Maehara　This is honestly my all-rounder. Out of the entire 100% Light Merino series, it’s probably the piece I use most. From spring through summer, I can do almost everything in this one layer. I don’t really hike low mountains in midsummer, but in the Northern Alps I’ll often wear just this. At elevation I don’t want to leave my arms exposed because of the sun, and with the hood up and the zipper fully open, air moves through the front while I still get that coverage.

Yuko　I use it mostly in the lower mountains outside the hottest part of the year.

Oji　I actually don’t wear the Hoody. The skin around my neck is sensitive, and friction there causes irritation. That’s also part of choosing what works for you.

Maehara　If I expect to keep something on continuously while hiking, I choose the Alpha Vest. If I want an insulation layer that I’ll take on and off, I choose the Active Pullover.

In my mind, the Active Pullover actually competes more with a down jacket.

Beyoncé　On American long trails, I used to wear a short-sleeve T-shirt, a shirt, and then a down jacket. There wasn’t really anything between the shirt and down.

Once I found the Active Pullover, I realized there were a lot of three-season situations where I simply didn’t need the down jacket anymore.

Now I don’t carry one for most three-season trips.

With down, I might put it on first thing in the morning because it’s cold, start walking, overheat ten minutes later, and take it off. With the Active Pullover, I can wake up, put it on, and just start moving.

Oji　Sometimes I wear the Active Pullover as my moving layer in low mountains during winter.

At camp, I put the UL All-weather over it and I’m done. It can really reduce how much clothing I carry.

George　I’ve been hiking for about ten years and have actually never bought a natural down jacket. I used Patagonia’s Nano-Air for years.

Now I use the Active Pullover with a shell in much the same way, and I made it through this entire winter with that system.

Maehara　Personally, I find midlayers made from a single layer of Alpha Direct too cold. Wind passes straight through them.

PrimaLoft Active is slightly less breathable, but for me the balance between warmth, airflow, and moisture management is better.

Beyoncé　What surprises people is the warmth for around 150 grams. If a down jacket weighs 200–300 grams, being able to cover many of those situations at roughly half the weight is incredibly useful.

Maehara　If I expect to keep something on continuously while hiking, I choose the Alpha Vest. If I want an insulation layer that I’ll take on and off, I choose the Active Pullover. In my mind, the Active Pullover actually competes more with a down jacket.

Beyoncé　On American long trails, I used to wear a short-sleeve T-shirt, a shirt, and then a down jacket. Once I found the Active Pullover, I realized there were a lot of three-season situations where I simply didn’t need the down jacket anymore. Now I don’t carry one for most three-season trips. With down, I might put it on first thing in the morning because it’s cold, start walking, overheat ten minutes later, and take it off. With the Active Pullover, I can wake up, put it on, and just start moving.

Oji　Sometimes I wear the Active Pullover as my moving layer in low mountains during winter. At camp, I put the UL All-weather over it and I’m done. It can really reduce how much clothing I carry.

George　I’ve been hiking for about ten years and have actually never bought a natural down jacket. I used Patagonia’s Nano-Air for years, and now I use the Active Pullover with a shell in much the same way. I made it through this entire winter with that system.

Maehara　Personally, I find midlayers made from a single layer of Alpha Direct too cold. Wind passes straight through them. PrimaLoft Active is slightly less breathable, but for me the balance between warmth, airflow, and moisture management is better.

Beyoncé　What surprises people is the warmth for around 150 grams. If a down jacket weighs 200–300 grams, being able to cover many of those situations at roughly half the weight is incredibly useful.

Oji　I tested this pretty thoroughly in Iceland. Even in seriously cold conditions, I could keep moving with just the Active Pullover and UL All-weather. I’ve also used the same system after getting completely soaked in the Northern Alps.

Maehara　UL All-weather can feel sticky directly against bare skin. Putting a long-sleeve layer underneath creates some loft and makes the whole system much more comfortable. It could be a trail shirt instead, but having something between my skin and the shell works much better.

Yuko　If I wear UL All-weather over a short-sleeve layer, I’ll often add Light Alpha Arm Sleeves so the shell isn’t directly against my arms. Against bare skin it can stick and feel cold, and I notice moisture building up inside from my own sweat. I really dislike feeling clammy, so I try to avoid wearing it directly against bare skin.

Maehara　For summer at higher elevations, like the Northern Alps, I choose the Merino Shirt. If I expect to take a shirt on and off or use it more like a wind shell, I go with the UL Shirt, while Bamboo Shirt comes out when I want a little more warmth. Kami Shirt feels almost like a base layer to me—maybe a “1.5 layer.” I first used it in Tanzawa in December over a base layer and under a wind shell. Personally, I feel more airflow through the UL Shirt, so I tend to prefer it when there’s wind.

