A day on our Yukon trek, from the frozen tent zip to the sleeping bag, and the one layer that went through all of it.
Below freezing, breath steaming, fingers slow. The Ninja Hoodie goes on over the base layer before anything else, and the hood comes up before you have found your boots.
Polartec 200, Polartec’s classic midweight fleece, a fabric that has served in US military cold-weather gear, starts working the second it is on.
Once the pack is on and you are climbing, you heat up fast. Open the zip, push the hood back, keep moving.
The fleece breathes, so the sweat leaves instead of soaking in, and the nylon panels on the forearms and lower sides take the rub of the straps and hip belt.
Then you crest the pass and the wind finds you. Zip it all the way up: the hood closes around your face like a balaclava.
Storm guard behind the zip, bungee hem pulled tight. No stopping to dig through the pack for a face cover.
Standing still is when cold gets in. The hoodie stays on while the tent goes up and the stove gets going.
Hands in the fleece-lined zip pockets, gloves and a headlamp in the kangaroo pocket. It dries fast, so the damp from the day is gone by dinner.
On the coldest nights it went into the sleeping bag with us. Soft, warm, nothing scratchy at the face.
Same hoodie, next morning, out of the tent again.
Saint Javelin did not start as an outdoor brand. It started as a sticker. Every year since, we have pushed further into making gear that holds up, and every Defender collection is the proof of where we have got to.
Journalist Christian Borys prints a sticker: a saint in green robes holding a Javelin. He hopes to raise a few hundred dollars for Ukraine. Days later Russia launches its full-scale invasion, and the saint goes around the world.
We stop being a meme and start being a maker. Production moves into Ukraine, and we start learning how to make things that last.
Our first cold-weather collection: a fleece, and the padded work socks people still buy from us today.
Defender moves to Polartec: quarter-zip fleeces, a sherpa hoodie and thermals. Customers start calling them the best fleece they own.
The Karpathian Sherpa fleece, shot with Ukrainian veterans hiking the Carpathian mountains. Our first real step into outdoor gear.
Defender 2026: Polartec Power Grid, Micro 100, 200 and High Loft, cut and sewn in Ukraine. Before it went on sale we wore it for five days and 55 km off-trail in the Yukon backcountry, with nights down to −10 °C.
Five days and 55 km off-trail in the Yukon backcountry, with nights down to −10 °C.
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).
A relaxed fit with room for a base layer underneath. If you are between sizes and want to wear it over a thicker layer, size up. Full measurements are on the product page.
No, and we will not pretend otherwise. It is a midweight fleece: warm on its own on cold, dry days, and the warm layer under a shell when it rains or snows hard.
Yes. Polartec 200, 100% polyester, from Polartec. The abrasion panels are stretch nylon (91% nylon, 9% elastane).
In Ukraine, start to finish. Cut and sewn in ukraine, by teams who keep working through blackouts.
Midnight Black, Olive and Ranger Green, sizes S to XXL.
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