Patagonia Men's Merino 2 Lightweight Zip Neck

Patagonia Men's Merino 2 Lightweight Zip Neck

Merino 2 is our most versatile merino baselayer fabric. It's naturally breathable, regulates body temperature, and has a great warmth-to-weight ratio to keep you dry and comfortable during active pursuits in cool to cold conditions. Slim fit. As handy as a good alibi when you're roused for bivying at the base of El Cap, our most versatile merino baselayer will keep you dry and comfortable during active pursuits in cool to cold conditions. Naturally breathable and soft on your skin, merino regulates body temperature, has a great warmth-to-weight ratio, resists odor, and stretches as you move.

Our wool comes from non-mulesed Australian merino sheep. We slow-wash it for softness and shrink-resistance without the use of environmentally harmful chlorine, and blend it with 20% polyester (100% recycled) for increased durability, resilience and moisture-management. The raglan-sleeve design allows full shoulder mobility, wide cuff bands keep sleeves in place when pushed up, and offset side seams feel smooth beneath pack straps. Machine-wash cold; machine dry at low temperatures. bluesign®-approved fabric. Merino wool/polyester blend keeps you dry and comfortable even when wet, is stronger and more durable than 100% wool, has a softer hand, naturally controls odor, and wicks perspiration.

18.9 micron-gauge yarn and jersey-knit construction. Top and bottom of zipper covered for next-to-skin comfort. Raglan sleeve seams won't chafe beneath pack straps. Wide cuff band helps keep sleeves in place when pulled up. Side seams offset to eliminate irritation. Slow-washed without chlorine to prevent shrinkage, Bluesign® approved fabric. Machine-wash cold, tumble dry at low temperature 4.9-oz (165-g) 80% chlorine-free merino wool/20% all-recycled polyester 230 g (8.1 oz)

Material: Chlorine-free Wool
Raw, untreated wool has scales that make it itchy and coarse and cause it to shrink, so most wool fabrics are treated with chlorine to reduce the scales. But chlorine is a pervasive pollutant that’s especially harmful to organisms living in water and soil. We remove the scales from our merino wool fibers using a unique chlorine-free process that’s bluesign approved.

Technology
At Patagonia we seek to build the best product and cause no unnecessary harm. That's our mission statement, and it takes many forms. As it applies to making products, we work hard to source materials and use processes that are less harmful to the Earth without compromising quality. Because to us, quality is not only how well a product performs and holds up, but also how it's made.

The bluesign® standard The bluesign® standard brings together the entire textile manufacturing supply chain to jointly reduce the ecological footprint of the apparel production process. Instead of focusing on finished product testing, the bluesign® standard analyzes all input streams – from raw materials and chemical components to resources – with a sophisticated “Input Stream Management” process. Prior to production, components are assessed based on their eco-toxicological impact and risk. Potentially harmful substances can hence be eliminated before production even begins. The bluesign® standard addresses consumers’ growing desire for quality products that also meet the highest criteria regarding sustainability. Due to its holistic and systematic approach, the bluesign® standard ensures that components and procedures used along the supply chain are as harmless to human beings and the environment as possible. Products made according the bluesign® standard thus meet the highest standards of consumer protection, resource efficiency, and worker health and safety.

Merino Wool: Exceptionally soft, naturally breathable and warm even when wet, merino regulates body temperature, has a great warmth-to-weight ratio, naturally controls odor and stretches as you move. Patagonia merino wool comes from nonmulesed, Australian merino sheep. We slow wash it for softness and shrink-resistance without the use of environmentally harmful chlorine, then blend it with all-recycled polyester for durability, wicking and faster dry times, unmatched by 100% merino clothing. Over the years, we’ve experimented with a variety of merino fabrications, most recently using 100% merino wool in our Baselayer line. Despite a high level of comfort in the finished garments, their durability did not meet our quality standards. This forced us to ask if we were living up to our mission to build the highest quality products and do no unnecessary harm (building products that can’t take a beating requires continued production of new products, instead of fewer products better made). By blending recycled polyester into our finished merino garments, we were able to dramatically increase durability. There are other benefits. Our wool/poly blend boosts the natural wicking ability of merino wool (meaning less clammy feeling, since your garments stay dry next to skin) and reduces overall dry times. The resulting garment provides higher performance in the field, is less fussy to care for and remains exceptionally soft against the skin, naturally odor resistant and machine washable. bluesign® certification ensures the use of the best available technology in reducing water and energy use and minimizing pollution from dyes and finishes.

Recycled Polyester: To Patagonia, quality means more than how a garment looks or functions: It also includes the way it affects the environment and quality of life. This means working to source materials and develop processes that minimize damage to the environment. In 1993, we adopted fleece into our product line made from post consumer recycled plastic soda bottles. We were the first outdoor clothing manufacturer to do so. PCR® clothing was a positive step towards a more sustainable system – one that uses fewer resources, discards less and better protects people’s health. Over the course of 13 years, we saved some 86 million soda bottles from the trash heap. That’s enough oil to fill the 40-gallon gas tank of the diminutive Chevy Suburban 20,000 times. Today, we're able to utilize more sources for recycled polyester and offer it on more garments such as Capilene baselayers, shell jackets and board shorts, as well as fleece. We now recycle used soda bottles, unusable second quality fabrics and worn out garments into polyester fibers to produce many of our clothes. We've also started the world's first garment recycling program – bring us your old, worn-out Capilene baselayer, Patagonia fleece or Polartec® fleece (from any maker) and we'll make a new polyester garment from it using an innovative process developed by our friends at TEJIN. Benefits of recycled polyester: Lessens dependence on oil Curbs discards, thereby prolonging landfill life and reducing toxic emissions from incinerators Helps to promote a new recycling stream for polyester clothing that is no longer wearable Creates less air, water and soil contamination