Oh ho! They said it couldn’t be done: dress myself head to toe in Power Stretch in a single piece. Well, they suck butt ’cause Mountain Hardwear comes through with the lazily practically named Power Stretch Suit. I like this suit so much I tried wearing it around the house as pajamas until I built up a big enough static charge to almost kill my cat. Ah, good times!
What you see is what you wear: one ginormous swatch of my favorite multiuse fabric, good for a heavy-duty base layer or light duty shell. Suits, like bibs, get rid of the breezy gappage, promote a chimney effect to pump warm air up your body and eliminate seams for a more comfortable pack fit. The PS material breathes great and moves with you, optimal for skiing, climbing and other high-output cold weather pursuits.
You can throw a thin top on under the suit, or a thicker one over the top. There’s a single medium size external zippered chest pocket, a dual action neck to crotch center zip and a big, American-ass sized knee-to-knee rainbow zipper on the rear. The butt and knees are even reinforced, a nice touch. The price won’t break the bank and the mere 1lb weight won’t break the back; nice!