Customer Reviews Smartwool Balaclava

Originally bought this for my son to wear during marching band at the Santa Parade in Peoria Illinois. 12 below windchill. It was great. So I bought one for myself to wear when walking in to work from the parking lot

This is a great balaclava- it fits comfortably under my helmet and keeps me extra warm on cold days. The seams lay fat and are comfortable.

Love this balaclava! I bought it a couple years ago, and don't know how I lived without it. I live in USDA zone 4, where it gets down to -25F in winter. Mainly use it for trail-hiking and snowblowing on cold winter days when a single hat and scarf layer isn't warm enough. I wear it as a base-layer, underneath a wool hat and neck gaiter. This balaclava is high quality, in design and construction. Generous in size, even fits my husband's big head, and the neck length is excellent. Good quality merino fabric, a smooth durable knit. Note that it's not wind-proof. As another reviewer mentioned, the material is too thin to wear on its own in cold weather. I prefer the thin material, as it dries fast, fits underneath a hat, and is easy to breathe through without creating a thick breath-vapor-ice-block (if you hike in the cold you know what I'm talking about). It's comfortable to wear, and seams are in non-irritating locations. Has held up fine through a few washings (machine wash and line dry), with no shrinkage. The style can be described with one word: Ninja. The reason I'm writing a review is, my husband stole my balaclava. I let him wear it "just once" on his walk to work, and now he won't give it back. So I ordered another one directly from the Smartwool website. It arrived fast, in perfect condition, and is the same exact excellent balaclava as my old one. Woohoo!

This is a standard part of my winter fishing gear. It allows me to either wear a baseball style cap over it to help keep the sun out of my eyes, or on those very cold days a knit hat on top. It fits well and I like it enough to have bought 3 of them. 1 for work, 1 for home, and one in case I loose one.

I had never worn one of these before and I was not very sure I would like the experience of having (most of) mt face covered. This Thermal Merino Balaclava from SmartWool is comfortable and warm and after a couple of minutes I no longer feel it is there. Nice suprise!

Bought one for both my husband I. Great for cold days. Nice warm wool face mask.

To wear to keepMy head warm with the ski helmet and kept moist out and it fit good but felt it's too thin in my opinion.

Bought this for biking in winter. Was warm, comfortable and blocked the wind

I use the balaclava for walking in moderately cold temperatures. I like how the wool breathes and allows perspiration wick away.

I use the balaclava for walking in moderately cold temperatures. I like how the wool breathes and allows perspiration wick away.

Needed an extra warm layer for dogsledding. Wonderful!!

Warm and durable through the winter months.

Awesome. Just the right fit and weight material. Super comfortable.

The wind in winter is really bitter. That is necessary to take care of your face and head. With this face mask, it totally fine when I walk in the winter night with cold wind. But maybe it needs more design to prevent the hot air from my nose and mouth to make my glasses foggy in winter.

Great balaclava for cold ski days. Just wish the face hole didn't stretch out so quickly. It was perfect when I first put it on, but after one use the hole was stretched out and less form-fitting.

I bought this to help my face from getting so cold when walking my dogs and it accomplishes that objective. Further, it works reasonably well when wearing my glasses. This balaclava was the only one I could find that is made of wool. Most of the others out there are polyester based and contain no wool. I would have given this balaclava 5 stars but I think it is a bit pricey for what you get. I haven't washed it yet but the garment tag states it can be washed in your washing machine.

Great BALACLAVA. #sweepstakes

it is not as snug fit looking as the picture shown on the website

I use this on colder days and fits fine but very annoying having to adjust every time due to the bottom mouth portion being slack and not secure. Big nuisance

Not my style cut. I own another Smartwool balaclava that I will continue to wear, This may be perfect for others.

I purchased one of these last year and recently noticed it was developing holes near my chin. Smartwool exchanged it, but I had the same problem with the second one.

Nice warm layer, but not right for me.

I bought for my son. The face whole was to small