Mountain Hardwear Dual Fleece Jacket

Perfect weight fleece, lots of features, good fit.

I picked this fleece up on SteepandCheap for around $50, I couldn't pass it up at that price, considering how much I love my MH Monkey Man fleece.  They only had the pine tree color, so I got it.  

- Fit is great, slim through the arms and somewhat slim through the body.  It has a bit of a drop hem in the back, which looks nice.  The cuffs at the wrist are great, really comfortable, and tight, not all baggy.  

I'm 5'10", and usually wear a small in outdoor-ish garments, but I have a medium in the Monkey Man and decided to get a medium in this.  Fits almost the same, with sleeves an inch or two shorter (Monkey Man sleeves are ridiculously long), and the torso is a bit longer (Monkey Man torso is pretty short for a medium jacket).  In other words, I like the fit more than the Monkey Man, which I already like quite a bit.

- Zipper is nice, works well, it has two hand warmer pockets and a chest pocket, much like other MH jackets, all are really nice.  No complaints.  There are elastic pull adjustments with a cord lock on the bottom hem, a nice touch for a fleece.

- The material selection on this jacket is the best part.  The outer fleece is nice, I've never been a huge fan of fleece, as it is really static prone, not windproof, pills, gets all gross and stained, and gets smelly.  The outer fleece material is a lot better than other though, it's pretty smooth, fine to the touch, almost a micro fleece, and doesn't attract static.  It's nice.  

Then there are the stretchy side panels and under the arms. They look nice (black contrasting with the green), and feel nice, as well as vent heat well from the armpits.  Inside the fleece, the lining is the Monkey Man jacket material, and it feels so nice.  It's not the Polartec branded stuff, but it feels almost the same, maybe just a bit less thick and dense.  

Overall, the variety and placement of materials really make this a great fleece. It feels a LOT more windproof than the Monkey Man as well, mostly because the face fabric feels denser. However, the tradeoff is that it is a bit less warm.  This is good and bad.  Good if you just want to wear it casually, I find myself overheating frequently if I wear the Monkey Man indoors, but not so with the Dual. However, outdoors, hiking, etc, in the bitter cold, the MM is much warmer, which can be an advantage.  Totally depends on the application.

- Layers really well, because it's smooth and not too hot.  Fits pretty well under my Arc'teryx Alpha SL Pullover (size small).  

Overall, really a great fleece, good weight, especially if you want something that you wear outside in the cold and then just keep on when you go inside, and it's not too windy.  It fits well, keeps you warm, has a ton of nice features, and the materials are top notch.  Really pleased with this purchase, although the pine tree color isn't my favorite.  Recommended.

Tailor fit, very warm with mind blowing softness.

I bought this fleece jacket in size S and it fits perfectly! It is a tight fit, but not restricting, and there is still enough room for layering. The stretchy side panels really give you freedom of movement.

The warmth of this jacket is superb. It has "monkey fur" fleece over the torso, sleeves, and pockets. The outer fleece is dense and relatively efficient against wind and light rain.

The monkey fur is the softest thing I have ever touched. I just can't take this jacket off, and the fur inside the pockets is a dream. I never enjoyed a garment this much in my life :)

The durability is excellent as well. I've used it for two months every day for a field job, and later took it on a four-month hike, and most nights I used it a a pillow. It retained its loft and warmth, although I wouldn't recommend sleeping on it as it will flatten it over time.

This will be my fleece jacket as long as they continue to sell it.