The Patagonia Capilene Air is setting a high bar for the potential of base layers in the future. Combining extreme warmth with superior breathability, this top performs at high levels allowing it to keep you warm in high output and start/stop activities in the most brutal conditions. Its comfort makes it a layer that we used any excuse we could to throw it on and were hard pressed ever to take it off. A versatile base layer that will keep you warm and dry layered in frigid temps or cool and dry when you're running the engines at high RPMs during winter activities. The tough-to-stomach price and extremely low durability are the black marks on the beauty of this base layer.
Performance Comparison
The extremely soft and incredibly stretchy Capilene Air has a comfortable fit, not too loose or too tight with long arms and torso.
Warmth
When it comes to warmth, this is one of the highest performing tops we tested. The only layer that equaled it in warmth was the SmartWool Merino 250. Patagonia has created a brilliant base layer with a fabric that is warm enough to layer through the deepest reaches of winter's cold but breathable enough to wear it as a single layer in the mild temps of spring and fall.
When your skins ice up and you have no other choice but to ditch them and start kick stepping. Mt. Hood.
The high loft sweater-like material is thick and plush and traps heat extremely well. When it is layered underneath insulating or hard shell layers, it cranks up the heat, keeping you warm in bitterly cold conditions like skiing or winter hunting. Even though it will keep you toasty in the frigid, the nearly see-through material is breathable enough though that you won't overheat, sweat, and then freeze when working hard backcountry skiing, ice climbing, or shoveling your driveway in the heart of winter. Due to its impressive breathability, we wore it comfortably as a single layer hiking through canyons in Utah up into the high 60-degree range.
The Capilene Air was only bested by the SmartWool here because of how permeable the fabric is; it allows air to pass through it extremely well which makes it breathable but also means that cold air cuts through it like a freshly sharpened blade through warm butter. So the warmth of this top in icy conditions relies on having adequate, mid, insulating, and outer shell layers.
Where to go from here? Keeping us comfortable in warmer temps, the Capilene Air boasts an impressive temperature range.
Breathability
This layer shines in the breathability category. We were blown away with this layers ability to breathe. Calm and consistent like a meditating monk, this fabric allowed air to pass through it like a ghost through a wall. When held up to the light, the thick, stretchy, and airy material is nearly transparent. What makes the superior breathability of this piece so incredible is its warmth. The other gold medal winners for breathability like the Patagonia Capilene Lightweight Crew also let air pass through them like a guard snoring at their post, but they are thin and do not provide adequate warmth in the serious cold. Enter the Capilene Air, much like Bo Jackson, this layer is a top-level athlete in more than one discipline. Hitting home runs for warmth and scoring touchdowns for breathability, it is unrivaled in its superiority across the two.
Like carrying a bottle of oxygen around with you, this thing helps you breathe to your highest potential. In 60-70 degree Utah Fall weather, our tester never overheated.
The fabric does a great job of wicking sweat away from the body, not wanting to hold onto moisture, and drying fast complimenting its breathability. For the thickness of the fabric, it dried fast, 10 minutes faster than the Smartwool Merino 250 which is a similar thickness but much heavier weight. Although, compared to the other super breathable layers it took nearly twice as long to dry. We're not sure there could be such a thing as too breathable but because of how efficient it is, it offers little to no wind resistance which means without a layer to put over top, cold winds cut through this and chill your core. Ideal for high intensity and start/stop missions in super cold conditions when layered properly.
The incredibly crafted and nearly see-through fabric of the Capilene Air allows air to pass through it with no qualms, making it breathable but also letting cold air cut right through it.
Comfort and Fit
Another category that this top knocked out of the park. We weren't sure if we'd ever find a layer that would rival the comfort of the SmartWool Merino 250, but we found one to match and now have two tops that are paralleled in their downright coziness factor. When this slides on, it's like someone took a cashmere sweater, stuck a bike pump in it and fluffed it up so it floated like a cloud gently resting itself against your skin. It honestly is one of the most comfortable layers we've tested.
