Branwyn Merino Compressive Leggings Review
Ladies, finding a reliable pair of leggings to take hiking can be tricky. We want the comfort, but what about durability and warmth? With this conundrum in mind, I was delighted to take Branwyn’s new Compressive Leggings into the backcountry to see how they measured up. My testing took me to the beautiful Lost Coast Trail through stunning old-growth forests and along isolated beaches, providing the perfect environment to test these leggings.
This review will start with a basic overview of the leggings and the Branwyn brand. Then, we’ll jump into the specifics and see how these leggings performed on the trail.
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Branwyn Compressive Leggings Quick Look
- Price: $158.00
- Material: 76% extra fine ZQ Merino, 14% nylon, and 10% elastane
- Sizing:
- 25″ Inseam
- 28″ Inseam
- Intended Activity: Active movement – including yoga, jogging, and hiking.
Intended Use
Leggings have carved out a definite niche in the active world. From yoga to running and hiking to gym work outs, leggings fit in just about anywhere. What’s more, they’re extremely comfortable, making them a solid choice for rolling through your regular day-to-day activities as well! The Branwyn Compressive Leggings aim to fit perfectly into this industry by offering the comfortable support and reliable durability we need in order to tackle a hard hike or just relax at home.
Notable Features
Branwyn’s Compressive Leggings include a few unique features that I want to touch on before we jump into the review.
Seamless Design – provides a uniformly comfortable material without any rubbing seams that could potentially fail or pill.
Merino Blend – adds merino’s famous moisture-wicking properties, odor resistance, temperature regulation, and breathability.
Branywyn Company Background
Branwyn began in Bend, Oregon, with a frustrating search for reliable underwear utilizing natural fibers. Shawna, the future designer, couldn’t find a single option that felt good with active pursuits and didn’t get immediately saturated with sweat. So, after two years of experimenting and prototyping, Branwyin was created with a comfortable yet durable blend of merino wool, nylon, and elastane.
Branwyn puts extreme emphasis on sustainable business practices and renewable materials. Their merino wool is sourced responsibly, and they’re actively working to reduce the company’s environmental impact and use of man-made fibers (nylon and elastane). In addition to their sustainable focus, Branwyn also prizes comfort and performance above all else when it comes to their individual products.
Branwyn Accreditations:
- Responsible Wool Standards accreditation
- ZQ Grower Standard
THE TEST – QUICK OVERVIEW
My testing covered the California Lost Coast Trail and Wildland's North Lake Tahoe trip. Temperatures were comfortable in the 70s Fahrenheit and dropped down to the low 50s at night. I wore the leggings around camp on both trips and also slept in them.
The Review
Now that we’ve covered the basic characteristics of the Branwyn Compressive Leggings, it’s time to get into my full review. I’ll cover the main performance characteristics for hiking bottoms below (such as comfort, durability, breathability, and so on) and give each category a score from 1 to 5. The scoring key is below for reference, and I’ll back up each score with firsthand information from my field testing that led me to assign each score.
Test Score Key
1/5 – Poor
2/5 – Tolerable
3/5 – Fair
4/5 – Good
5/5 – Excellent
Comfort – 4/5
Warmth – 4/5
These leggings feel noticeably warmer than other leggings I own (Lululemon and Vuori). That extra warmth kept me very comfortable on the cooler beach evenings around camp, and in my sleeping bag at night.
Since they’re so warm and comfortable, I also plan to wear these as a mid-layer bottom under my snowboarding pants in the winter. So as far as warmth goes, these leggings did well!
Durability – 1/5
I quickly learned that durability is probably the Achilles heel for these Branwyn Compressive Leggings
The vast majority of my testing took place far from abrasive rocks. Instead, we stayed on the soft, sandy beaches of California’s Lost Coast. Even at camp, we mostly sat on soft sand or driftwood. Nevertheless, I found two very significant 3-4mm holes in the butt of the leggings at the end of my testing, plus several small snags. For such a gentle testing environment (abrasion-wise), I was very surprised to learn just how delicate these leggings appear to be.
Don’t get me wrong, the comfort and overall build quality feel quite good, but they simply lack the durability for outdoor adventures, in my opinion.
Moisture Control – 5/5
This is potentially merino wool’s greatest asset: moisture control. Wool excels at wicking moisture away from your skin while keeping you cool and dry, and these leggings perfectly demonstrate that benefit. I definitely built up some heat while hiking, but the moisture-wicking capability prevented me from feeling swampy and saturated with sweat.
Additionally, the beach hike encountered plenty of moisture, and I even got the leggings fully saturated while collecting water from a nearby river, but in every case, they dried very quickly. So great moisture control for these leggings!
Packability and Weight – 5/5
These aren’t bulky or heavy legwear by any means. The leggings roll up nice and tight for easy packing, which makes it easy to stuff them in my clothing bag until I need them. They’re also light enough to easily justify for a backpacking trip. They’re not weighing me down one bit, and they’re even light enough to double as very cozy sleeping bottoms.
Price – 2/5
At $158, I find these leggings extremely expensive. Other high-end brands like Lululemon and Vuroi are at least $30 less expensive. For such a high price point, I’d expect these leggings to come with side pockets (which are typically a non-negotiable feature for me) and have a more rugged, adventure-ready design.
I’ll concede that merino wool is an expensive material, and the seamless design takes more effort to produce. However, I’m not convinced these leggings deliver the quality (specifically, durability) that a price this high should provide.
Breathability – 4/5
Despite the added warmth these leggings offer, I also found them quite breathable.
When I was hiking or rushing around camp getting dinner ready, these leggings did a great job shedding heat and keeping me comfortable. This was doubly impressive since we had several warm, sunny days in the upper seventies that felt quite toasty when we were hiking with full packs, but I always felt comfortable and never felt that these leggings were too hot or trapped excess heat.
Quality – 3/5
Bringing it Together
We covered plenty of testing points in this review! So, I’ve compiled the main positives and downsides of the Branwyn Compressive Leggings below for easy reference.
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Comfortable
- Warm
- Moisture-wicking with good breathability
- Don’t feel overly tight or restrictive
Cons:
- Poor durability
- Extremely high price
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Branwyn Compressive Leggings offer excellent comfort (after the first wash), combined with merino wool’s reliable moisture-wicking and breathability. These leggings were consistently very comfortable and cozy to wear for just about any activity, from hiking to working in camp to settling down in my sleeping bag for the night.
However, the glaring deficiency in these leggings’ performance was their durability. After my fairly tame testing with a coastal hike, I discovered two large holes plus several significant snags in the rear of these leggings. Honestly, I was shocked by this lack of durability, given the high-quality, thick feel of these leggings, but I can’t argue with the results. Therefore, I have to conclude that the Branwyn Compressive Leggings are a comfortable and cozy pair of leggings for around town and low-key activities or as a mid or base layer under a more durable shell, but they simply lack the durability to be the primary bottoms for backcountry hiking. On top of this, I found the sticker price shockingly high given the durability deficiency, and I hope future iterations improve on this!
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