Rab PS Zip Review

in Outdoor Gear by Simon — December 11, 2011 at 8:57 pm | 4 comments

Power Stretch, it’s made by Polartec and it’s cool … or warm … you know what I mean. It’s cool, but it keeps you warm, at least that’s what everyone says, but I’d never tried it before and so when the opportunity arose to get my hands on a Power Stretch top and try one out on the hills I wasn’t going to pass it up. My choice of baselayer over the last few years has been a pure merino wool long-sleeved zip-top and I love them regardless of the season. However, with the colder weather something a little warmer than my merino baselayers was an attractive thought and those thoughts turned to Power Stretch.

A word about Power Stretch before we go any further – Polartec have this to say about Power Stretch:

Ideal for all sporting activities – from jogging to mountain climbing to equestrian pursuits – where maximum freedom of movement, and clean profiles are desired. Adaptable to changeable weather conditions, Polartec® Power Stretch® garments make an excellent base layer and can be layered over lighter garments, or serve as warm outerwear.

The fabric has a fleece inner face that traps air and provides touch points to wick moisture to the smooth outer face where the moisture spreads out and evaporates – Polartec claim that Power Stretch dries twice as fast as cotton. The smooth outer face is also wind and abrasion resistant. Combined with the 4-way stretch the aim is to create a garment that is close fitting and highly breathable, which keeps your skin dry when you sweat.

The aforementioned opportunity came about courtesy of GO Outdoors and after perusing their range of thermals I asked them to send me the Rab PS Zip top, which is Rab’s take on a Power Stretch top. Now let’s get one thing straight, this top is tight, very tight, but that’s how it is supposed to be. Even so, as I pulled the size large top over my head I had a few brief moments wondering if I had made an awful mistake. A few moments of fiddling later and everything was comfortably in place, and I do mean comfortably; despite it’s figure hugging cut the 4-way stretch of the Power Stretch fabric makes the garment very comfortable to wear. Getting the top on and off is made easier by the very long front zip – probably a full ½ zip – which also provides a venting option in the case of overheating.

The back of this zip is covered by a soft fabric that blocks the wind from coming through the zip and ensures a nice soft next-to-skin feeling. The zip extends right up to the top of the high neck, which is high enough to cover the neck, but which sits comfortably below the chin. There is a second zip on the Rab PS Zip top, which closes the single chest pocket on the left hand side. The inside of this chest pocket is lined with a thick mesh, but with a pocket “floor” of a solid material, presumably for durability. Having said that, I’m not sure I’d ever want to actually put anything in this pocket. For that matter I’m not even sure what could be put in this pocket without causing some sort of discomfort. Now there’s a word I didn’t think I’d be using in relation to the top, because I found the garment extremely comfortable to wear. At the end of the long arms you get two holes for the price of one in the form of thumb-loops. Thumbs loops are an opinion-splitter, some people love them and some people hate them. I can see both sides of the argument as I have a top where the thumb loops don’t work, but on the Rab PS Zip they work brilliantly.

Now when I say comfortable I have to clarify what I mean by that and in what conditions I felt comfortable wearing the Rab PS Zip top. Rewind to a cold Tuesday morning when I drove down to the Mournes and picked up my mate Tim on the way. We had discussed a rough route of where we wanted to go, but when we got down to the hills the sight of some of the more nearby peaks covered in snow made us change our plans. Most people reading this will be familiar with that pre-walk routine of changing socks and tops and stuffing things into packs – all the usual stuff. One of the first things I did was to pull off my t-shirt and Mountain Hardware micro-fleece and pull on the Rab PS Zip. I was wearing it as a baselayer and while we got the rest of our gear together I felt comfortable in the chilly morning air. By comfortable I mean that I was not noticeably cold or warm, things felt just right. As we started to climb our first hill this feeling of comfort persisted. The  close fit of the Power Stretch material against my skin kept in a nice layer of warm air while wicking away any moisture that I was producing. As we gained a little altitude the wind picked up a little bit, but the smooth face fabric kept the wind at bay until we stopped for a quick snack, at which point I pulled on my Rab Stretch Neo for a little extra wind proofing. We continued on, while the clouds began to gather and fresh snow began to fall.

At the summit of our first hill the wind was strong and drove snow into both Tim’s eyes and mine during the obligatory summit photographs. The stinging bite of ice in my right eye was the only discomfort I was feeling, the combination of the Power Stretch and the Stretch Neo seemed to be a perfect partnership. Pushing on and off the first mountain we hit the second mountain and Tim told me to “go for it”. Earlier in the year I had worn the Mountain Equipment Firefox Active Shelljacket and I knew that if I hit this hill hard I would be sweating just as hard by the time I reached the summit. I’m not saying this is an applies-with-apples comparison as Active Shell with a merino base layer in the summer is clearly not the same as a NeoShell jacket with a Power Stretch base layer in the winter, but what I can say is that at no point during the ascent did I feel overly warm, nor did I feel clammy let alone sweaty. At the summit I put my hand inside the base layer and felt my back; there was the merest suggestion of moisture on my skin and the Power Stretch felt dry. I had to wait for Tim for about 5 minutes in the stiff summit wind and during that time I continued to feel comfortable, although based on our next stop I think this was because I had generated enough heat to keep me going for that short stop. Our next stop was in the shelter of some crags for lunch and while I was still comfortable, the extended stop in sub-zero conditions made me wish I had a nice Primaloft jacket in my bag to throw on over the top of my shell.

One more easy summit and we were standing looking at the last summit of the day, but with the snow underfoot we had made slower progress than we had hoped, so we dropped down into the valley and out of the snow line. The feel of the day changed, especially when the rain started and the light began to fade, but we had both expected to be finishing the walk in the dark so out came the head torches. About 7 hours after we started we were back at the car and having a feel of each other … get your minds out of the gutter please! I had just felt inside the Rab PS Zip and it was totally dry, yes that’s what I said totally dry, and just to make sure I wasn’t imagining it I asked Tim for his opinion. He quickly corroborated my assessment. The bottom line here is that I know that my normal setup of a merino base layer, with a fleece mid layer and a GORETEX hardshell would have left me damp to a certain degree at the end of a day like that. Not so the Rab PS Zip. As I mentioned at the start, I had heard good things about Power Stretch and I can now add my voice to those who have gone before me and praised its virtues … at least in its incarnation as the Rab PS Zip. This is going to be my new winter base layer. If I need to add warmth then a light base layer underneath might be all I need. As for the Stretch Neo … that’s for another review, watch this space!

The specs of the Rab PS Zip are as follows:

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