The Sweater I Didn't Know I Was Testing - Devold Original Islender
Devold Original Islender
There are some pieces of outdoor clothing you deliberately take on an adventure because you want to test them.
And then there are the pieces you take because you simply like wearing them.
The Devold Original Islender falls firmly into the second category for me.
When we headed off to Uist in the Outer Hebrides, I wasn't setting out to review the sweater. I wasn't making a video about Devold, and I certainly wasn't thinking about whether it would make a good product review.
I just liked it.
It was a sweater I'd been wearing because it was warm, comfortable and felt like the sort of clothing that belonged outside.
Looking back at the footage from our trip, I realised I was wearing it rather a lot.
So perhaps, without really meaning to, I had been testing it after all.
Seven days exploring Uist
We spent seven days exploring Uist in the Outer Hebrides, travelling through the landscape, walking, taking photographs and making the most of one of the UK's most remarkable places.
The thing about a trip like this is that your clothing gets used in a way that's difficult to replicate at home.
You're in and out of the van. You're outside in the wind. You're walking, stopping, sitting around, travelling and generally living in the same clothes for much longer than you would on an ordinary day.
And that's where I think good outdoor clothing starts to earn its place.
The Original Islender isn't a lightweight technical layer. It isn't designed to disappear into the bottom of your pack.
It's a substantial wool sweater.
But that's part of its appeal.
Sometimes you don't want the lightest thing you can possibly carry.
Sometimes you just want something warm.
A sweater with a rather impressive history
The more I've learned about Devold, the more I've realised that the Original Islender isn't simply a modern sweater designed to look traditional.
Its story goes back much further.
Devold began in Norway in 1853, when Ole Andreas Devold returned from Germany with knitting machinery and began producing woollen clothing. The company initially made clothing for fishermen and workers living and working along Norway's harsh western coast.
The Original Islender grew out of that tradition.
Its distinctive pattern has been associated with Norwegian working clothing for generations, and the basic idea behind it is remarkably simple:
Make a warm, durable wool garment for people who spend their lives outside.
There is something quite appealing about that.
Outdoor clothing has become an incredibly technical business. We have waterproof membranes, synthetic insulation, ultralight fabrics and garments engineered down to the last gram.
And yet here is a sweater whose basic idea has survived for well over a century.
Wool.
A good pattern.
And a garment designed to keep somebody warm.
Why wool still makes sense
Part of the reason wool has remained relevant is that it has some rather useful natural properties.
Wool can help regulate temperature, manage moisture and retain warmth when damp. It also has natural odour-resistant properties, which is particularly useful when you're spending a lot of time outdoors.
But I think there's something else to it.
Wool feels different.
There's a comfort to pulling on a proper wool sweater on a cold morning that you don't necessarily get from a highly technical synthetic layer.
The Original Islender is made from 100% Norwegian wool and is a much heavier, more substantial garment than the fine merino base layers that have become increasingly popular in outdoor clothing.
And that distinction is important.
This isn't trying to be a merino base layer.
It's doing a different job.
From Norwegian fishermen to the Outer Hebrides
That's what I find particularly interesting about Devold.
The company isn't a newcomer that has recently discovered the outdoor market.
Devold has been making wool clothing for people who spend time outside for more than 170 years.
The environment has changed. The technology has changed. The way we travel has changed.
But the basic requirement hasn't.
If you're outside in a cold, wet and windy place, being warm still matters.
And perhaps that's why the Original Islender didn't feel out of place on Uist.
The Outer Hebrides may be a long way from the Norwegian coast, but the conditions don't always feel quite so different.
Wind, rain, cold air and wide-open landscapes have a way of making you appreciate simple things.
Like being warm.
It's not the sweater I'd take everywhere
I think it's worth saying that the Original Islender isn't going to be the right choice for every adventure.
If I'm counting every gram for a lightweight backpacking trip, an 860g wool sweater isn't going to be at the top of my list.
And that's okay.
One of the things I like about Devold is that wool isn't treated as a single solution.
The Devold Breeze 150 is a much lighter merino layer, designed to work close to the skin as a versatile base layer.
The Breeze Plus 200 steps up the weight and warmth when conditions become colder.
And then there's the Expedition 235, designed for properly cold conditions when warmth becomes much more important.
So while the Original Islender might be the sweater I reach for when I want something warm and substantial, Devold's merino layers offer a completely different approach to using wool outdoors.
Why we're stocking Devold
This is really why I'm pleased we've started stocking Devold at Hit The Trail.
We've always been interested in outdoor products that have a reason for existing.
Not just something that looks good in a catalogue, but something with a story behind it and, more importantly, something that works when you actually take it outside.
Devold has both.
There is the history, of course.
More than 170 years of making wool clothing in Norway is difficult to ignore.
But there's also the way the company has continued to develop wool for modern outdoor use, from traditional Norwegian sweaters through to lightweight merino base layers.
And then there's the Original Islender.
I like the fact that it doesn't try to pretend to be something it isn't.
It's a proper wool sweater.
It's warm. It's substantial. It's comfortable.
And it has a history that goes back generations.
So, was I testing it?
I suppose I was.
Just not in the way I expected.
I didn't make a list of features before leaving for Uist. I didn't measure drying times or compare it against five other sweaters.
I simply wore it.
And when I look back through the photographs and video from the trip, there it is.
Which, perhaps, is the best sort of product test.
The pieces of outdoor clothing that stay in your kit aren't always the ones with the most impressive specification sheet.
Sometimes they're the things you simply find yourself reaching for.
For me, the Devold Original Islender has become one of those pieces.
And that's probably a good enough reason to start talking about Devold.
After all, 170 years is quite a long product test.
Shop Devold with exclusive code "Sweater" for discount.
Thanks for being with us, we'll see you down the trail!
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