When all's said and done you can't do a lot with the basic crew neck design - in this case Smartwool has added shoulder panels to eliminate the top shoulder seams and the risk of chafing when wearing a pack, along with incorporating flatlock seams to further eliminate chafing elsewhere.
And then they've managed to go one step beyond that by combining lovely soft merino wool with a funky asymmetrical design and cool colourways (the one we tested came in mustard and navy, which seem to be among the cool colour combinations for this season, and you can even get matching long johns.
So where most mid- and base layers are either so plain to be instantly forgettable or overly technical, you end up with a garment that despite being marketed as a mid-layer is versatile enough to be worn against the skin or over another base layer and looks good enough to elicit favourable comments in the bar when the skiing is over.
Indeed, we've been wearing ours as a regular mid-layer for everything from skiing and hiking to just hanging out down the pub.
So, while it's a pretty pricey item, Smartwool's Asymmetrical Crew is very comfortable, very adaptable and if previous experience is anything to go by will also be very hard wearing and long lasting.
