{"id":171497,"date":"2024-11-07T17:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-11-08T01:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=171497"},"modified":"2024-11-07T17:06:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-08T01:06:16","slug":"gear-i-hold-dear-rei-co-op-fleece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/gear-i-hold-dear-rei-co-op-fleece","title":{"rendered":"Gear I Hold Dear: My REI Co-op Fleece"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I pull the olive-colored fleece over my head, I am transported back. The intense nostalgia wraps me up into a tight hug, and I feel safe. Of course, the tightness I\u2019m feeling might be because my REI fleece\u2014a constant companion over more than a decade\u2014may be a size too small. I think it\u2019s a little bit of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It brings me to a different moment every time I wear it\u2014to a tent hidden in a stand of elms, to my mom\u2019s garden and buckets of ripe tomatoes or to my youngest brother\u2019s birthday in 2005. I hear the giddy screams of neighborhood kids pelted by water balloons. I\u2019m crouched behind the bushes, and I barely glimpse my dad\u2019s feet as he runs across the grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSurprise!\u201d I yell when he is close enough and hurl the slick ammunition toward his chest. Then I race to where our collection of sweatshirts, including my fleece, lies in a heap: home base. I clutch my fleece close to my chest, score a few lungfuls of air, then sprint off across the wet grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years later, the cicadas begin their nightly chorus while the fireflies make their debut. \u201cMine will be best,\u201d my brother announces while spinning a stick with a marshmallow over the fire. I don\u2019t have the patience for this competition. I thrust mine into the flames, then peel off the blackened bit and smash the remaining goo between two graham crackers. I snuggle deeper into my fleece.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"REI
The author’s REI Co-op fleece has traveled the world. (Photo courtesy of Katie Burke)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

<\/a>Before I know it, I am finishing high school. It\u2019s May, and we cram into my parents\u2019 Honda Odyssey van to drive to our favorite spot, the middle of nowhere, Iowa. I lay on a limestone outcropping and let the warmth of the rock melt through my fleece into my back. We call this place The Waterfall, not because there are any cascades nearby, but because you can always hear the creek trickling through the woods. This rivulet eventually meets the Mississippi River, then makes its way to the Gulf of Mexico. It\u2019s a tiny ribbon of water with huge plans ahead, and that\u2019s how I feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t believe I\u2019m doing this<\/em>, I whisper to myself after I say goodbye to friends and family and board the plane. It\u2019s my first international flight. I\u2019ll be working in Japan for a summer, for a company that I know little about, in a place where I do not speak the language. I grip the sleeves of my familiar olive fleece and step off the plane. When I set up my new apartment with things to remind me of home\u2014letters from friends, pictures of family, drawings from students\u2014my favorite fleece hangs over my chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I\u2019ve taught abroad in three other countries, including teaching in Bolivia and meeting students virtually, amid the pandemic. Even on the difficult days, bright, high-altitude sunshine and hopeful, eager students greet me on Zoom. I clutch my fleece close to my chest like it\u2019s home base in a water balloon fight 19 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"REI
The author hikes in South America with her REI Co-op fleece. (Photo courtesy of Katie Burke)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The beloved REI Co-op Trailsmith<\/a> fleece has been retired, though its legacy continues with the REI Co-op Trailmade<\/a> fleece, available at your local store or online. The camp-friendly Trailmade fleece jacket keeps you toasty on cold days and cozy beneath your shell jacket. This grab-and-go for warmth is made with 100% recycled polyester.<\/em> Buy women’s.<\/a> Buy men’s.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For more odes about our favorite stuff, check our\u00a0Gear <\/a><\/em>I Hold Dear series<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I pull the olive-colored fleece over my head, I am transported back. The intense nostalgia wraps me up into a tight hug, and I feel safe. Of course, the tightness I\u2019m feeling might be because my REI fleece\u2014a constant companion over more than a decade\u2014may be a size too small. I think it\u2019s a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12183,"featured_media":171502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":[724,2005,421],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-171497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","tag-gear","tag-gear-i-hold-dear","tag-rei-co-op"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/hike\/gear-i-hold-dear-rei-co-op-fleece","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Gear I Hold Dear: My REI Co-op Fleece","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/gear-i-hold-dear-rei-co-op-fleece","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/gear-i-hold-dear-rei-co-op-fleece"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/00-REICoopTrailsmith.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/08\/00-REICoopTrailsmith.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maren Horjus"}],"creator":["Maren Horjus"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["gear","gear i hold dear","rei co-op"],"dateCreated":"2024-11-08T01:00:07Z","datePublished":"2024-11-08T01:00:07Z","dateModified":"2024-11-08T01:06:16Z"},"rendered":"