Fleece is warm and light. It is also soft, and pack straps, rock and brush chew through it. So we put stretch nylon exactly where the damage happens.
Carry a heavy pack all day and the straps pill, thin and eventually rub through an ordinary fleece. Here the shoulders and upper back are stretch nylon, far harder-wearing than fleece, and it stretches so you never feel it.
“I’ve been hiking for about five days with a 45-pound backpack. Super comfortable, and I don’t have to worry about it peeling or making marks on my fleece.”Luke, on the Yukon trek
Kneel to filter water, lean on a boulder to catch your breath, push through brush. The elbows are nylon too.
Hip belts grind the lower sides of a fleece all day. Nylon runs down the sides to take it.
Every time you reach for your phone you rub the same spot. The pocket is framed in nylon so the fleece around it does not wear first.
The chest pocket has a locking zip slider and a zipper garage, so your phone or permit stays in and the pull does not rattle around.
Underneath all that reinforcement is Polartec Micro 100, the lightest fleece in Polartec’s classic range: warm for its weight, almost no bulk, breathable and fast-drying. Underarm vents dump heat on the climb. It is the piece that stays on when the shell comes off.
Defender 2026 is brand new, so here is what customers say about the Defender fleeces that came before it.
“What few mention is how dense it is! … it’s going to hold heat better and resist wind more than any fleece I’ve encountered, ever.”
“I wore it while hiking the alps in summer, going out with friends on a fall evening and now in the winter - it always performs and keeps you warm, when you need it to.”
“Sizing is spot on. Very warm in winter, and breathable when inside. … Best mid layer I’ve ever bought.”
“I’ve had the previous model for a year now. Great design, craftsmanship. The patch is a bit worn but everything else is still like new.”
“Better than any fleece hoodie I have purchased from name brand s in the past.”
“Washes very well - no sign of pilling or bobbling, even after numerous washes…comes up like new.”
Store-wide: 4.89★ from 5,469 reviews (Judge.me, 28 October 2026).
Journalist Christian Borys prints a sticker of a saint holding a Javelin, hoping to raise a few hundred dollars for Ukraine. Days later the full-scale invasion starts, and the saint goes around the world.
We move production into Ukraine. Military-inspired gear first, then a Defender collection every winter, each one pushing further outdoors.
Defender 2026: Polartec fleece made in Ukraine. Before launch we wore it 55 km off-trail through the Yukon backcountry, with nights down to −10 °C.
It is our lightweight fleece: warm while you move, light enough to keep on all day, and thin enough to layer under the Ninja Hoodie or the High Loft Jacket when it gets cold.
No. The panels are stretch nylon (91% nylon, 9% elastane), so they move with the fleece.
A regular fit with room for a base layer. Size guide on the product page.
Cut and sewn in ukraine, by teams who keep working through blackouts.
Midnight Black and Oatmeal, sizes S to XXL.
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