Patagonia has taken a blended material of 51% merino wool and 49% recycled polyester and put it through an innovative process during the spinning of the yarn that they call 'air blasting'. What this does, in essence, is 'fluff' up the yarn fibers which allows them to have a higher loft but reduces the weight and bulk. What you end up with is a top that is a thick, cush warm layer that is lightweight, not bulky, and nearly see-through making it a heavy hitter in cold conditions while simultaneously being a champion of breathability.
As far as comfort goes, it's hard to beat this top. We NEVER wanted to take it off. Exploring canyons, grocery store aisles, or your Netflix selection, we wanted to live in this thing every minute of every day.
Other features that make this one of the comfiest base layers money can buy is the completely seamless design. Patagonia's 3-D knit structure has allowed them to create a base layer that has NO stitched seams anywhere on the garment. The entire garment wears as a single piece of fabric enabling it to seamlessly, pun intended, metamorphose into a part of your skin. It is by far the stretchiest material of any base layer we tested. The stretch allows it to move with you and stay in place through any and every activity. Riding up, bunching, or exposing bare skin was never an issue. It does an incredible job at hugging your body and moving with you as if it is an extension of your skin.
It's good looking enough that it can be worn out as a sweater and no one will question it. Note the seamless design, incredible!
This piece fits well, a bit loose in the sleeves that one could argue are a tad too long. There's no pull, tightness, or discomfort anywhere. The softness and stretchiness of the unique material move with your body as if they're one. Stretch hem tends to ride up a bit but sits comfortably at all times and never exposed skin.
The size Medium we tested fits with a little room, if you are in between sizes, sizing down would ensure a very snug next to skin fit, whereas traditional size will still fit snug but with a little more wiggle room. Being tall and thin, at 6' and 150 lbs., our lead tester fit comfortably in a medium but could wear a small if a layer that hugged a little tighter was desired. It has an obnoxiously itchy tag that is made to be removed without harming the fabric but be careful because this fragile top will crumble in your hands if scissors cut it too close.
The tag is extremely itchy but easy to remove without harming the sweater. Just be careful b/c if your scissors as much as breathe on this thing you'll have a big hole in your expensive fancy new base layer.
It looks enough like a sweater that you could wear it over a shirt in public and people wouldn't be the wiser, which adds to its versatility. Overall, a tough layer to beat when it comes to comfort but could use some fine-tuning in the fit department.
Drying Speed
Another benefit to the innovate 'air blasting' technique used to create this one-of-a-kind base layer is that you get a thick, cushy, super warm fabric but without the downsides of a heavier weight garment; like holding an incredible amount of water in the fibers or taking forever to dry.
If he failed and splashed into that pool, it wouldn't be long until he was dry. For being as thick and warm as it is, it dried significantly faster than the other top equal in warmth, the SmartWool Merino 250. We were impressed!
Although it is a merino/poly blend, it resisted saturation much like the other merino wool layers. We had to agitate and compress it under water for the fibers to soak thru. Compared to the SmartWool Merino 250 which has a similar thickness and warmth rating, the Capilene Air was not as heavy when saturated and dried faster. Compared to the other base layers we tested, this top came in the top half for the fastest drying times which is significant, as it is one of the warmest. Overall this top, given its warmth range and thickness of fabric, dries impressively fast. Another win for the Patagonia Capilene Air
Durability
Ok, here is where this top dog tucks his tail in between his legs. This thing is simply not durable. It's like owning a Lamborghini, it is beautifully crafted, crazy expensive, and performs at the highest levels, but you're scared to drive it through the mud or scratch the paint. The fabric, as innovative and technologically advanced as it is, is just super fragile. It's thin and wears holes easily if you give it a good beating. If you wanted to feel like Hulk Hogan and rip your shirt off like Superman, this is a top that would probably work for you.
Wrestling through a vegetation-choked wash while exploring canyons, we put these base layers to the test. Not a great environment for an exposed Capilene Air.
