Craghoppers Corey Microfleece amazing

[Nicolas]

First off let me tell you that I always spend my money on the actually equipment and never really bothered buying some "good" cloth, so I mostly hiked with (IMHO to heavy) cotton combat style trousers I bought in Africa.
Problem with these trousers are that they tend to give you a rash quick and they didn't sit right with the backpack.
So make a long story short, last weekend I took my wife to a big shopping complex to shop for some trousers etc. I spotted 53 degree north a big outdoor store.
First thing she said was: Oh look they have some pretty nice clothe here and to be fair 53 Degree north has an amazing range of clothe from Berghaus to Regatta to Craghopper (even had the new Bear Gryls clothing line (lol) )
I never really thought about that good hiking cloth could also mean a more enjoyable hiking experience.
Well anyways she kind of changed my mind and we spend a lot of money on some new super light trousers and a Fleece Jumper (very light as well)

I had time to check out the following clothing parts on a small 20k hike in the Wicklow mountains.

I have to say, I had my doubts of Craghopper mainly because of the Bear Gryls thingy, we both bought the same Fleece jumper (she in a lighter colour) because at the end of the day we could not see much difference and they had a sale going two of them for 50 Euros together.

okay here now my verdict:

It's very very light extremely soft and during my hike we had rain, quite hot sunshine and rain again, all mixed, so I had a good opportunity to check it out.

First thing I noticed was that even when my back (naturally) was sweaty due to the backpack the jumper was never wet once, also the rain takes quite some time to make it wet, overall it feels extremely comfortable on the skin and if there is one thing I would say was strange I seem to sweat more than usual on the forearms (not idea why)
Overall I have to say I'm extremely impressed and love my new Craghopper jumper dearly.

25 Euros well spend that's for sure.

For the pants, they are Regatta x-ert Performance Geo V Zip-Off Trousers:

Very light (feels like you have nothing on at all) but quite good when windy, I never had the feeling that I was sweating at all.

One thing I noticed was at one part I had to go into a bush to saw a piece of wood off, the bush was full with thorns and without thinking I kind of pushed my way through, when finished I remembered what trousers I had on and due to them being so light expected to have holes, but to my surprise there was not one little scratch or mark on them.

Again I love them:

 

[andy_e]

I have a couple of Craghopper fleeces, picked up in TKMaxx. They're light and warm and dry out very quickly. The only downside is being synthetic, I have to be careful with them around fire esp. since I have a tendency to poke about and send sparks flying

BTW TK also had Regatta trousers, though not in my size.

 

[Nicolas]

I have a couple of Craghopper fleeces, picked up in TKMaxx. They're light and warm and dry out very quickly. The only downside is being synthetic, I have to be careful with them around fire esp. since I have a tendency to poke about and send sparks flying

BTW TK also had Regatta trousers, though not in my size.

You are absolutly right with the fire, I have an very old grey fleece that i will use as a backup and around fire.

 

[Jedadiah]

I have two Craghopper Corey fleece's and have got to say, they are as good as my Swazi Pro Hunter fleece which cost nearly three times as much. Got to agree with the VFM angle. If you are layering and have this fleece under a Ventile smock or wool jumper, you should have no problems fire-side.

 

[andy_e]

I just roll up the sleeves now and prod carefully - skin heals and the pain reminds you to be more careful in future. My Ventile cost too much to poke around the fire in.

 

[Rebel]

I also have a Craghopper fleece that is very similar, this one:

I picked it up in a half-price sale in village in Snowdonia that had more outdoor stores in one area than I'd ever seen before.

I wore it extensively (everyday for a week) in the cold and rain. Everything was damp all the time and this sweater was great for keeping me both warm and dry.

A couple of days ago I was in TK Maxx and picked up some winter lined Craghoppers a thick cotton shirt and some X-ert long johns in the "reduced to clear" section. Shame I can't really wear any of it until autumn.

They had nice Craghopper down jackets for £30.00, shame I don't need one .

 

[Deleted member 4605]

I have both the Craghopper fleeces shown in this thread, along with a bunch of other CH gear - in fact my wife often jokes that I'm a walking advert because I wear so much CH/TNF gear. The truth is that the CH gear is fantastic for the price (for some reason it's often sold off 1/2 price in a Debenhams that my wife frequents, so it's an even better bargain!) and relatively hardwearing, just like some of the Regatta stuff. It is synthetic, so I wouldn't go too near a fire with it, but apart from that I can't fault it.

I've only had one Quality Control issue with all the CH stuff I have, and that was with a pair of the Bear Grylls Nosquito Shorts. Everything else has been perfect.