The Dawa Sherpa Fleece is something I snagged for myself this past winter — I wanted something soft and cozy hoodie to lounge around the house in which would also work as a full outer layer if I needed to stay warmer when out and about.
The Dawa looked nice to me, and the price seemed too good to be true at $80 — but it’s an insane value.
Materials
Beyond only specifies that this is “Polyester double-sided brushed-knit fleece”. They further state “Certified STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® | confirmed free from harmful levels of more than 100 substances” and “bluesign®-certified textiles have been verified for ecological safety at every step of manufacturing”. Which is all good.
In practice it’s a Sherpa fleece, which means it is fuzzy on both sides. It’s a Midweight fleece, so it’s not overly thin, nor super thick. In practice all the materials are really nice, but given the price there’s no branded ‘Polartec’ or anything like that here — but there’s nothing concerning either. I’ll also note that this has held up well through multiple washing machine runs, while hanging it to dry.
Fit & Style
The cut and fit is spot on for me. It is long enough in the body that it doesn’t feel breezy when you are in chilly weather, but no so long that when you sit down you are sitting on the back of it, pulling it tight. The hood is very nice, and the sleeves are also long on it. All of that makes it really effective for staying warm when outside, and comfortable when laying on the couch.
It’s a fuzzy fleece hoodie, it’s spot on for that style. The color you see here is coyote.
Performance
The best way I can describe this is: cozy. It’s exactly what I wanted from an item like this. Something which replaced a standard hoodie for me. From a pure performance aspect you really are looking at warmth, breathability, and drying times.
- Warmth: warm but not too warm. As a layer it’s perfect. On it’s own it will be susceptible to wind.
- Breathability: it is decently breathable, but you can heat up in more static movement.
- Drying times: excellent. It comes out of my front load washer feeling decently dry after the spin cycle and has always dried in single digit hours.
- Odor Control: I’ll also add that I’ve worn this a ton, and never washed it because it smelled bad. Something which happens on other outer layers. Here, I’ve simply spilled something on it each time I have needed to wash it.
The performance of this is on par with your standard fleece jacket. Nothing more, but nothing less either.
I do want to point out the pockets. The front hand pockets are very large and are great for hands, or storing gear in. I found the zippers to be well placed, which makes the pockets very easy to use. Oddly, there’s a pocket on the top left collarbone area. It remains a mystery to me why this exists.
Overall
There’s some branding on this garment, but it’s not over the top or very loud. The entire package is well executed and this is an item I really love. It’s not often cold enough to need this here in Houston, but I grab it at any chance I get.
Big fan.
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