Worst Melly Alternative: TruSpec 24/7 Microgrid Fleece Hoodie

Is the TruSpec 24/7 microgrid fleece hoodie the worst Melly alternative?

What is a Melly?

A “Melly” or Melanzana is a Polartec microgrid fleece hoodie from a small company with the same name in Leadville, CO. Melanzana designs, cuts, and assembles the hoodies in Leadville and get their materials from a company in Tennessee. All US products and manufacturing. The hoodies are also VERY lightweight, while still providing a lot of warmth. The hoodies became very popular among backpackers, thru-hikers, and other outdoors enthusiasts.

There’s just one issue. They’re super hard to buy. They shut down their store for COVID and you can only buy them online and even then, only through a weekly lottery. When you “win” the weekly lottery, you have a unique and limited set of products to buy. Kind of a pain in the ass.

So, several companies make Melly alternatives (maybe not even as an alternative to a Melly hoodie — just similar products).

Melly Alternatives

Probably the most popular Melly alternative is the Patagonia R1 microgrid fleece hoodie. The R1 can be very hard to get your hands on, as well, but REI generally has them in stock. However, the R1 costs about twice as much as a Melly for basically the same product (actually, the Melly is probably better manufacturing quality and US only materials vs. mostly China with the R1).

You also have a couple cottage vendors that make very similar microgrid fleece hoodies. LightHeart Gear and Fayettechill both make a “Melly” alternative. Both are about $20-30 more than the Melly for essentially the same product. Either would make a great Melly alternative, as they look exactly the same. They’re just a bit pricey and for the last couple months, LightHeart Gear hasn’t had my size in stock.

Worst Melly Alternative Hoodie

One of the AT thru-hikers I watched on YouTube, last year used the TruSpec 24/7 Microgrid Fleece Hoodie as an alternative to the Melly. The TruSpec hoodie sells on Amazon for about $25 less than a Melly and much less than the other alternatives mentioned, above. The hoodie ships with Prime from Amazon and pretty much all sizes are available. It comes in one color; black.

I thought this would be a great alternative to the impossible-to-get Melanzana hoodie. Boy, was I wrong. It’s the worst Melly alternative out there.

Why the TruSpec Hoodie is the Worst Melly Alternative

You can watch the video for more detail about why I do not like the TruSpec hoodie, so I’ll just break down the issues, quickly.

• The hoodie weighs a ton….for a lightweight hoodie
• It doesn’t keep you warm
• Has an unattractive outer “shell” of polyester material, rather than just all microgrid fleece
• The hood won’t close around your face

The only one that’s really a deal breaker for me is the warmth. The rest annoy me, but I can live without them. Not keeping you warm in 50 degree temps leaves me unimpressed, to say the least. It weighs as much as a normal jacket, but doesn’t keep you warm? Big fail.

There’s a couple things I do like about the TruSpec. One, it has a cool kangaroo pocket design with a hidden, zippered pocket inside the kangaroo pocket. It’s a nice feature and one of the few parts of the hoodie that can actually keep you warm….well, at least your hands. Two, I like the thumb hooks on the sleeve. Of course, most high-tech hoodies have this feature, so it doesn’t really make it stand out, but it is a feature I appreciate.

I received it as a gift around my birthday in September. Not cold enough in Florida for a hoodie. By the time I was able to test it out in colder weather, I was outside my return window. Otherwise, this one would have gone back to Amazon.

I hoped this would be an alternative microgrid fleece hoodie you could actually buy. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out.