 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm after a merino wool base layer (e.g. Icebreaker) for a 3 year old male skier 
None of the online shops I looked at does toddler sizes... His height is about 102cm
Could anyone point me in the right direction?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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oleksii, you looked on Amazon?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Hells Bells, I did as matter of fact. Their range is hardly impressive. Or am I using wrong search keywords?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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oleksii, no I didn't look, but I knew someone who bought some last winter for their toddler.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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oleksii, google NZ online ski and snowboard shops. They've had a really mild winter and there is cheap stuff to be had if they'll post it. My mother is posting me parcels for my 3 year old and 1 year old as we speak. If you want to know some brands let me know and I'll look at the labels.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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oleksii, try Aldi when it comes in, they do small sizes in merino. Also www.littletrekkers.co.uk do merino, icebreaker I think, in small sizes. Be sure that's what you want though, I shelled out for Icebreaker and my son wouldn't wear it, too itchy  So he prefers stuff by Odlo and Barts.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Dot., mountainwarehouse sell the same stuff on amazon. It's not 100% merino though as far as I understand. Could you recommend a particular shop in NZ?
spyderjon, thanks! I think it what I need. Can't imagine why I didn't find it before. UPD: They don't have the size I need
sarah, been to aldi today actually on my way from work. They don't have any kids thermals. Bought some thermals for myself and wife though, seems to be of good quality.
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Aldi only has them when the offers come in, usually around early Dec if I remember right. The ones in at the moment were part of the adult cycling winter offer, probably the same as the ski ones but no little people stuff.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The Aldi merino ones are v good though..... You just have to get your mitts on them!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| katedenhaag wrote: |
| The Aldi merino ones are v good though..... You just have to get your mitts on them! |
last year they had loads of them left at the branches I was in and they were selling them off reduced for about £2-3 a piece 
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| Quote: |
I shelled out for Icebreaker and my son wouldn't wear it, too itchy
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a good point. I am quite sure that few of my grandchildren would tolerate merino - they're all super sensitive to itchy stuff. I bought then cheap bargain thermals in one of the big sports chains and they adored them; would wear nothing else for weeks. Edward, then 6, had black ones and called them his "Ninja outfit".
Some merino stuff is itchier than others. I am slightly concerned about the ones I just bought from aldi (adult ones) but I think they'll be OK out in the cold.
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You know it makes sense.
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pam w, I think the Aldi ones are itchy but as above lots of SHs swear by them and you can't beat the price. I got the Icebreaker ones for my son in the sale fortunately (but still expensive really) and to me they were soft but to him really itchy  For little kids who don't get sweaty and just need to keep really warm there are really soft micro fleece thermal sets, these were great for my son at the time.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Junior won't wear the expensive merino socks I bought him, he says they are too itchy. I have a Helly Hansen half merino half polyester (I think) warm ice T shirt. It certainly isn't scratchy at all, but is usually too warm for me to wear
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Poster: A snowHead
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we stock Swedish brand, Lindberg, merino (70% mix) base layer sets, which have a micropolyester innner layer, so it's not itchy. feel free to PM me if you want.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If anyone is interested: Polarn O. Pyret do brilliant pure merino wool baselayer for all ages.
I bought a set for our our little skier to try - he tried it on and absolutely refused to take it off. Very soft, perfect.
They do merino balaclavas and neckwarmers as well.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I used to work in product development for a sports brand and I can tell you this, merino wool is amazing stuff, its natural for starters but few consider the issues with synthetics on little kids (i.e think what happens to synthetics if they get too close to a heater). But the truth is, you really do have to invest in decent quality stuff and for base layer wear (next to the skin) then it MUST be superfine (check the label). If the label just says 'merino' or its suspiciously cheap then thats where the idea of itching comes from - crap merino, the good stuff will never itch. Superfine merino is 18.5 micron or less so fibres bend on contact with skin at that width and therefore won't prickle. Aldi are cheap but not superfine and will itch. We get our kids base layers from a british brand called superloved that use nice thick superfine merino, mountain warehouse merino really isn't good quality at all, we've had icebreaker and smart wool ourselves before and they're both good. 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Minor point but why get hung up on merino? Go synthetic so you can wash them through and get them dry quickly - 3yo's aren't above having an 'accident' when they're struggling in 5 layers of ski gear...
