When I was hiking in America last summer, I was introduced to the world of sun hoodies. Without a doubt, the most common sun hoodie I saw was the Black Diamond Alpenglow Pro hoodie – so many people were wearing one as we crossed the Sierras. Sun-proof clothing seems like a really obvious item of kit: rather than slather yourself with suncream from bicep to fingertip, get a cool but long sleeved shirt to cover up. And the hood adds even more protection, especially if you’re like me and fed up of getting sunburnt on your head. This summer, I was keen to see whether these Black Diamond sun hoodies were worth the fuss.
What you Get
The women’s Alpenglow Pro hoody is a simple baselayer designed for prolonged sun exposure at high altitudes. The fabric is SPF 50+ (so like wearing factor 50 suncream) and currently comes in the choice of grey, purple or yellow. It claims to have “Polygiene odor control” and also a level of DWR water repellance. That seems like a slightly surprising feature, given that it’s very likely going to be wet from the inside rather than outside!
In terms of features, it’s got thumb holes, mesh underarm panels to help reduce sweat and a small zip – about the length you’d expect on a pull-over fleece. There is a small chest pocket but given the nature of the fabric and the position on a woman, you can’t really put anything in it. The hood is spacious and a little elasticated around the face. It’s big enough to fit a helmet in.
You can see all the tech specs and details on the official page for the women’s Alpenglow Pro hoody on the BD website.
Wearing the Black Diamond Alpenglow Pro Hoody
I wore this sun shirt for several trips throughout the summer. The most significant being the ten days I spent trekking in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. This was in late July and involved high temperatures, hot work (climbing passes and peaks at 3000 to 4000m) and full backpacks.
Zero Miles in…
Out the box, the first thing that struck me about the Black Diamond Alpenglow Pro hoodie was the fabric. It is so silky smooth and soft. Wearing it is very comfortable. The only thing that bothered me was how delicate the material would be in practice. It seemed like it would be easy to snag on just about anything with abrasion. For example, you definitely can’t brush past a gorse bush wearing it.
In terms of fit, it felt to-size. The hood is very deep so you really do need a peaked cap to keep it out of your face (if you intend to keep the hood up at all times). As mentioned above, there is a chest pocket but you can’t put anything in it with any weight or volume as it pulls down or bulges out. It’s just a really awkward place. And you could put paper in it, I suppose, but – at least in my case – it’s probably going to get wet from sweat.
50 Miles in…
After even one wear, I’d already managed to nag the fabric. Beyond that, the surface very quickly lost its silky smooth appearance on the outside. It was still comfy to wear, but the arms quickly began to look bobbled on the outside. In terms of sun protection, I used it often. Having the hood up you are very protected from the sun. Yes it’s not as cool as with a hood down and in a t-shirt, but it is surprisingly cool. The breathable patches under the arms helped a lot. And compared to other long-sleeved sun shirts I’ve worn this has by far the most breathable/cooling fabric. Of course it does still get hot if you’re slogging up a hill without a breeze in the height of the sun. But not bad enough that I wanted to take it off.
I also really like how the thumb holes are far enough down that the shirt covers up to my knuckles. I guess the other thing to note is that a fair few people I met thought it was funny. Sun protection is not something most people in the UK care about much and sub hoodies are rarely seen here.
100 Miles in…
What took me up to 100 miles was trekking the Toubkal Circuit in Morocco. We were there end of June into July and it was hot work – even though we’d often get up before dawn to make sure we were over the pass by midday. This was my only baselayer for the trip. So I can comment that it does indeed start to smell after several days of sweating into it – as you would expect from a synthetic baselayer. (P.S. Top image from this trip, taken by Alex Roddie.)
It picked up dirt and sweat stains too, but they washed out at the end of the trip. (The joke amongst the group was that I started out the colour of the mountains and was slowly blending into the background.) Even in this light colour, I had huge sweat patches on my back that were very visible once I took my rucksack off.
The abrasion of simply wearing a rucksack day after day definitely too its toll on the fabric. I now have huge bobbles on the backs of both shoulders – basically anywhere the rucksack straps were. In fairness I was wearing an Osprey Talon which doesn’t have a huge amount of strap padding, but still.
Another point is that there was no good place to put or way to tie my hair. Normally I’d have two long plaits, but these were incompatible with the long front zip. They got caught up or forced it open, requiring me to suncream my neck – which sort of defeats the point. I couldn’t have my hair under the sun shirt because it itched or rubbed on my bare skin. I ended up with a single long plait but this was far from ideal either – and I have too much hair to tie it up in a bun and still get the hood up. It worked fine, but it did mean I was constantly a bit hot around the neck. And I couldn’t ever do the zip up fully for maximum protection. (See the improvement section below for my ideas to solve this.)
What Went Well
Just because I haven’t written much in this section doesn’t mean it’s not great! When a simple piece of kit performs as it should there often isn’t a lot to say!
Cool and comfortable
It is a great sun shirt. The material is soft and cool. The shape and cut is well thought out. It just does the job and does it very well. Enough that I only wanted to wear this shirt out of the two I’d packed in Morocco despite how it was so dirty it could have stood up on its own.
Could do Better
How long will it be SPF50?
There is a question around durability. I wasn’t exactly wearing through after 100 miles but the shoulders are very worn and I wonder if they are still effectively blocking out the sun. Short of buying a UV camera, I can’t test that, but I’d want to think carefully before taking my shirt back up to a high alpine environment. I’ve got another summer adventure coming up at about 3000m – 5000m for 2 weeks and I’d probably want to buy a new one for that to be safe. That said, I still would choose the Black Diamond Alpenglow Pro hoody over others on the market.
A fix for long hair!
It doesn’t work seamlessly with long hair. What I’d like to try is cutting a hole in the back of the hood (think like a small flap) in line with the back of my peaked cap. That way people with a bun or ponytail could choose to slip it out the back. In my case, I could put it in a high ponytail and plait it down to the tip (think like Lara Croft), then have the whole lot outside of the hood. That would be much cooler and allow for the zip to be done up fully.
Perhaps this would look a little odd. I’m not sure. But it would certainly make the experience a whole lot more comfortable. I’ll try it and maybe report back!
Overall Verdict
The Black Diamond Alpenglow Pro Hoody is the best sunshirt I’ve worn so far. The material is light and cool, it repels the sun and has a roomy hood. The fabric does noticeably abrade with use – and there is no hiding sweat patches! – but it does very well to protect you from the sun at high altitudes.
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