I never had any troubles with unpleasant odors on it after. I also love that it prevented me from overheating in warm weather!

Sizing

From Greg

I mentioned earlier how much I liked the fit of the All-Paca Hoodie, but I also really like the sizing. As a hefty hiker it is nice to find some bigger clothes that actually fit well. I usually wear a 2xl in sweatshirts and hoodies but with the All-Paca hoodie I wear an XL and it is still loose fitting and remains flexible. The sizes available are small to XXL in men and extra small to extra large in women. So you should be able to find a size that works for most body types.

What I didn’t Like

From Greg

While there was a lot to like about the All-Paca Hoodie from Appalachian Gear, they will take away my blogger card if I don’t find something I don’t like. For me, the only thing that I didn’t really love was how the hoodie felt against my skin when I first wore it. There was a bit of an itchy sensation in my arms when I was only wearing a short sleeved undershirt. The more that I have worn the hoodie, the less that I notice this so I think it may have just been a bit of the alpaca needing to settle in.

From Brooke

There are very few products I’ve owned that I can honestly say are almost perfect. This hoodie is one of them. My only complaint I could come up with was how itchy it felt when I first wore it. That initial little itch has maybe happened less than a handful of times since, but suddenly disappears seconds after. Ultimately, I have nothing bad to say about this piece! It is tried and true and is easily one of the best pieces I own! I cannot wait to section hike bigger trails in it in the future.

Video Review of the Appalachian Gear All-Paca Hoodie

Before my final thoughts here is a quick video review of the Appalachian Gear Company’s All-Paca Hoody. If you enjoy the review make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to be the first to see my new content.

Wrap Up of the Appalachian Gear Co All-Paca Hoodie

Overall, both Brooke and myself were really happy with the Appalachian Gear Company’s All-Paca Hoodie. First and foremost is that the hoodie is really warm. I wore it through a huge winter storm where the weather was in the negative teens and felt great. The alpaca fibers also create a really soft and comfortable experience when wearing them. I felt that the hoodie almost became form fitting the more I wore it. Almost remember how my body shape was. With that, it still remained incredibly flexible and was easy to move around in on the trail.

The only thing that both of us didn’t love was that the first couple of wears, the hoodie could a bit itchy against bare skin. This continues to improve the more that we wear our hoodies and was really just something that we noticed at the beginning of our separate trials.

I would recommend this as a nice all-purpose hoodie that works just as well on the trail as sitting on the porch on those cool mornings or by a fire on a chilly winter day.

More from the Fatman

For a list of other products that I have reviewed you can check my Product Review page here. If you have any products you would like me to review or any comments you can email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com or you can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!