Article: HTM 120 Nuyarn® Merino Crew: The Base Layer Built for the Climb
HTM 120 Nuyarn® Merino Crew: The Base Layer Built for the Climb
Every layering system we talk about starts with the same garment. Before the hoodie, before the puffer, before the shell, there's a 120gsm merino crew sitting against your skin doing the unglamorous work of moving sweat off you. If it fails, everything on top of it fails with it.
This is the full story on the HTM 120: what the number means, why it's Nuyarn®, how it should fit, and when it's the only top you need.
What 120gsm actually means
GSM is grams per square metre. It's the weight of the fabric, and in merino it tells you more about how a garment will behave than almost anything else on the label.
| Weight | What it's for | On the hill |
|---|---|---|
| 120–150gsm | Active base layer | Hard climbs, warm days, next to skin in a full system. Wicks and dries fastest. |
| 180–200gsm | Mid-weight | Cool-weather standalone, slower to dry. Fine for sitting, warm for climbing. |
| 250gsm+ | Heavyweight | Cold, low-output use. Too hot and too slow to dry for most NZ hunting. |
We chose 120gsm for the base layer because NZ hunting is mostly movement. You climb hard, you sweat, and then you stop and glass in the wind. A light layer clears the sweat before you stop, so you're not sitting in a wet shirt. A heavy layer holds it – and that's how people get cold on a warm day.
Why it's Nuyarn®, not ordinary merino
Standard merino is spun by twisting the fibres together. That makes the yarn dense, which slows drying and compresses the natural crimp that gives wool its warmth. It's also why conventional merino wears through at the seams under a pack strap.
Nuyarn® wraps the merino fibre around a fine nylon core without twisting it. The fibre keeps its loft, the fabric dries far faster, and the seams come out roughly 120% stronger. For a garment that lives under pack straps and gets washed after every trip, that's the difference between a base layer that thins out in a season and one that lasts several.
The full explanation is in What Is Nuyarn® Merino? – this post sticks to the garment.
Design details and why they're there
| Feature | Why it's there |
|---|---|
| Crew neck | Sits flat under a hoodie or shell, with no collar to bunch at the back of your neck under a pack. |
| Thumb holes | Keep the sleeves down when you pull a hoodie over the top, and cover the gap between glove and cuff on a cold morning. |
| Flat-lock seams | No raised seam under the shoulder straps. You notice this on day three, not day one. |
| UPF 50+ | New Zealand UV is brutal on the tops. A long-sleeve merino that blocks it beats sunscreen on sweaty arms. |
| Natural odour control | Merino doesn't hold smell the way synthetics do. Three days in the same base layer is normal, not heroic. |
| Three colours | The men's crew comes in black, forest green and cool grey. No camo – it's a base layer, and in most NZ bush a muted solid works fine. |
| Fabric | 70% merino, 30% nylon – the nylon is the core the merino is wrapped around, not a blend for stretch. |
Men's and women's cuts
The HTM 120 comes as a men's crew and a women's singlet, and they're cut from separate patterns rather than one shape resized. Because a base layer only does its job where it's in contact with your skin, each cut is shaped to sit close on the body it's made for.
The men's crew runs S to 2XL. The women's singlet has its own women's size chart.
How it should fit
Close, not tight. You want the fabric against your skin across the chest and back, with enough stretch to move freely – and Nuyarn® has more stretch than standard merino, so it'll give.
If you're between sizes, go down on the HTM 120. A base layer that's slightly snug wicks; one that's slightly loose doesn't. The hoodie over the top is the opposite – true to size, because it needs room to move.
When to wear it on its own
More often than you'd think. In spring and summer, and on any hard climb, the HTM 120 is the whole top half. It's light enough to climb in, the crew's long sleeves keep the sun off your arms, and it dries on your back in the wind when you stop.
Once the temperature drops or you stop moving, the HTM 145 hoodie goes over it. Below that, the Ranger Down Puffer. The HTM 120 stays on through all of it – it's the one layer you never take off.
Where it sits in the system
| Layer | Garment | When it's on |
|---|---|---|
| Base | HTM 120 Nuyarn® Merino crew or singlet | Always |
| Mid | HTM 145 Nuyarn® Merino Hunting Hoodie | When you stop or the temperature drops |
| Insulation | Ranger Down Puffer Jacket | Glassing, camp, cold mornings |
| Shell | Waterproof jacket | Sustained rain |
The logic behind the whole system is in Hunting Layering System NZ.
Looking after it
- Cool machine wash on a gentle or wool cycle, with a wool detergent
- No fabric softener – it coats the fibre and kills the wicking
- Dry flat or on a line, out of direct sun. Never tumble dry.
- Wash it less than you think – airing it overnight is usually enough between days
The honest summary
The HTM 120 isn't the piece that gets the photos. It's the piece that decides whether the rest of your kit works. Light enough to climb in, tough enough to last, cut to fit men and women properly, and built from the best-performing merino we've found. Start here.
Shop the HTM 120 Nuyarn® Merino Men's Crew
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