Rapha arm warmers

I am little surprised that these haven’t been adopted more widely by the hiking community. Developed primarily for cyclists, these are arm sleeves that work equally well for walking. I like to use a short sleeve merino top for most of my hiking, either a short sleeve T or polo. The latter because I just feel a bit smarter. However early mornings and evenings can be a bit chillier and this is where these sleeves really work. As soon as things warm up they can be slipped off without stopping and stuffed into a pocket, hip belt or similar. An excellent way of helping thermoregulate.

The ones I use are pretty high quality Rapha sleeves which are not cheap. Obviously others are also available from other manufacturers. They are well made with no loose stitching. Size Large, they are made from 95% merino and 5% elastane. They hold up well with no slippage at all due to the silicone gripper. They can feel a little tight around the upper arm at times, but this doesn’t really bother me. Weight: 69g for both.

Rapha merino arm warmers