Affordable Alternatives to Patagonia R1 Hoody

If I had a $159 I would just buy the R1, but I don't. Anybody have a recommendation on a cheaper alternative?

I've always shopped sales and found decent deals but you may be a month or two late for good deals on winter gear. There are some other gird fleece alternatives.

Locally, North west alpine makes the black spider:

nwalpine.com/store/#!/~/category/id=5235...offset=0&sort=normal

Mec makes the t2 and t3 hoodie in grid fleece and will ship them to the us:
www.mec.ca/shop/?q=mec%20T3%20T2%20hoodie

Eddie Bauer first ascent makes the bat hang (get it this weekend with the extra 30% off black friday deal).

Patagonia makes the Capilene 4 hoodie which is more versatile then the r1 and cheaper even without a sale. I've been using mine as a base layer and been really comfortable running hiking and touring in temps from 20-40.

Marmot makes the thermo hoody.

Mountain equipment makes the eclipse.

In my experience plain power stretch hoodies aren't as good as the grid really helps keep you dry. The cap 4 has a wider grid then the r1 and keeps you even drier.

The grid fleece hoodies from MEC are really nice. For what it's worth, I ended up selling my R1 hoody because it was too warm and the hood was just annoying. I ended up with the expedition weight pullover and a balaclava.

I live in my OR Radiant Hybrid Hoody. Its a lot cheaper than Patagucci's R1 and fits me way better too.

If I had a $159 I would just buy the R1, but I don't.  Anybody have a recommendation on a cheaper alternative?

Check Eddie Bauer, they make some good stuff for the price. Their Hangfire Hoodie (appropriately named?) is $119. Much of their technical wear is as technical as the major brands...

if you want to go dirtbag cheap try scrounging Ross, anything polyester and they have fleece active wear.

I just picked up the Mountain Equipment Eclipse hooded shirt and have been very happy with it. It was 30% from AAI (~$100) at their Black Friday sale. I've been out for a couple of runs with it and it does what I expect a light fleece to do.