Gear: Get Yourself a Disembodied Hood

BY SAM SCHILD

I have a new favorite piece of outdoor gear, something I call my “Disembodied Hood.” This thing is fantastic. You should all immediately go to your local outfitter–errr, closet, and get your own. 

My Disembodied Hood is cut from a really nice Ibex Sun Hoodie. The shirt was great, made of a merino-tencel blend that kept me comfortable in most temperatures: a true unicorn. 

However, it didn’t hold up to an entire summer of wear with a bouncing backpack. And 200 miles into a southbound Arizona Trail thru-hike, I had worn massive holes in the back. Now, my number one mission was to find a replacement. I picked up a random button-down in a Flagstaff thrift store for $10 and changed into my new shirt. But what would I do with my fancy merino-tencel sun hoodie that did everything but cheer me up when I was sad? After some deliberation, I cut the hood off and threw the rest of the shredded shirt in a trash can. I put the hood over my head and checked my reflection in the thrift store window. Cool. 

We traveled the final 600 miles of the AZT together. It kept my head warm on chilly night hikes. It kept the sun off my neck while I hiked through hot afternoons, thrifted shirt fully unbuttoned, flapping in the wind. We saw 100-degree heat in the Superstition Mountains and mind blowing sunrises from in the Mazatzal Range. 

My Disembodied Hood brought me joy every time I considered how ridiculous I must look, yet I got several compliments from random thru-hikers. We’ve started a trend. 

Next time you wear out your favorite sun hoodie, for the price of one pair of scissors, you too can have your own Disembodied Hood.