Lands’ End’s Thermacheck, Heavenly and Dream fleeces come in different weights for different purposes.
In my recent Lands’ End splurge, I also splashed out on a few of their Thermacheck fleeces, simply to see what they were like.
These gloves are in Thermacheck 100, the firm’s finest fleece. This fleece roughly equates to a microfleece in thickness – only some 1 or 2mm – and its useful properties include a featherlight weight and the fact that items can be easily rolled up and stuffed in a pocket or backpack. These gloves are half the bulk of my regular fleece gloves from other companies, so they go easily into a small pocket, and can also be used as glove liners under bigger gloves. The beanie I bought is so thin it can be tucked up a sleeve. Garments made from Thermacheck 100 are good for indoor wear in winter, or an extra layer of a summer evening.
This parka is in Thermacheck 2, which roughly equates to the same weight as the firm’s stretch fleece, but is smoother, less bulky and far less plushy. It gives a lot of warmth without weight and makes great indoor/outdoor garments for cold weather.
The Thermacheck 300 fleece is the firm’s warmest fleece, reserved for just one outdoor jacket in the range, and for the half-lining and hood lining of the Insulated Squall Parka. This offers serious warmth for tough winter temperatures.
The Heavenly Fleece is quite a different animal – a fluffy fleece for indoor wear. I ordered a scarf in this fleece but was rather disapointed with the handle of it, having found much softer ones in France and so I won’t be ordering this again.
The firm also does a ‘Cosy fleece’, which is a layer of stretch fleece bonded to an inner Heavenly fleece. I haven’t seen these, but would guess they’re somehting like similar garments made by Regatta, and probably very useful.
Overall, for indoor wear I personally prefer the plushy Stretch fleece, and for outdoor wear, the Thermachecks are more windproof.