Outdoor Research Vigor Quarter Zip
Most versatile top
Our take Simplify your gear closet: This top took us from powder skiing at -30°F to shoulder-season hikes in the 50s, thanks to OR’s new phase-changing ActiveTemp treatment, a polymer coating on the interior. When you’re cool, the coating is a hydrophobic liquid that helps trap heat. (It doesn’t feel wet against the skin; an electrically charged bond keeps it adhered to the fibers.) But when you heat up, the coating turns into a hydrophilic, quick-wicking solid. “When skinning up Wyoming’s steep Snow King Mountain, the big waffle pattern on the inside pulled moisture off my skin and kept me warm on the ski down,” one tester reports.
The details Fit runs on the loose side, which helps the Vigor pull double duty as a midlayer. The long sleeves stay tucked under gloves and the chest pocket fits an iPhone X. Minus: We saw pilling on the shoulders after a season of use.
Trail cred “The long cut kept me warm from my neck all the way down to the tops of my thighs, and never came untucked,” one tester says.
10.9 oz. (m’s L); m’s S-XXL, w’s XS-XL