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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My grandchildren lived in their cheap base layers from Aldi right through their ski holiday - the 5 year old lad insisted they were a "Ninja outfit". Two sets each, one on, one in the wash, dried in no time.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Yep, ours live in theirs too (Lidl tho) and they get knackered running about playing in snowclub/having pudding dropped down them/small boy bathroom misfires etc
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| musher wrote: |
| Junior won't wear the expensive merino socks I bought him, he says they are too itchy. I have a Helly Hansen half merino half polyester (I think) warm ice T shirt. It certainly isn't scratchy at all, but is usually too warm for me to wear |
HH use polypropylene in the Lifa stuff, not polyester (yes, I'm a massive geek  ). Their half merino half Lifa stuff is my favourite all round base layer though.
Quite hard to justify the cost of merino or other high end baselayers on kids who will grow out of them by next winter though, especially as they are unlikely to be sweating massively or going a long way from a hut selling hot chocolate.
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alisonbells has a good point about the itching - I've tried some cheap merino (Decathlon) and it was horrid, and didn't fit well either. I have a very nice superfine base, bought half price but still quite pricey in a sports shop in snowdonia but it's falling apart - it doesn't wear well.
I wouldn't buy merino for kids. They are likely to trash superfine merino very quickly (sliding round the hard floors of an apartment, hanging on to a rope whilst playing toboganning, for example) and the synthetic ones will be good for generations of kids. The long johns my boys, now in their late 30s, wore on mountain expeditions in school are still going strong.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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My parents got our two sons (5&9) Icebreaker shirts and they love them, not itchy at all, and they usually are quite sensitive
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eeurgh having worked with it for years, I loathe polyprop and would never put it on my kids, apart from the fact that its about as far from natural as you can possibly get, it doesn't breathe properly so the warmth you get is a sticky sort and stinks and pills terribly, but yes it does dry quickly I'll give it that (mind you merino dries quickly too) we only ever used it in our most bottom of the range products becuase it is dirt dirt cheap to produce and to be honest, environmentally terrible. Still merino for me, especially since they can sleep in it too. Golden rule - half the price, buy it twice
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@alisonbells, you're doing it wrong if your using polypro for warmth - it's all about moisture management. It dries far quicker than merino as merino actually absorbs moisture (more than cotton AFAIUI, though it deals with it differently) whereas polyprop wicks it along the fibres.
Just for the record merino *technically* doesn't actually wick either, though the end result is the same. Google 'heat of sorption' for some interesting facts about some of merino's magical qualities.
/geek
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Have you tried Little Adventure Shop? They have some great Icebreaker. Have bought from them before and very reliable. Little Trekkers too.
We've had some Aldi merino which was fine but a bit scratchy so needed a vest underneath. The best stuff I've ever had was from howies but they've stopped doing kids stuff but have passed it down to younger kids so great value for money!
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Clarky999 a proper fibre geek you are!  you're not wrong about poly wicking well - to be fair it does do that job very well and the big sweaters do seem to rate it for that - my husband included (but god he stinks in his but some promising stuff being done with silver etc). Heat of sorption is a real work of engineering brilliance by good old nature. I once tested this by falling in a bog with my 2 year old on my back, luckily like any self respecting kiwi for 3/4 of the british year I was literally covered in merino..... Cold temps + moisture = about a degree of heat - hooray! (I'm all about being warm).. call me soft but being cold is grim. Moral of the story, buy decent kit (whatever it is made of) and wear it everywhere not just to the snow:)
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You know it makes sense.
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@alisonbells, haha yeah, I've been researching it for an article recently.
Sounds like fun! And agreed about decent kit: you get what you pay for!
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