Warmth / Weight
Although the Cap 4 Pro is one of Patagonia’s heaviest baselayers, I found the top and bottoms to be very versatile and really comfortable in a wide range of temperatures.
I’ve worn just the bottoms under my hard shell pants while touring on warm days with temps upwards of 40ºF, and while they were a little heavy, I never felt excessively hot or overheated with my pant vents open. Temps have been pretty warm this winter in Colorado, so I’ve haven’t gotten out when it’s super cold, but I’ve worn the Boot Bottoms while touring down to 15ºF and was perfectly comfortable.
Lapping the resort for the last two months, I’ve worn the Boot Bottoms almost every day. Above 45ºF (which, freakishly, it has been on occasion), I’ll wear my lightest weight merino bottoms, but I’ve stayed plenty cool in the Cap 4 Pro Boot Bottoms on most other warm, sunny resort days. When the temps drop, I’ve been comfortable in just the Bottoms down to 15ºF or so, and will add another mid weight base layer on top if it’s any colder.
I’ve found the Zip-Neck top equally versatile. When skiing the resort, I usually like to have two baselayers on top, so will often wear a super thin merino top underneath on warmer days above 35ºF under a hardshell. On slightly cooler days I might add my Patagonia Nano puff over my baselayers, which I’ll then swap out for a thicker, down puffy when it’s below 20ºF. Whatever the temperature range, I’ll pretty much always wear the Zip-Neck and adjust my other layers accordingly.
I’ve worn the Zip-Neck on several day trips and brought it on a three day hut trip, where I used it every day. On a cooler day around 25ºF where we were skinning in and out of the shade, I was comfortable all day skinning in just the top. Although there were points when I was pretty sweaty or felt a little chilled when out of the sun, the top overall kept me at a happy medium, and I was surprised how fast my sweat dried out.
On warm spring days, it’s definitely a little heavy to be touring in, but on most other days when it’s not cold enough to be wearing a puffy on the uptrack, the Zip-Neck is a great, comfortable option.
I tend to run a little cold, so I may be happier than you in the these heavier layers in warmer temps. But overall, I’ve been quite impressed by how the range of temperatures I can wear them in.
Polygiene and Odor
While I’ve been super happy with how the Cap 4 Pro pieces feel, I wasn’t going to be super psyched if they smelled terrible really fast. A lot of synthetics these days are made with some sort of anti microbial treatment to help reduce odor. But I’ve yet to find any application that compares to the ability of merino to stave off odors longer than most other fabrics. This was my first experience with Polygiene, and I was curious to see how well it would do.
Patagonia has a pretty in-depth description of Polygiene on their site, which goes into the details on its responsible sourcing and applications, too. Check out Patagonia’s site for more information, but essentially, Polygiene uses silver salt (silver chloride) to prevent the growth of odor-causing bacteria on fabrics. The particles are safe to have next-to-skin, and have been extensively tested to ensure that they don’t cause irritation. The particles don’t interfere with the body’s natural processes of sweating, but target the bacteria generated through sweating that have the potential to multiply, which causes body odor. The treatment is meant to last for the whole life of the garment, and allows users to not have to wash the pieces as often since they supposedly won’t get smelly as quickly.
As I mentioned above, I have pretty much been wearing the Pro Top and Boot Bottoms every day for several months. I’ve worn them on colder days in the resort where I’m not sweating too much; on shorter day tours; and on a multi-day hut trips. And I’ve actually been quite impressed. I’ve really had no issues with the bottoms, and have only washed them once or twice. While some may not like to hear this (especially my mom), I’ve definitely been able to wear the top for longer than my other synthetic tops, and usually wash it after wearing it for five or six days. While I am still able to wear merino pieces slightly longer, I see a big improvement over other synthetics I’ve worn.
Durability
The Zip-Neck and Boot Bottoms have held up well, and I haven’t had any rips or tears. The main issue I’ve had with the bottoms, though, has been a bit of pilling all over. I haven’t experienced this on the top, so my guess is that the pilling is caused by the friction between the inside of my hard shell Trew Tempest ski pants and the fabric. I haven’t really noticed this same sort of pilling issue on my other long underwear bottoms when worn under the Tempest pants, and the pilling seems to have halted when I wear my Scott Explorair Pants. I think the combination of a rougher inner fabric on the hardshell and a softer base layer fabric has been causing the issue; it hasn’t been too bad, but is slightly annoying.
I haven’t had the fabric on the Zip-Neck stretch out at all, though have noticed the Boot Bottoms have stretched just a bit around the butt.
Additional Features
Rather than thumb holes built into the fabric, the Zip Neck has a small, thin loop attached to the sleeve. The idea is to make it low profile, so you can tuck it back into the sleeve if you’re not using it. Because the loops aren’t super comfortable, I didn’t find myself using them too often, although it was nice that they aren’t in the way if you want to just put them in the sleeve. It would also be easy to snip the loops off without damaging the top’s fabric if you don’t intend to use them.
The Zip-Neck has a high collar that is meant to function like a neck warmer. I personally have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the collar, since I pretty much always wear a warm neck warmer or a lighter buff-like neckie; so I don’t really need that additional bulk and protection. The only time I would really use it for stand-alone neck protection is on warmer days when I’d just be touring in the Zip-Neck. I do actually really like the look of the high neck, but when I’m not using it as a neck warmer, it does kind of get in the way when it’s under other tops or fleeces. It’s not too thick, but it’s enough material that it adds a bit of extra bulk. But if you don’t typically wear a neck warmer or buff, I think you will like the looks and the functionality of the high collar.
Bottom Line
I’ve been really pleased with Patagonia’s new Capilene 4 Pro Zip-Neck and Boot Bottoms, and I’ve worn them pretty much every time I’ve gone skiing since I’ve had them. They are an excellent weight that works great for days skiing either in the resort or the backcountry, and they are comfortable, versatile, and have a great fit, while also offering the best odor control of any synthetic base layers I’ve used yet.