Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew

Review by Erin Trail

Paka is well known for making quality clothing from Alpaca fibers.  The Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew puts those Alpaca fibers into summer mode with a knit crew sweater that utilizes COOLPLUS® technology.

COOLPLUS® is a polyester fiber that has a large surface area, allowing the material to quickly wick moisture and allows garments to breathe better. The Paka Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew is made from 50% Baby Alpaca / 30% Cotton / 20% Coolplus® Polyester, all intended to provide a summer-weight sweater that is both soft and excellent at thermoregulation.

The Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew fits true to size, hitting just above the widest point on my hips and just at my wrists. The weight of the knit is on the light side, but it doesn’t feel delicate or flimsy like other lightweight sweaters can feel.

Spring into early summer in Denver has been a perfect use case for this sweater.  We’ve had many (MANY) days in the 50s to lower 70s that have been overcast and felt like perfect cozy sweater weather.  I’ve been wearing the Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew nearly weekly since I received it in late April.  I’ve mostly been wearing it to work, but I’ve also worn it on a brewery date night and to a rooftop happy hour.

The styling of the Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew can be dressed up or dressed down, depending on your preference. The sleeves have a raglan seam and the sides and back are articulated, which aids with mobility while also giving the sweater a bit of design “oomph”.

I also love the small Paka design elements, with the Peruvian weave tag on the sleeve and the “handmade by” maker’s tag on the lower inside hem.

I’ve been testing out the wear of the sweater over the past month.  The Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew doesn’t show any wear, despite nearly frequent wearing.  Paka recommends hand washing the sweater.  I’m lazy and am lucky to wash these kinds of garments once a year.  The sweater has remained odor-free and looks fresh without washing it.

I’m also impressed with the temperature versatility.  My workplace, like most offices, has crazy HVAC temperature swings, running from warm to cold, often during the same workday. I also like to take occasional walk breaks outside to get some fresh air.  I was caught out in a rainstorm, sans jacket, one night while fetching food, which got me a bit wetter than I was planning on being.  And a rooftop happy hour went from angry looking clouds to a beautiful early summer evening with sun.  In all instances, the Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew helped me maintain a consistent and comfortable temperature.  I never felt too cool or too warm during any of the times when I wore the sweater.

The Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew also packs really well.  I swim before work, and often pack my gym back with my office clothes the night before.  I can just toss the sweater haphazardly into my gym back and it looks office-ready 12 hours later. I’ve also rolled it up into a compression cube and left it in there for a few days (to simulate traveling) and the sweater unpacked beautifully.

I also think that the Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew would be the perfect layer for a typical Colorado summer late afternoon to evening.

The Paka Women’s Ultralight COOLPLUS Crew is availabe in both men’s and women’s options.  The both genders are available in 3 different colors with sizing ranging from XS through XXL.

Erin Trail