Oji　My experience with Kami Shirt at elevation is almost the opposite of Maehara’s. It actually feels cold to me when there’s wind, so I prefer the UL Shirt at elevation for a little more wind protection and warmth. Kami Shirt is great in low mountains when I’m not moving at extremely high intensity. The idea of it being a “1.5-layer base layer” makes a lot of sense to me. Merino Shirt is something I wear for fastpacking. If I want to carry as little as possible, know I’ll sweat heavily, and don’t want to worry about odor, I’ll go with a Merino Short Sleeve Shirt. Bamboo Shirt is more for low mountains in late autumn or early spring, especially when I’m walking more slowly with other people.

ーWhy the short sleeves?

Oji　Because it’s hot. I’ll wear a tank top too, but the straps can rub my shoulders under a backpack, and I’m not a big fan of the higher neckline on sleeveless tops.

George　My use is almost identical to Oji’s. I use Merino Shirt in the Alps. I originally wore the long-sleeve version, but I was constantly taking layers on and off, and wet long-sleeve merino is heavy and slow to dry. Once I switched to short sleeves so I could simply leave it on, everything clicked. I use my Bamboo Shirt a lot in everyday life because it’s durable, but if I have merino available, I don’t find much of a place for Bamboo on my own hikes. I haven’t used Kami Shirt enough yet, but on paper it may actually suit me best.

Yuko　In the Alps, I usually carry the UL Shirt, mostly because I spend so much time not wearing it. I run hot, so unless I’m starting early in the morning or dealing with strong, cold wind, it’s often inside my backpack. If I already know the weather will be bad, though, I take the long-sleeve Merino Shirt. At lower elevations in summer, I often use the Merino Short Sleeve Shirt over a DF Mesh Merino or 100% Light Merino sleeveless base layer. I can open the front for ventilation, it resists odor, and I don’t need to carry another shirt. I’ve only used Kami Shirt in winter so far, but I suspect it might eventually replace the UL Shirt for some of my summer use.

Beyoncé　Unlike everyone else here, I rarely choose short sleeves. I like long sleeves because a shirt gives me more ways to adjust to temperature changes. Since having a child, I also do more relaxed hiking, and for slower hikes around Mt. Kintoki in spring or autumn I’ll often choose Bamboo Shirt. With Kami Shirt, what stood out to me was how it handled moisture before I even felt sweaty. On a hike in the Southern Alps last year, it dried fast, stayed comfortable, and didn’t develop those wet areas around rolled-up sleeves. For longer summer days at elevation, that lightness feels really good.

Yuhi　I only recently took the Kami Shirt out for the first time. At first, the thin fabric made me nervous. After rain, I was walking through wet sasa grass and the shirt kept getting soaked, but the next time I looked it was already dry. It was cloudy and incredibly humid, but it had dried anyway. Later I was sweating heavily and the shirt was properly wet, but I still didn’t get that unpleasant sticky feeling. It made me wonder whether Kami Shirt might eventually replace the UL Shirt for some of my hiking. The UL Shirt is still the shirt I can take almost anywhere with the most confidence, while Bamboo Shirt is what I trust most in cooler seasons and when I’m pushing through brush on fishing trips.

Maehara　I’ve been wearing the same pair of 5-Pocket Shorts for nine years. They’re the Nomad color from 2018. I took them on a long trail in New Zealand, and I still wear them now. The first thing that comes to mind is simply how tough they are.

Oji　We hear a lot that the 5-Pocket Shorts work across a very long season. They strike a good balance for everything from everyday life to lower-elevation hiking: lightweight, fast-drying, but still reasonably tough. That also makes them easy to recommend to someone buying their first Yamatomichi bottoms. People sometimes assume ultralight hiking gear must be fragile, but this is a product where we can confidently push back against that idea. Another comment we hear often is that the fabric has enough structure that it doesn’t cling to the skin.

Yuko　I completely agree. You might expect the fabric to stick, but the cut and firmness of the material keep it away from the body. It feels secure without that unpleasant sensation of wet fabric clinging to your legs.

ーThere’s clearly much more to say about shorts, so we’ll save the full comparison for another Product Focus.

Maehara　Hearing how everyone else explains these products was useful. It also reminded me that these are exactly the kinds of conversations we already have in the shop.

Yuhi　It was interesting realizing how differently other people use the same products. There are several things I want to try now.

George　I wear Yamatomichi almost exclusively, but I’ve always found other people’s experiences more interesting than my own. There was a lot here I want to take with me.

Beyoncé　It was reassuring to find that some of the situations where we use things are similar, while the differences between everyone were also really interesting.

Yuko　When I’m talking with customers, it’s easy to explain things through my own experience and body type. It’s much harder to describe what might work for someone whose body reacts differently, so hearing everyone else’s experiences was really useful.

Oji　We’ve always had conversations like this, but we haven’t really recorded them. If we keep building up these discussions, I think it can deepen everyone’s understanding of the products.