VERTX Apparel - Top Notch Winter Clothing

Written By David Smith

Right now it is 14 degrees outside. A little earlier it was 4 degrees. It’s early February in Wisconsin. I just came in from working in my shed for an hour or so, and I was warm and toasty the entire time. Reason being that I’m wearing what I can confidently declare is the warmest, lightweight jacket I’ve ever owned, the Vertx Integrity+ Insulated Jacket 2.0. I’ve been wearing this jacket almost daily from the end of November until now, and I absolutely love it. I have not had a single day where I’ve been chilled or felt like I wanted to add a layer. Honestly, I’m amazed at how this jacket has been able to keep me warm over the last couple months, in the coldest of Wisconsin temperatures, and it has been below zero several of those days.

Additionally, I have to say, I look good in this jacket! At least my wife has told me that I do, several times. LOL. But it’s true. This jacket is slimming and attractive, not bulky like a lot of the other winter coats I’ve owned. Here are a few of the other features of the Vertx Integrity+ Jacket:

* Detachable hood. I’ve never been a big user of jacket hoods. I don’t like how they interfere with my hearing. But several times this winter my wife and I were walking on one of our daily long walks, and I was wearing only a ball cap. The wind was howling and my face and ears got mighty cold, so I pulled the hood up and was immediately and pleasantly surprised at how thoroughly and effectively it cut the cold. 

* Elastic wrists. The inside half of the wrists are a dark elastic material. This is super nice for keeping the cold out and for making a nice tight, comfortable fit.

* Inner breast pocket. The inner breast pocket has a vertical zippered closure and it’s where I keep my wallet. It’s convenient and easy to access. 

* Light weight. The Vertx Integrity+ Jacket weighs almost nothing. While writing this I was curious just how much it weighed so I weighed it on my postal scale. It weighed around 21 ounces, less than a pound-and-a-half. Unbelievable, especially given how warming this coat is.

* 37.5 Technology - if they made gloves out of this material, I’d definitely have a couple pair. A word about 37.5 Technology; I got this off the thirtysevenfive.com website: 37.5 Technology incorporates porous volcanic minerals and activated carbon derived from coconuts into the fabric. So, it’s natural. Now this next part is, to me, a little weird. The temperature regulating material absorbs infrared (IR) energy that your body naturally emits, and this in turn activates the particles mentioned above to speed evaporation and remove humidity. I have no idea what this really means, but the gist of it is that the 37.5 technology doesn’t simply move moisture away from your skin, like in garments that using wicking technology to keep you dry, 37.5 tech actually removes moisture.

If you go to the 37.5 website you can read and watch a couple videos about how this tech was developed. It’s interesting because it has to do with volcanic sand baths and a photo-physical chemist. It’s nerd stuff, so I won’t share it here, but if you’re into that sort of thing, like me, please check it out. I don’t know about copyrights and proprietary rights on this stuff, but I’m guessing that this 37.5 Technology will at some point become the standard fabric technology for cold weather garments.

The 37.5 folks also seem to be very conscious of environmental issues concerning the manufacture of their products. Their website says that their products are designed to “break down to naturally occurring materials over decades.” There’s a lot of info on the website that talks about their commitment. I don’t know about you, but that’s become a much more important issue to my wife and I (and our daughters). We’ve become pretty skeptical of actions like recycling (from what I understand, damn little of the things we put in the recycling bin actually get recycled), so it’s cool that companies try to make things that more easily biodegrade when they get thrown out. I’m waiting for natural materials to replace plastic in a lot more commercial items. We’ve switched from plastic to glass in as many things as is practical, and we try to avoid plastic as much as we can. I am by no means a global warming zealot - I have been very critical of that scam for decades, from back in the 1970s when they first tried to convince us that the earth was heading into an ice age. In my opinion, the global warming narrative is hogwash. But I am firmly anti-pollution and pro-wilderness. Anything we can do to cut down on our waste and improve the biodegradation of commercial products gets a big thumbs up from me. Okay, sorry for getting on my soapbox there…back to the Vertx jacket and base layers.

I really can’t say enough about the quality and warming ability of this jacket. Again, it’s the best winter jacket I’ve ever owned. Cost is $200, which seems a little pricey, but it’s well worth the price. Honestly, I’ve pretty much relegated all of my winter jackets to the closet every time I go out, with the only exceptions being my ice fishing float jacket and a gnarly, dirty barn jacket I use when doing dirty yard work like cutting trees.

Now then, I’ve also been periodically trying a couple of other pieces of Vertx apparel, the hooded Merino Wool Base Layer Hoody base layer and the Merino Wool Base Layer Pant long-johns. These employ the same technology as the Vertx jacket, and since they are right next to the skin the 37.5 tech seems to me to be more important and more practical. These are brilliant underlayers. They’re lightweight, comfortable and you hardly know you’ve got them on. Both pieces are not only comfortable and warming, but after wearing them all day long, for multiple days in a row, they remained odor-free and “like new” in composition. The odor-free part is impressive; the company website says that the garment’s “natural minerals trap odors and release them in the wash,” and those minerals apparently don’t degrade like other fabrics that use regular wicking technology. I really can’t say if the stuff 37.5 says is accurate or if it’s just a sales pitch, but what I do know is that these garments work extremely well, remain odor-free after repeated wearings and are darn comfortable.

Another thing I noticed is that they maintained their integrity and “like-new” form. By that I mean that a lot of underlayers, especially those with cotton or mixed composition, tend to get saggy and stretched in certain areas. The Vertx underlayer pieces were pretty much unchanged and comfortable from the first day I put them on. The merino wool pants underlayer also have a couple of hip pockets. I haven’t used these but it’s a cool idea, especially if you are prone to walking around in nothing but your long-johns.

I’ve become a huge fan of this material. It’s extremely lightweight and is unbelievably warming for its weight. 

As I look over my post here, I see that I’ve written a pretty lengthy review. That’s okay though, because I have become a true believer in these clothes - the jacket and the underlayers. I also got a couple pair of Vertx pants that I haven’t yet had a chance to wear much to get a feel for how they perform, but I’ll get to those at a later date. I’m expecting good things though, given how impressive the Vertx Integrity+ Insulated Jacket and Merino Wool Base Layers performed. I’m a die-hard Duluth Trading Company man when it comes to pants - their firehose pants are about the only thing I wear - so I’m excited to give the Vertx pants a good trial. Until then, I can confidently recommend you go to the Vertx website and get yourself an Integrity+ Insulated Jacket 2.0 and a set of Merino Wool Base Layers, top and bottom. It might cost a chunk of change, but in my opinion, it’s money well spent. And Vertx seems to have some fantastic sales going on periodically. Just this morning I went online and saw that they had some monster sales on for several items, and I purchased their Integrity P Jacket for only $46 plus $10 shipping (regular price is listed at $191).

David Smith
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