A fleece is the layer you add and remove as you warm up and cool down.
Choose the one that fits you and opens easily.
Buy the Montane Protium in the cut that fits you. The Men’s Protium Fleece Jacket has no hood, and the Women’s Protium Hooded Fleece has one.
These fleeces use soft polyester-based fabric.
It sits between your base layer, the layer next to your skin, and your waterproof.
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Three fleeces, by zip and hood:
- Montane Men’s Protium Fleece Jacket: grid-backed fleece, full-length zip, no hood
- Montane Women’s Protium Hooded Fleece: grid-backed fleece, full zip, with a hood
- Berghaus Men’s Prism Micro Polartec Fleece: Polartec Classic microfleece, full zip, no hood
| Your day out | What to carry |
|---|---|
| You want a grid-backed fleece with a full-length zip and no hood | Montane Men's Protium Fleece Jacket |
| You want a grid-backed fleece with a full zip and a hood | Montane Women's Protium Hooded Fleece |
| You want a Polartec Classic microfleece, or one that zips into a compatible waterproof | Berghaus Men's Prism Micro Polartec Fleece |
Montane Men's Protium Fleece Jacket
You want a grid-backed fleece with a full-length zip and no hood
Montane Men's Protium Fleece Jacket Grid-backed THERMO GRID fleece, no hoodFull-length front zip, two zipped hand pockets Read the full specification on AmazonMontane lists this jacket with THERMO GRID fleece, a full-length front zip, two zipped hand pockets and no hood.
The grid is a pattern in the fabric that Montane says traps warm air without making the fleece thicker.
The zip opens the whole front, so you can cool down without taking the jacket off.
This fleece adds no hood of its own.
Montane Women's Protium Hooded Fleece
You want a grid-backed fleece with a full zip and a hood
Montane Women's Protium Hooded Fleece Grid-backed THERMO GRID fleeceFull zip and a hood Read the full specification on AmazonMontane lists this jacket with THERMO GRID fleece, a full zip and a hood.
The fabric has the same brushed back and grid pattern as the men’s Protium above.
The hood gives your head cover at a stop. With your waterproof off, you can pull it up over your head, which a hoodless fleece cannot offer.
Berghaus Men's Prism Micro Polartec Fleece
You want a Polartec Classic microfleece, or one that zips into a compatible waterproof
Berghaus Men's Prism Micro Polartec Fleece Polartec Classic microfleece, full zip, no hoodTwo zipped hand pockets, InterActive range Read the full specification on Amazon Berghaus lists Polartec Classic microfleece (100% polyester), a full zip, two zipped hand pockets and a drawcord at one side of the hem.
It has no hood.
Montane names a grid-backed fleece for the Protium, and Berghaus names a microfleece, a fine, soft fleece fabric.
It belongs to Berghaus’s InterActive range, which zips into compatible waterproof jackets. That works only with a shell made for it, so check your waterproof’s listing first.
What a fleece does between base layer and waterproof
A layering system has three parts.
The base layer sits next to your skin, the fleece goes over it, and the waterproof goes on top.
Montane describes its Protium fleece as a layer to wear on its own on warmer, sunnier days, or under a waterproof when it is colder. It says the fabric moves moisture and heat away from the body during hard effort.
The fleece is the part you take on and off as the day changes.
Grid or classic, full zip or half, hood or none
Grid fleece has a gridded pattern in the fabric. Montane says the pattern traps warm air without adding thickness.
The Berghaus is the classic option here.
It is sold as a Polartec Classic microfleece, not as a grid-backed fabric.
Full zip opens from hem to collar, so you can vent while walking.
A half zip is a pullover with a short zip at the chest.
Montane makes the Protium in both styles.
All three fleeces above are full zip.
A hood gives you cover at a stop. The hooded Protium has one, and the other two add none.
Padded jackets hold a filling between two layers of fabric. Synthetic filling is man-made fibre, and down is the soft under-feathers of ducks or geese.
A fleece has no filling, so a padded jacket is a different garment, not a second thing to buy.
Which layer for which day
The fleece goes outside on mild days and under the waterproof as it gets colder.
- Mild, dry, sunny path: wear the fleece as your top layer once you cool down, with the waterproof in the rucksack.
- Cool with showers: put the fleece under the waterproof when rain starts, and keep a dry layer spare.
- Cold wind on open ground: wear base layer, fleece and waterproof together. Carry a spare warm layer, choosing its warmth for the forecast and your stops.
Where a fleece stops
A fleece under a waterproof does not make a winter summit walk safe.
The Eryri National Park Authority manages Eryri, the national park. It says reaching the summit in winter conditions is impossible without specialised equipment such as crampons or ice axes, and knowing how to use them.
A fleece is the layer in between.
It does not replace that equipment or the decision to turn back.
We compile and explain public route and safety information. We guide nobody and sell nothing on the hill.
Do you already own a fleece that will work?
Check your own before buying any of the three. It can work if all of these are true:
- It fits over your base layer.
- Your waterproof closes over it without pulling, and you can raise your arms.
- It is warm enough for the conditions you walk in, including the stops.
The grid back, the zip length and the hood change how a fleece is built, not where it goes in your layers.
A merino base layer goes under it, and the rest of what to pack for walking in Snowdonia goes in the rucksack.
If you already own a fleece that passes those three checks, you have your middle layer and do not need to buy another.
