The Alpha Direct 4028 Hoodie is an ultralight hoodie built with Polartec Alpha Direct 4028 fabric. Alpha Direct 4028 is the 60gsm variant. This is an excellent intense activity insulation layer that should be paired with a shell for a very light, modular system. The structure of the fabric is very open, with fluffy tufts between. With a shell to cap the air, the tufts create loft and the spaces create dead air. It keeps you very warm for its weight. Without a shell Alpha has very little insulation value, which is one of its benefits. By venting the outer shell and exposing the Alpha directly to the air, you can dump a lot of heat quickly without the need for inner layer zippers. You can change the outer shell to deal with different conditions while providing a huge and highly adjustable range of insulation. This can’t compare to a true static insulator like a down sweater at camp but it can sometimes be enough to get by with, while covering a giant range of conditions while active.
Approximately 3oz (small).
These hoodies are designed to be very minimalist and lightweight. The cross over hood allows for a snug fit around the head and neck, with really good coverage, while still allowing space to put a head through and room to pull the hood on and off without a bunch of excess fabric or a bunch of heavy drawcords. There needs to be enough fabric length around the face hole to have room to pull the hood on / off your head. This can be taken up by a drawcord or elastic, but that adds weight. The cross over builds in the fabric length to take it on / off, but when worn, it overlaps the fabric to keep the hood opening snug around the face. It also allows for really good coverage since the overlap can be pulled up towards your mouth and the overlap keeps your neck warm.
Pockets are intentionally left off of these since this fabric doesn’t have enough structure to really hold much weight and most of the time bare Alpha is used as a mid layer. Weight in pockets on an Alpha garment are bouncy and put a lot of stress on the light fabric. When using Alpha for warmth, you definitely want a shell over it, which cuts off access to pockets anyway. Really the only time it makes sense to use Alpha without a shell is when you are very active and need to dump heat or just want a little bit of really breathable insulation.
Zippers are also intentionally not included in this garment. The fabric has mechanical ventilation built into it such that a zipper doesn’t make much sense for most people in most cases. There are some folks and use cases that warrant a zipper so there will likely be an Alpha jacket coming along in our line in the near future.