My review of the KETL Mtn Apparel brand Nofry Sun Hoodie

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

If TL;DR, just about perfect. The only con is that I’ve pulled two threads with a snaggy finger nail. (But KETL claims “If you ever damage any of your apparel, we'll repair it for free, for life.”)

I’ve worn my new Nofry sun hoodie on six outings now. Four here in Phx doing training hikes (wearing my backpack) in a mountain preserve. Two days on the LSM Section of the AZT. All have been very comfortable. Much more comfortable than my previous setup, which I thought was good. (A 32 Degrees brand Cool T-shirt (very breathable) with a Columbia brand button-down backpacking shirt (not very breathable), that latter which I typically wore unbuttoned for ventilation.) The Nofry is so light and so smooth (no scratching on my skin) that I forget that I have it on. (I can’t even feel if the hood is hanging behind me.) I don’t have any impulse to roll up the sleeves in the sun (to relieve heat). I’m kicking myself for not looking into this sooner.

(I hadn’t considered hoodies before because, aside from the counterintuitive reality that a hoodie can keep you cooler in the sun, most can’t be opened from the front. (Not button down.) But the Nofry has snap closures that open down to your cleavage/hairy chest. Good enough for me.)

In Phx I first wore it on a 90 F day in the afternoon with thickish altostratus clouds. (No direct visible sunlight.) Then around 1 pm at 96 F in the bright sun. A few days ago and today in bright sun, temps 90 and 80, two miles and four miles, respectively.

On the trail, a coolish 70 degree late afternoon with thick clouds and a strong breeze at times. For that day, I wore a thin shell windbreaker over the hoodie. I was able to control temperature by zipping/unzipping the shell and rolling up the sleeves on the shell half way.

It does what it says, in that it keeps the sun off your skin and so keeps you cool. Even more so when there’s the faintest breeze. (Even from walking in still air.) Think “Evaporative Cooling.”

Color choice is important as it goes to solar absorption. (I chose “Cloud.”) I recommend visiting this site, which has performed some good science in their review of hoodies. While they haven’t yet published their review of the Nofry, they are testing one now a report that “it already outperformed OR Echo (by a small margin) on the air pass through test!”

Do I noticeably sweat in the heat when there’s no breeze? Yes. On my back, where my backpack rests. But 1) it’s not the soaking sweat that I had with my previous setup. And 2) the moment there’s a breeze, it starts to dry quickly. In fact, in the Phx heat it provides a delightful chill whenever there's the slightest breeze blowing through it.

In my two days on the LSM, it barely took on body odor. (Less stinky than my previous setup.)

I haven't run into catclaw with it yet. So I can't comment on if it catches on thorns. (That was an advantage to my previous set up with my shirt. Nothing could grab it.)

I bought a L and a M size because 1) I wasn’t sure about fit and 2) they give you a 10% discount for buying two. (But I found a discount code for 15% on line.)

The L is a bit baggy, but baggy is what I want for the summer because I want something loose fitting. And the arms fit me better than the M in that they extend easily to my thumb junction. The only downside to the L is that the hood is very large and can flop over my eyes.

(Apparently they purposely make their hoods big because they expect that you’ll pull your hood over your hat. But I find that the hoodie material is more comfortable than the head band in my broad brim hat. So I adjust the hoodie where I want it on my head and use my hat to anchor it there.)

There is no cinch cord for the hood. The top snap will cinch it up well. But because the hood proper is so huge, if you're not wearing a hat over it (to anchor it) the hood will blow off in a breeze if facing a breeze.

The M is a taper fit of sorts for me. If I use the thumb-holes then the sleeves pull a little tight. I was going to exchange the M for a L (they were going to pay both ways for the exchange), but I decided to keep the M and use it for sleeping. In fact, I wore both the L and M while sleeping Friday night along the LSM trail, with both hoods on, which obviated the need for me to bring a sleeping hat/cap. Stayed warm. And again, they are comfortable sleeping clothes.

So now I guess I look like a “hoodlum” from the “Hood” when I backpack. I try to mitigate that by wearing my big hat. But how I look isn’t important. Keeping the sun off my arms and keeping me cool are what's important.

Am kinda looking forward to trying it out on a 100 degree day, just to see how it - and I - perform.

[xsproutx]

The advertisements have definitely been pushing this one to me. I'm wary of the SPF rating but the quarter-button front seems intriguing. You're correct on the hood sizing but it's usually meant to go over more of a ball cap style hat than a wide brim.
With it being 100% poly, don't you worry, the stink will come. My wife makes me keep my camping clothes out of the main closet for this reason because no matter how much specialized cleaner you use, the stink will stay.

[chumley]

no matter how much specialized cleaner you use, the stink will stay

Previous forum posts disagree with this assertion. Many here find success with vinegar, baking soda, Tide Sport, or borax. My most successful method is to purchase $8 shirts and discard them after about twenty uses. Apparently some people just stink!

[TooOld2Hike_EP]

@xsproutx
The site that I cited suggests that SPR Ratings are asymptotic. That there are diminishing returns, and SPF's higher than 30 don't provide much more protection.

[xsproutx]

Apparently some people just stink!

Guilty as charged
I am a heavy salty sweater. Pro's and cons. My wife is the same and while we can usually get her athletic equipment to not smell tooooo bad it's been hopeless with mine with every trick under the sun. I have a wool sun hoodie that's nice but too warm 50% of the time; that thing doesn't stink at least.

The site that I cited suggests that SPR Ratings are asymptotic. That there are diminishing returns, and SPF's higher than 30 don't provide much more protection.

Agree but the problem is that no one is really testing these things a ton. It's true about diminishing returns as you go up the UPF ladder, those extra 3% UV blocked can be important/desired for people like my wife who can frequently be used as a stand-in to calibrate a camera's white balance. With that said, though, that's not the real issue. The real issue as that these companies don't even test their own stuff really or, the ones who do, tend do not do it correctly/across the board (IE, different colors will block more/less). Even Patagonia got messed up on this and did a recall a couple of years ago when it came out that their hoodies they rated for 50 were actually performing at 35 on average. Still perfectly fine and 30 is really where you start to see the curve tighten, but if a large company like them vs these dropship adjacent companies mess it up, it makes me very suspect. I'm fortunate that I'm a bit darker complexion and don't have the same problems my wife does but even I still get burnt if I'm out for days and days and not careful.

[The_Eagle]

Apparently some people just stink!

So, you DO listen!

[Pivo]

My most successful method is to purchase $8 shirts and discard them after about twenty uses

The Reacher technique.

[xsproutx]

The Reacher technique.

Just punch the stink into submission?

[Pivo]

@xsproutx
First, Reacher would offer the 'stink' an easy way out and/ or recommend they bring more stink.You know what happens next.