TAD Artemis Hoodie Review

A few months ago while researching and gathering gear, I noticed that more and more women's fitness wear companies were making a lot of claims about how durable their clothing lines were and how they could stand up to "years of abuse." If you've read this blog before, you've probably guessed that I'm a bit rough on equipment. Growing up it always seemed like women's wear traded durability and functionality for style. While I'm all for style, I was hard pressed to find women's athletic clothing that wouldn't all but disintegrate under my normal usage. So now with many companies touting durability as one of their main selling points I figured what better place to do a little R&D than at World's Toughest Mudder, a 24 hour obstacle race in New Jersey in the middle of December. If the clothes could stand up to years of abuse, I wanted to see if they could withstand one day of mine.

Triple Aught Designs was the only company that stepped up to the plate and stood behind their product line. I knew TAD had stores in the Bay Area, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that they were in fact, locally based in San Francisco. When I swung by their Dogpatch location for the annual sale, the store was jam packed with a very dedicated following that was lined halfway around the block. I would soon find out why TAD drew such a following.

Mike, the marketing director at TAD, supplied me with the Artemis merino wool hoodie to test out at World's Toughest Mudder. The first thing I noticed about the hoodie was how it fit me like a glove. Since I have an athletic build with broad shoulders, I usually have trouble finding women's clothing that fits well. The Artemis hoodie had enough inherent stretch in the fabric where it easily adapted to my shape. Next, I noticed the attention to detail evident in features such as the lay flat hood (which is great if you want to layer without looking like quasimodo) and the reinforced elbows. Both of these add to the functionality of the hoodie without taking away from its sleekness and stylishness.

The hoodie was warmer than expected for being as thin as it was and although not windproof, it did block more wind than expected. My first true test for the hoodie came while traveling to World's Toughest Mudder. In one day, I travelled 15 hours from California in to New Jersey, over 11 hours in air transit and four additional hours driving. Normally traveling for for this long and in this many indoor and outdoor climates would be pretty uncomfortable. As a testament to the Artemis, I didn't overheat or feel chilly throughout the whole 15 hours. It was then that the Artemis quickly became one of my new favorite hoodies.

As I completed my registration for World's, I emailed Mike to let him know how much I was beginning to like the Artemis and that I was a bit reluctant to race in it. He assured me that sometimes a little tough love is necessary.

Here I am wearing the Artemis registering for World's Toughest Mudder

The next day at the start of the race the temps were in the high 40s to low 30s. I wore a shorty wetsuit and two layers of compression clothing clothing. The Artemis hoodie and a windbreaker were packed in a dry bag in my backpack. After wading through the frigid waters of the second and third obstacles my hands and forearms were already tingly and starting to go numb.

I wore the Artemis from this point through the next 8 hours and 9 miles of the course. The hoodie made it through mud, dirt, grime, sand and more than 20 water obstacles. My core felt toasty and warm up until the last 4 obstacles which were back to back water submersion with no chance to warm up in between.

Once back at my tent, I took off my wet gear and laid it out in preparation to go back out on the course in the morning. During the night, temps dropped down to 24 degrees Fahrenheit with the windchill bringing it down to 16 degrees. By morning all of my wet gear had frozen solid.

In this pic are one of my wool socks, my wetsuit and the Artemis in the bottom right corner.

If my fingers and hands wouldn't have been numb from the cold, I could've happily thrown all of this in the shower to thaw it out and hopped back out on the course. Once the event was over, I packed up all the wet gear into plastic bags and headed back to the house. The one thing that I was bummed about was that I wouldn't be able to wear the Artemis for the flight back. Luckily the house had a washer and dryer. I threw in the Artemis covered in sand with the sleeves caked in mud, washed it on cold and hoped for the best. Afterward I laid it out on a rack to dry.

In the morning, I was happily surprised to find the Artemis dry and looking and feeling like new. I did have another very good quality merino wool hoodie with me, but throughout the weekend it was primarily used as a pillow and only worn when the Artemis was frozen.

Here's the Artemis before the flight back home, less than 24 hours after the race. One of these days I'll learn not to race with my carry on bag.

Throughout the weekend, the Artemis proved itself time and time again. The more I wear it, the comfier it gets. Midway through the race I decided that if the mud and stains didn't come out of the hoodie, I would gladly buy another one to replace it. The Artemis though, easily stood withstanding a day of my abuse and then some, and came up smiling. Bottom line, the Artemis hoodie is well worth the money.