We burnt a small hole right through the stretchy and airy fabric during our abrasion test in the lab. It seemed to fair okay through washing and drying cycles, but we were nervous every time we opened the dryer door that we were going to pull out a pile of unraveled yarn. It did not shrink or lose shape at all, which was promising and appreciated. It showed signs of surface pilling at first, but they buffed out. Although if this is in any abrasion situation, the fabric will pill on the surface if you don't wear a hole all the way through it. One tester accidentally put it in the dryer with a large piece of velcro (don't ask, we're not sure how that happens either) and upon taking out a glued ball of fabric, had to gingerly tear away the velcro from the fabric in fear of ripping it into a million pieces. As always, we suggest gentle wash cycle and air dry for all technical base layer, especially merino wool.
If you can afford it and need a top that will perform at the highest level in the harshest conditions, then we give you two enthusiastic thumbs up. We just highly recommend that you don't wear it as an outer layer when doing anything that involves scraping, groveling, crawling, shoving, dragging, or pulling yourself up or along any texture rougher than a pane of glass. If this thing is intentionally taken care of and lives under layers during activity, it has the potential to bring you unprecedented performance for a long time. If you're the type of person that had a grass-stained hole on the knees of your new back-to-school jeans on the first day of 3rd grade, we highly recommend any other layer. For comparable warmth, significantly higher durability, but not near the breathability, our closest performing top is the Editors' Choice SmartWool Merino 250 Crew.
We would not recommend doing this in this base layer. Durability is not the strongest hand dealt to the Capilene Air.
Layering Ability
This top did really well with layering ability. Even though it has a thick, plush feel, it isn't bulky at all, so it layers well underneath mid layers and insulating layers alike. The slightly looser fit allows it to effectively and comfortably layer over a t-shirt or another tighter fitting base layer. It looks like a sweater so can be worn as an over-layer in social settings and thrive which isn't a quality all base layers share. We found ourselves equally splitting time with it next-to-skin as well as throwing it over a t-shirt in situations where we needed extra warmth. It is comfortable and doesn't bulk up or bunch when incorporated in a full layering system.
You will definitely need to hold onto the cuffs of the sleeves when layering underneath a sticky fleece mid layer like a Patagonia R1 if you don't want your sleeves to end up bunched at your elbows. Overall, we were impressed with how low profile it felt when layered compared to its thick fabric and the range of warmth it offers.
The Capilene Air looking handsome as the base in a layering system. Comfy enough to wear next-to-skin and versatile enough to wear as a sweater over a shirt, this layers wonderfully in the backcountry or around town.
Best Applications
With its top-rate ability to bring a high level of warmth with extreme breathability this top excels in high energy, active pursuits and start/stop missions in cool to bitter-cold conditions. Great applications for a top with these skills would be situations where you need to trap warmth in the static cold moments but manage heat and stay dry when you're working up a sweat like the work hard up, ski down of backcountry skiing, or switching between climbing and belaying while ice climbing. The great part of this is that it performs equally in highly demanding, every-day situations like scraping the ice off your windshield or shoveling 3 feet of snow off your driveway. A great all-around base layer that also performs in the most extreme endeavors in the harshest climates.
Value
This one is another blow to the glowing abilities of this layer. No getting around it, this top is the most expensive base layer that we tested. At $129, it is a hit on the wallet. The price combined with the inherent lack of durability makes this a tough sell for a lot of folks. Other quality base layers work well and cost less. We have yet to find a base layer that rivals the warmth to breathability ratio of this particular top, and if you can afford it and pinky-promise to take good care of it, we think that you'll enjoy the delightful comfort, the wonderful warmth, and the unbeatable breathability this base layer offers. But we don't blame you if you pass it by for a lower price and higher durability.
An all-around stellar base layer, we fell in love the versatility, performance, and comfort of the Capilene Air. Durability and price being the downsides. But just look at the smile on that face. He's smiling at how cozy he is.
Conclusion
To wrap it up, the Patagonia Capilene Air is in a league of its own when it comes to its ability to seamlessly blend high warmth with extreme breathability in a package that is oh-so comfortable and cozy. You'll enjoy the high performance it brings to high pursuit activities in cold conditions as well as the versatility of it looking great apres ski. The looming dark cloud over this shining star is the hard-to-stomach price and the all too sad durability.
