Voormi High-E Hoodie - Women's Review

The Voormi High E Hood is a merino wool-polyester blend hoody that offers the best weather protection and warmth of any jacket tested. It features a fitted ¾ zip design with functional pockets and even a ponytail pocket in the hood! It offers full coverage in the form of a big balaclava, to help weather out any storm. Its style is cute and easy to wear in town or while exploring trails in the mountains. Our biggest caveat is the stiff materials that make fit difficult — especially in the arms.

Performance Comparison

Warmth

This excellent technical jacket has all the warmth features you'd want while tackling big mountain peaks and hanging out near cold mountain streams.

Composed of merino wool and polyester, it provides incredible insulation for even the coldest days of winter. This warmth is one of the many reasons it's our favorite layer for cold weather.

This was the layer we went to when the wind was truly wailing, and we needed something nice and warm, yet breathable. The ¾ zipper comes all the way up the nose like a balaclava, offering excellent coverage and more warmth in poor weather. Wear it with a thin base layer or jacket on the coldest of winter days. It's almost the warmest jacket when wet as it's made of wool.

Comfort and Fit

This jacket has an immense number of comfort features, including cute thumb loops and a ponytail hole in the hood (yes, you read that right!) that's best for a low ponytail. It's also compatible with a helmet while your hair is through the hole, which is incredible for women who don't like to braid their hair and want to keep it out of the way while exploring. We also like the garaged zipper that keeps metal off the face in super cold weather. Unfortunately, the fit is tight and the materials aren't stretchy, which made this less of a favorite amongst our testers.

We love, love, love the pockets on this jacket. Many manufacturers don't seem to realize that women love pockets, and for some reason, they are small and unusable. This utilitarian jacket has a kangaroo pocket on the front and a chest pocket to the right that is HUGE. Whether you're climbing or backpacking, it'll hold all the goodies you need.

Our caveats with this jacket come in the fabrics. While merino wool offers great warmth, its not very stretchy and quite heavy. Fit isn't super versatile, either. If you order a size that's a little too small, this jacket won't stretch to fit. Instead, you're left feeling a little claustrophobic. The arms are thin, and many of our testers say it's harder to layer because of this stiffness, which is inevitably less comfortable. However, the more we wore it, the more we got used to it.

On that note, there's not much length through the arms and torso, and again, less stretch. We've definitely noticed a little itch in the fabric that we haven't observed with any other fleece. So if you're sensitive, we'd recommend a different option.

While it has excellent comfort features, the fit is finicky. If you're on the fence, and sometimes wear a medium, but mostly wear a small, we'd recommend sizing up. You'll have more room and a better fit overall. Voormi is a small company based out of Pagosa Springs with excellent customer service, so don't be afraid to send it back if it doesn't work of you.

Breathability

This jacket is one of the warmest and features an average level of breathability. The face fabric is continuous, but porous, which allows moisture to escape, but not as quickly as thinner fleeces we've tested. If you look at the material, it features the classic grid material, which promotes breathability.

This material runs throughout the jacket, but is double layered in the upper front of the torso, perhaps for additional warmth and to accommodate pockets. That said, the continuous face fabric and thicker, less porous design is less breathable than some of the best performers in this review.

However, it'll still vent moisture if you're engaging in a more mild activity like a leisurely hike or even backcountry skiing in super cold weather. This wasn't the jacket we reached for when we knew that we'd be producing a lot of heat. It's one we use for less sweaty activities or colder weather.

Layering Ability

This fleece layers easily underneath shells and jackets but catches thicker base layers.

It does, however, have a tighter and less stretchy fit throughout the arms and torso, making it more difficult for base layers to fit easily underneath. While we were able to pull this on over base layers, we preferred to wear it with a t-shirt or tank top as long sleeves typically bunched up. If we were to ask for some minor improvements, we'd ask for a little more room in our arms, especially since many of our testers have arms that need a little extra room.

Ease of Movement

The materials don't stretch as easily as traditional polyester (this is made with thicker Merino Wool and hard-faced merino wool technology), which makes movement a little more difficult. When we reach up or down, the jacket catches layers below and moves up with it. For that reason, we'd recommend sizing up to promote better movement.

Weather Resistance

WOWZERS! This layer has impeccable water and wind resistance, which has earned it a Top Pick. It's built with a surface hardened thermal wool technology and a DWR finish that completely resists water penetration and wind. If we had to choose a fleece to wait out a huge wind or snowstorm, and we were without a shell, this is the one we'd want to be in.

When hiking and skiing, we hardly feel the wind blow — unless we unzip the jacket. If you're skinning and a snowstorm hits, you can take your time putting on your shell. The fabrics bead up this water, and it wicks away quickly. Plus, it's the warmest layer we've tested that keeps you warm, if, and only if the fabric becomes saturated. As a result, it's our favorite for weather resistance, and one of the many reasons we'd recommend it to those who see poor and cold weather often.

Value

The price for this fleece is difficult to stomach. While it costs almost twice as much as other fleeces, no other fleece jacket was able to match its level of water resistance and durability. However, it's difficult to justify spending this much on a fleece jacket.

Conclusion

The Voormi High-E Hood stands out for its incredible weather-resistance, stand-up durability, and super cute look. It comes in a plethora of color options and provides the best protection (on its own) of any fleece jackets we've tested. Unfortunately, the materials aren't as stretchy as other fleeces, so it's important to get the size right. Make sure you size up if you're on the fence…then enjoy all the lavish comforts it brings. It uses a surface hardened merino wool that you won't find with any other product out there.