Outdoor Research Gorilla Balaclava

This balaclava was packed up and ready to be shipped back to Amazon. Some white stuff outside made me change my mind, thankfully. I inadvertently took up a new sport this winter: Extreme Snow Removal. Yes, I live outside Boston, where we’ve had a several 2-foot snow dumps within the last month. I usually don’t need to help out with snow removal, as my plow-, snowblower-, and shovel-equipped husband usually handles it all in a couple of hours. This winter, the process has taken him up to 6 hours, so I’ve started lending a hand, along with my arms, legs, and face.Which brings me to my review of this particular product. I’ve never thought about my face while shoveling, until the snow drifts relentlessly smacked me in it. During the last big storm, I could no longer feel my nose, lips, and chin after only ten minutes of shoveling. I dreamt of a balaclava, researched my options, and decided on this one for the wind-stopper fabric. I also wanted actual openings for breathing. Truly, the thought of a balaclava scared me, as I can’t even breathe underneath a sheet; I feel like I’m suffocating. Breathing through fleece or lightly perforated fabric was not an option for me. The face mask attachment of this balaclava has a hole below the nose and mesh fabric over the mouth.This is not a fashion item; it is purely functional. After it arrived, I tried it on with all the packaging still attached, and it was not comfortable. All the velcro, all the fabric… I didn’t get how it was supposed to fit. It choked my neck and threatened to slide over my eyes. No, I decided that a balaclava was not for me, so back into the shipping bag it went. It sat there for a week until today. We just got two fresh feet of snow, the temps are in the teens, and the wind is ripping. Snow drifts are swirling, creating temporary white-outs. I decided that extreme times called for extreme measures, and took the tags off this crazy, puzzling face-protecting hat.Let me tell you: I’m a convert. I just spent an hour outside and can still feel my face! It was not comfortable when I first put it on, but once I was outside in the elements, believe me, I didn’t feel any discomfort. My face was warm and dry. The snow blew on me but did not make me cold. Breathing through the nasal cutout and the mesh mouth fabric was just fine. My nose runs like crazy in the cold, so I did have to slide it down to blow my nose every once in a while, but I didn’t undo the velcro. As the other reviews say, you’d need a mirror to get everything back into place properly. I could’ve stayed out there another hour or longer if there was more for me to do. This balaclava is a great choice for clearing snow, especially if it’s windy. This was actually the easiest time I've ever had shoveling, and I pretty much owe it to this balaclava.

I have mixed thoughts about this balaclava. I've had this piece for about a year and I'm sort of getting tired of dealing with it. Some previous reviews point out the difficulty in correctly putting this piece of gear on and I would tend to agree with them. The balaclava comes in two pieces: the head/neck cover that you have to wrap around your head, and the nose/mouth piece that attaches on after you get the head cover on. You really need to do this at home in front of a mirror a couple times before you venture into the extreme cold, or else when the time comes that you need it on the mountain you better be sure you have on right.I've needed this piece on extremely cold hikes in the White Mountains, NH where I go above treeline and on Mt. Washington in the winter. The Gore Windstopper material is excellent in wind and snowy conditions, and probably saved me from getting frostbite. However, I've experienced difficulty in getting this piece fit right when I'm out in very cold conditions. For anybody that does any climbing/hiking in cold conditions, we know that materials don't behave like they normally do when they are sitting at home in normal temps. The material sort of stiffens up when it's cold and getting the piece to fit right and tight over your head when you really need it can be a problem. This balaclava has done it's job when I needed it most, but it has sort of been a pain to deal with.My other issue is if you are wearing this with ski goggles. Every time I pair this balaclava with ski goggles, they end up fogging and icing up. It appears like the nose and mouth opening in the face mask should mitigate this problem, but they don't. Unless you get the face mask piece perfectly tight across your face (so no warm air sneaks up through the mask into your goggles), you are asking for trouble. Again, this is due to poor fit and adjustability issues that I described above. Getting the face mask tight across your face is easier said than done when it's cold out.With all that said, I'm sort of getting tired of dealing with this balaclava and I'm searching out other options. I feel like if I want to stay above treeline in winter, then this piece is going to make my life miserable. Most of my hiking partners use the Seirus ultraclavas, and they seem to never have problems with fit or icy goggles.So, in a nutshell, just think a little bit about what you want out of this balaclava before you buy it. The quality is excellent, but the way it is designed may not be worth the pain and effort.

I must say that this balaclava has exceeded all of my expectations of it. It keeps my head EXTREMELY warm in some very serious cold. I wear it under my helmet when I'm cycling (fits great under there) and I'm able to contain lots of heat from my head that would have otherwise been lost.BUT! Be aware of the following two things:1) It significantly dampens external sound!!! This is something I was not expecting. With this thing on, it can be a bit hard to hear someone in speaking during a conversation. That said, it's extremely important to be extra aware when cycling with this on - try to pay special attention to sights and sounds, especially ambulance/police sirens.2) Putting this balaclava on is a wee bit tricky and has a learning curve. Since it has bi-directional velcro on the left cheek, it can take a few attempts to strap things on just right. If it feels crooked, it probably is - just take it off and try again. It's best to practice putting this on in front of a mirror several times to get the hang of it.Other than that, I am really happy with this product. It's been an invaluable addition to my winter cycling gear and I really look forward to using it in other capacities, like camping or hiking.

I bicycle year round. I just got in and temps were 15 degrees with 25 mile per hour winds. This product kept me very warm and wind had zero effect. Several other balaclava's I've worn I could feel the wind coming thru them.

They could have put more velcro, and made the neck, less bunched up. I would have design it better.